Dairy Chit Chat- Please read Mod note in post #1

Brown Podzol · 19-04-2016 10:17AM

mahoney_j wrote: »

Cows really hitting gear here now ,calving finished a week .on 48 hour blocks ,5.5 kg 15% but .33.38 ltrs 3.47 p 3.56 fat scc 76 urea 28 .only dissapointent is butterfat .a problem I seem to I counter every April/may .make up of nut is maize ,barley ,hulls ,soya and pk with 1%megafat .dungs good and solid considering lush grass ,cows bulling strong and in excellent condition .left feeder in yard with bale of straw in it and cows barely glance at it .would really love to find a solution to it but not massively worried as it ain't affecting performance .fat overall for year will average 4.0:4.1

No stem in the grass. Will be second half of May before you'll see stem and BF should rise then.

blackdog1 · 19-04-2016 10:22AM

mahoney_j wrote: »

Cows really hitting gear here now ,calving finished a week .on 48 hour blocks ,5.5 kg 15% but .33.38 ltrs 3.47 p 3.56 fat scc 76 urea 28 .only dissapointent is butterfat .a problem I seem to I counter every April/may .make up of nut is maize ,barley ,hulls ,soya and pk with 1%megafat .dungs good and solid considering lush grass ,cows bulling strong and in excellent condition .left feeder in yard with bale of straw in it and cows barely glance at it .would really love to find a solution to it but not massively worried as it ain't affecting performance .fat overall for year will average 4.0:4.1

Only thing to bring it up would be buffer feeding with maize and cut out some nuts in the parlour but your going great so why change.

mahoney_j · 19-04-2016 10:55AM

Brown Podzol wrote: »

No stem in the grass. Will be second half of May before you'll see stem and BF should rise then.

Be doing my best to avoid stem bp ,pulling out Tedder today to grease it up ,hooefully it'll be in use in early May .no long term silage closed up here this year just going to keep knocking paddocks for bales

mf240 · 19-04-2016 11:24AM

I remember you saying last year alright about the low butterfat. But as you say it's not effecting fert or feet so probably just due to lush grass plus high litres. There putting out a kg and a 1/4 of fat per head when you look at it.

Im wondering is a lot of the hype about low butterfats and problems just put out by the feed companies to sell magic dust.

mahoney_j · 19-04-2016 11:30AM

mf240 wrote: »

I remember you saying last year alright about the low butterfat. But as you say it's not effecting fert or feet so probably just due to lush grass plus high litres. There putting out a kg and a 1/4 of fat per head when you look at it.

Im wondering is a lot of the hype about low butterfats and problems just put out by the feed companies to sell magic dust.

Maby I should just have a few X Breds !!!!!,problem is lush grass ,high yields and what nutritionist is telling me is lack of fibre .

kowtow · 19-04-2016 11:37AM

Milked out wrote: »

Lucky, had you anyone with you kowtow? Those situations can go from awkward to dangerous very quick so no harm to get a neighbour or some one even if it's just to call for help if anything goes wrong or hold a rope or even they suggest a way of solving an issue without having the temper or panic one might get when something like that goes wrong in ones own place. Similar scenarios happened here too and have often been grateful for neighbours help or advise

I know what you mean... as it happens my teenage son had been milking with me so he was able to keep her occupied and standing on her feet while I hit the dung pile with the tine grab. My policy in these situations is to get on with the obvious thing while thinking out a plan b which would probably have been to pump out the tank. The situation would have been different altogether if there was slurry instead of washings in it (although with the amount of spare milk we wash away it wasn't a pleasant place to be swimming.

In any case, she's none the worse for wear and milked 15 or so litres this morning, although she's a bit short on fashion sense and brains.. she came from a herd clearance and if the others are all as quiet as she is it's a great testament to the man who bred them.

We bought a little fresh calved red FR heifer from a different herd with her and she's much more trouble, in the parlour at least - small teats and slow to milk - but she'll come good soon enough.

Markcheese · 19-04-2016 11:54AM

mahoney_j wrote:

Maby I should just have a few X Breds !!!!!,problem is lush grass ,high yields and what nutritionist is telling me is lack of fibre .

You can always add a bit of cheap fibre to silage...but you cant take it out if you've to much ...

blackdog1 · 19-04-2016 01:21PM

Just looking back at milk tests since the whole crop went out of the cows diet at the start of the month. Fat was 4.40 and protein was 3.49 while feeding with silage. I've replaced it with crimp wheat and straw and yields stayed the same while fat dropped to 3.97 and protein to 3.39. Think if I'm in this situation again I'll buy in maize or whole crop instead of crimp. I'll be feeding a buffer for the next 10 days at least as grass is still a bit low as I've closed my silage fields for a month now and refuse to graze them again.

pedigree 6 · 20-04-2016 12:42PM

Cows really getting going here now.
Still grazing silage ground but will be closed in a few days.
Bf 3.68%
PR 3.29%
SCC 149
Urea 26
TBC 4
Litres 30
4 kgs of 14% pr nut 0.95 ufl.
Grazing ground that got 40 units urea + sulphar.

orm0nd · 20-04-2016 12:58PM

33.5 ltrs
3.95 b/f
3.29 p
4.90 lact
28.2 u

circa 4 kgs 15% nuts

grazing old pasture that was skinned with sheep early feb & got 1.5 bags of 27/2.5/5

yosemitesam1 · 20-04-2016 01:55PM

mf240 wrote: »

Im wondering is a lot of the hype about low butterfats and problems just put out by the feed companies to sell magic dust.

I'd agree with that, even very lush grass is fairly high in fibre, I think its a case of applying stuff from indoor tmr systems to grazing which isn't correct all the time.

would presume selling fibre in a nut is much more profitable for feed companies than selling a high energy nut

ted_182 · 20-04-2016 04:20PM

What cover per cow are guys working with and hoping to maintain bearing in mind next week is forecast to return to cooler conditions, I'm ok-ish for grass but i can see trouble down the tracks for me with current forecast, outta silage now so I could feed maybe 4kg hulls but already feeding 6kg in parlour am I asking for stomach trouble, should I try and source a forage also/instead??

RightTurnClyde · 20-04-2016 04:55PM

ted_182 wrote: »

What cover per cow are guys working with and hoping to maintain bearing in mind next week is forecast to return to cooler conditions, I'm ok-ish for grass but i can see trouble down the tracks for me with current forecast, outta silage now so I could feed maybe 4kg hulls but already feeding 6kg in parlour am I asking for stomach trouble, should I try and source a forage also/instead??

No stomach issues here. Feeding 6+ kgs in Parlour, and 4kgs hulls before milking if needed, to keep me to a 25day rotation.

blackdog1 · 20-04-2016 05:36PM

ted_182 wrote: »

What cover per cow are guys working with and hoping to maintain bearing in mind next week is forecast to return to cooler conditions, I'm ok-ish for grass but i can see trouble down the tracks for me with current forecast, outta silage now so I could feed maybe 4kg hulls but already feeding 6kg in parlour am I asking for stomach trouble, should I try and source a forage also/instead??

Maize or whole crop would be better if you can get good quality stuff.

Wouldn't buy silage unless you had to. Keep an eye on your solids and make sure if your feeding high you put in some bread soda to cover for acidosis.

whelan2 · 20-04-2016 06:48PM

Cows out tonight , they weren't supposed to be but "someone" never put the chain on the gate:cool:

Water John · 20-04-2016 07:01PM

Whelan, I like how you make major farm decisions.

visatorro · 20-04-2016 08:11PM

whelan2 wrote: »

Cows out tonight , they weren't supposed to be but "someone" never put the chain on the gate:cool:

Mine only out be night last night, feck it! Looked out and they're on the wrong paddock, God knows what happened there. I left them be!

ted_182 · 21-04-2016 08:04AM

RightTurnClyde wrote:

No stomach issues here. Feeding 6+ kgs in Parlour, and 4kgs hulls before milking if needed, to keep me to a 25day rotation.

blackdog1 wrote:

Maize or whole crop would be better if you can get good quality stuff.

blackdog1 wrote:

Wouldn't buy silage unless you had to. Keep an eye on your solids and make sure if your feeding high you put in some bread soda to cover for acidosis.

Yeah thanks lads il chance hulls so and keep monitering grass and forecast

C4d78 · 21-04-2016 01:16PM

Pricing up a 15% ration for cows. Millers mad to put in 5-6 ingredients. Was thinking keeping it simple Maize, hull, barley soya bean meal. Any thoughts? Avoiding distillers from advice given here regarding wrong type P with grass.
Any changes people would make to this mix?

freedominacup · 21-04-2016 10:09PM

C4d78 wrote: »

Pricing up a 15% ration for cows. Millers mad to put in 5-6 ingredients. Was thinking keeping it simple Maize, hull, barley soya bean meal. Any thoughts? Avoiding distillers from advice given here regarding wrong type P with grass.
Any changes people would make to this mix?

I'm feeding 9%. Milk and solids gone up since we changed to it. Maize meal, barley, soya hulls molasses, mins/vits. 35-35-20-5-5. €230 blended and blown. Will probably stick with it until Jul at least.

Water John · 21-04-2016 10:13PM

Freedom, you could have that for breakfast yourself. Keep you going for the day.

johnny122 · 21-04-2016 10:23PM

Milk solids gone bit mad here
Was at around 3.36pr 4.05bf urea 21
Had a bit silage in the night

No out full time

Pr otien gone to 3.55 but bf dropped off a cliff 3.75 and urea at 10 last collection

Feeding about 4kgs 16% nut

Any ideas lads ?

RightTurnClyde · 21-04-2016 10:26PM

johnny122 wrote: »

Milk solids gone bit mad here
Was at around 3.36pr 4.05bf urea 21
Had a bit silage in the night

No out full time

Pr otien gone to 3.55 but bf dropped off a cliff 3.75 and urea at 10 last collection

Feeding about 4kgs 16% nut

Any ideas lads ?

Are covers low

johnny122 · 21-04-2016 10:51PM

RightTurnClyde wrote: »

Are covers low

No all the grass they want

mahoney_j · 21-04-2016 10:54PM

johnny122 wrote: »

Milk solids gone bit mad here
Was at around 3.36pr 4.05bf urea 21
Had a bit silage in the night

No out full time

Pr otien gone to 3.55 but bf dropped off a cliff 3.75 and urea at 10 last collection

Feeding about 4kgs 16% nut

Any ideas lads ?

Don't worry ,not bad last Coll here 3.45 fat 3.53 p urea 29 lactose/protein 5.04 33.7 ltrs 5 kg 15%!.all grass ..cows in great condition ,bulling mad and dungs fairly solid considering lush grass so not overly concerned ,would like fat over 3.6?though

Sam Kade · 22-04-2016 08:41AM

Protein here 3.13 fat 3.96. The grass is old swards I wonder is that keeping the protein so low. Cows are fr hol.

freedominacup · 22-04-2016 08:44AM

Sam Kade wrote: »

Protein here 3.13 fat 3.96. The grass is old swards I wonder is that keeping the protein so low. Cows are fr hol.

You're short of energy. Old poor quality grasses won't be helping you. Heading for 3.5 here now. All hol. Lots of reseeding over the past few years.

whelan2 · 22-04-2016 09:35AM

Sam Kade wrote: »

Protein here 3.13 fat 3.96. The grass is old swards I wonder is that keeping the protein so low. Cows are fr hol.

are they still on silage?

RightTurnClyde · 22-04-2016 10:01AM

freedominacup wrote: »

You're short of energy. Old poor quality grasses won't be helping you. Heading for 3.5 here now. All hol. Lots of reseeding over the past few years.

Free do you mind me asking, what did you go with in your dairy nut. Excellent P by the way, I'm sure there is a bit of volume there aswell. What's your kgms like

jaymla627 · 22-04-2016 10:03AM

mahoney_j wrote: »

Don't worry ,not bad last Coll here 3.45 fat 3.53 p urea 29 lactose/protein 5.04 33.7 ltrs 5 kg 15%!.all grass ..cows in great condition ,bulling mad and dungs fairly solid considering lush grass so not overly concerned ,would like fat over 3.6?though

Bf always crashes here too when cows start to peak up to 32 Litres and Bf down to 3.75 will go to 3.6 at its lowest, once cows drop below 30 litres here Bf usually goes up I find, wouldn't be getting to worried just a given with high yielding cows on lush grass

Dairy Chit Chat- Please read Mod note in post #1

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