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

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  • #5912
    Milked out
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,433 ✭✭✭Milked out


    kowtow wrote: »
    Can someone give me the bullet points to painless AI?

    Going to try and get all 16 in calf without any bull this year, starting asap. All except 4 maidens calved between 20 Feb and 12 April... 2 hard calvings with twins but all fairly fit and most cycling
    .. though sometimes difficult to spot in small group. All run together. Didn't get round to tail painting yet.

    Also have a handful to skull which should probably do first.

    Should I get vet to handle all? Synchronise any / all? ... heifers and cows?

    Quite relaxed about calving dates but better get on with it. Planning to top up with some in calf maidens if it goes more slowly than planned .

    Worth calling the AI man and taking his advice before starting?

    Have you got any strong yearling bull kept? If you do get him vasecomised and he will help you out in 3 weeks time with detection. In the meantime paint all of them and put the maidens with the cows will help with activity. Perhaps with a small number and the heifers heat seekers or scratch cards may be better than paint, coop should have them. Early morning is when a lot of activity is happening but no harm to check once or twice during the day as well. Contact ai man and see what times he is around in order to get him on time and have a chat see what advise he would give you


  • #5913
    Milked out
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,433 ✭✭✭Milked out


    kowtow wrote: »
    Can someone give me the bullet points to painless AI?

    Going to try and get all 16 in calf without any bull this year, starting asap. All except 4 maidens calved between 20 Feb and 12 April... 2 hard calvings with twins but all fairly fit and most cycling
    .. though sometimes difficult to spot in small group. All run together. Didn't get round to tail painting yet.

    Also have a handful to skull which should probably do first.

    Should I get vet to handle all? Synchronise any / all? ... heifers and cows?

    Quite relaxed about calving dates but better get on with it. Planning to top up with some in calf maidens if it goes more slowly than planned .

    Worth calling the AI man and taking his advice before starting?

    Have you got any strong yearling bull kept? If you do get him vasecomised and he will help you out in 3 weeks time with detection. In the meantime paint all of them and put the maidens with the cows will help with activity. Perhaps with a small number and the heifers heat seekers or scratch cards may be better than paint, coop should have them. Early morning is when a lot of activity is happening but no harm to check once or twice during the day as well. Contact ai man and see what times he is around in order to get him on time and have a chat see what advise he would give you


  • #5914
    Buford T. Justice XIX
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,633 ✭✭✭✭Buford T. Justice XIX


    Milked out wrote: »
    Buford u whore, was it you asked for the drop of rain???? You might get the man above to.turn it off again I'll be feckin back fencing tomorrow at this rate by the looks of things
    :D

    Sorry, got carried away. Was at a concert in Dublin last night and I may have stayed in the moshpit a bit too long:p

    But grass is ripping out of the ground here today. Going to let off the last of the drys today after yesterdays liquid sunshine:cool:


  • #5915
    wats the craic
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 532 ✭✭✭wats the craic


    Buford T. Justice V wrote: »
    :D

    Sorry, got carried away. Was at a concert in Dublin last night and I may have stayed in the moshpit a bit too long:p

    But grass is ripping out of the ground here today. Going to let off the last of the drys today after yesterdays liquid sunshine:cool:

    up to monday my land was like rock hard concrete , and rain has sent the grass growth has sky rocketed the last two days . were i am in wexford we need plenty of rain in the summer or we have no grass


  • #5916
    kowtow
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,135 ✭✭✭kowtow


    Milked out wrote: »
    Have you got any strong yearling bull kept? If you do get him vasecomised and he will help you out in 3 weeks time with detection. In the meantime paint all of them and put the maidens with the cows will help with activity. Perhaps with a small number and the heifers heat seekers or scratch cards may be better than paint, coop should have them. Early morning is when a lot of activity is happening but no harm to check once or twice during the day as well. Contact ai man and see what times he is around in order to get him on time and have a chat see what advise he would give you

    Didn't keep one this year, last year we had a particularly forward youngster from the previous November who got ahead of himself at barely six months old and saved us the job of AI altogether, fantastic set of calves in a tight pattern but a few too many twins.

    This year we're going to get to grips with AI one way or another as that's the plan for the future. Might end up next year with electronic detection although for a small herd it's mighty expensive.

    I have scratch cards so perhaps will try them before tail paint and I'm going to run down the AI man as suggested for his thoughts.

    Any sense in synchronising, or do we let them at it and keep that for a last resort?


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  • #5917
    Buford T. Justice XIX
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,633 ✭✭✭✭Buford T. Justice XIX


    wats the craic wrote: »
    up to monday my land was like rock hard concrete , and rain has sent the grass growth has sky rocketed the last two days . were i am in wexford we need plenty of rain in the summer or we have no grass
    Same here. We need rain every week from July to August to keep growth ahead of demand. Miss a week and in with ration, 2 weeks and in with silage and ration.

    Shallow topsoil over limestone, great in spring, not so much in summer.


  • #5918
    Milked out
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,433 ✭✭✭Milked out


    Are they young cows? Synchronising heifers tends to work well, cows not as much. If you want to try it and all cows have been cycling watch them and ai as noticed for a week, the inject any who haven't come in with estrumate. Some of those should come in then within 24 to 72 hours and ai as noticed. 11 days after first shot of estrumate give whoever has not come in heat a shot and the either ai as seen or fixed time ai at 24 and 72 hours. If cows are not cycling get vet to scan and he can get them going with coils or whatever. If they have all been cycling may be as cost effective to ai as they come. Just watch them like a hawk as it's submission rates that are key


  • #5919
    Milked out
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,433 ✭✭✭Milked out


    Buford T. Justice V wrote: »
    wats the craic wrote: »
    up to monday my land was like rock hard concrete , and rain has sent the grass growth has sky rocketed the last two days . were i am in wexford we need plenty of rain in the summer or we have no grass
    Same here. We need rain every week from July to August to keep growth ahead of demand. Miss a week and in with ration, 2 weeks and in with silage and ration.

    Shallow topsoil over limestone, great in spring, not so much in summer.
    Case of two halves here, drought in summer and wet half of farm drives grass like there's no tomorrow with good utilisation whereas dry half slows a bit, wet summer wet ground has less grass which is also hard to utilise whereas dry ground grows grass but again utilisation can drop depending on how wet


  • #5920
    Buford T. Justice XIX
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,633 ✭✭✭✭Buford T. Justice XIX


    Milked out wrote: »
    Case of two halves here, drought in summer and wet half of farm drives grass like there's no tomorrow with good utilisation whereas dry half slows a bit, wet summer wet ground has less grass which is also hard to utilise whereas dry ground grows grass but again utilisation can drop depending on how wet
    Yeah, I have about a quarter of the farm being heavy but with very little improvement done there yet. It would help but a few years off yet:(

    Still though, it's a good balance to have both.


  • #5921
    mf240
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,890 ✭✭✭mf240


    Small farm here and one side of the lane has rock outoutcrop and the other side is Bog.

    It's either half dry or half wet (depending on your personality type)


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  • #5922
    Dawggone
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,506 ✭✭✭Dawggone


    I've got an outbreak of Rotavirus in the calves...even though all cows are vaccinated 2mts before calving and calves get their mothers milk for 7 days before being put on auto feeder. 18 dead calves in the last two days and this will go higher fast! This follows on from an outbreak of Coronavirus last week but no losses. This Rotavirus is a bast*rd. I've never seen calves to die so fast in my life. From being noticed and treated they are dead within 4hrs...
    Action today.
    I'm planning on fumigating the calf house with a vaporisator with the strongest disinfectant I can buy. Any suggestions? Active ingredient please, as names will not be the same here.
    I'm going to fumigate again tomorrow and the day after. Also calves will stay in the shed whilst being fumigated.
    Thanks.



    Also got 4punctures on tractors and machines yesterday. No call out service here. Lovely.


  • #5923
    blackdog1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,185 ✭✭✭blackdog1


    kowtow wrote:
    I wonder if we should forget about the sea around us and start thinking like Vermont or Wisconsin rather than pretending we are New Zealand.

    Dawggone wrote:
    I've got an outbreak of Rotavirus in the calves...even though all cows are vaccinated 2mts before calving and calves get their mothers milk for 7 days before being put on auto feeder. 18 dead calves in the last two days and this will go higher fast! This follows on from an outbreak of Coronavirus last week but no losses. This Rotavirus is a bast*rd. I've never seen calves to die so fast in my life. From being noticed and treated they are dead within 4hrs... Action today. I'm planning on fumigating the calf house with a vaporisator with the strongest disinfectant I can buy. Any suggestions? Active ingredient please, as names will not be the same here. I'm going to fumigate again tomorrow and the day after. Also calves will stay in the shed whilst being fumigated. Thanks.

    I had the same problem but didn't lose a calf. Haven't had a problem with rota since I disinfected with interkokask. Are you sure it's only rota?. I had symptoms like that when I got crypto as soon as calf went slow drinking I had to drip him. Recovered quickly if got in time. What age are they being effected?


  • #5924
    Dawggone
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,506 ✭✭✭Dawggone


    blackdog1 wrote: »
    I had the same problem but didn't lose a calf. Haven't had a problem with rota since I disinfected with interkokask. Are you sure it's only rota?. I had symptoms like that when I got crypto as soon as calf went slow drinking I had to drip him. Recovered quickly if got in time. What age are they being effected?

    Yea, I reckon that there is something else at play here also. The lab are growing a culture atm and I'll have the results tomorrow evening.
    As soon as calf is slow to drink (machine flags this) or a slight bit off color I treat them with rehydration salts but they just go downhill so fast, it's quite shocking really.


  • #5925
    blackdog1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,185 ✭✭✭blackdog1


    I was having problems with rota after 2 weeks but cleared quick enough with oral rehydration as I was vaccinating. Crypto hit them after 8 days and killed them extremely quick until I dealt with it. Lost 4 bull calves plus twin bb. If you get them too late don't even call the vet. It's a death sentence. Someone on here said something about parafour working if it turns out you have cyrpto


  • #5926
    jaymla627
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,128 ✭✭✭jaymla627


    Dawggone wrote: »
    Yea, I reckon that there is something else at play here also. The lab are growing a culture atm and I'll have the results tomorrow evening.
    As soon as calf is slow to drink (machine flags this) or a slight bit off color I treat them with rehydration salts but they just go downhill so fast, it's quite shocking really.

    Could crypto be at play to happened us before where I had calves get both and it usually ment death within 24 hours....
    Got a bad outbreak of rota in march lost no calves but had to live with them for a week, put all calves on once a day feeding and feed electrolytes as evening feeds to everything even if no clinical signs on top of bad cases getting effdrayl during the day .....
    Since then all calves stay on vaccinated milk for 7 weeks, with fully vaccinated milk feed for 3 weeks and then a litre mixed in with powder from then on, and have had no cases since, could myco-plasma be a issue worked on a farm that suffered serious losses in young calves with it, but it was hitting newborn calves


  • #5927
    keep going
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,551 ✭✭✭keep going


    Dawggone wrote: »
    Yea, I reckon that there is something else at play here also. The lab are growing a culture atm and I'll have the results tomorrow evening.
    As soon as calf is slow to drink (machine flags this) or a slight bit off color I treat them with rehydration salts but they just go downhill so fast, it's quite shocking really.
    after years of trying this and that i ve come back to three things ,good electrolte,plenty dry bedding and calves broken up into different houses and thirdly TIME and loads of it.


  • #5928
    blackdog1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,185 ✭✭✭blackdog1


    Dawggone wrote:
    Yea, I reckon that there is something else at play here also. The lab are growing a culture atm and I'll have the results tomorrow evening. As soon as calf is slow to drink (machine flags this) or a slight bit off color I treat them with rehydration salts but they just go downhill so fast, it's quite shocking really.


    Do you get quick test kits in France? Bought one before tests for crypto, rota and ecoli results in 20 minutes and no vet needed.


  • #5929
    Dawggone
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,506 ✭✭✭Dawggone


    blackdog1 wrote: »
    Do you get quick test kits in France? Bought one before tests for crypto, rota and ecoli results in 20 minutes and no vet needed.

    No quick tests like that are available here afaik.
    Fumigated the building this am.
    Two more dead but contagion seems to be slowing.
    All calves between 8 and 12 days old have died.
    Vet told me that that age group would die because from 8 days old they hav to start generating their own antibodies for rota...but there is deffo something else at play. Will know tomorrow when results are back.

    Really pi*sed as I'd kept mortality under 2%...until now.


  • #5930
    kevthegaff
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,084 ✭✭✭kevthegaff


    Dawggone wrote: »
    No quick tests like that are available here afaik.
    Fumigated the building this am.
    Two more dead but contagion seems to be slowing.
    All calves between 8 and 12 days old have died.
    Vet told me that that age group would die because from 8 days old they hav to start generating their own antibodies for rota...but there is deffo something else at play. Will know tomorrow when results are back.

    Really pi*sed as I'd kept mortality under 2%...until now.
    I'd say uve been hit with a few strains, keep the head up. It get better. Can u let the young calves out?


  • #5931
    Milked out
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,433 ✭✭✭Milked out


    Text there from.teagasc, a lot of cases of grass tetany being reported so keep on top of the calmag


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  • #5932
    Dawggone
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,506 ✭✭✭Dawggone


    kevthegaff wrote: »
    I'd say uve been hit with a few strains, keep the head up. It get better. Can u let the young calves out?

    If they stayed healthy until 15 days old they be out of the farm for veal. All are beef x's.


  • #5933
    Milked out
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,433 ✭✭✭Milked out


    Dawggone wrote: »
    blackdog1 wrote: »
    Do you get quick test kits in France? Bought one before tests for crypto, rota and ecoli results in 20 minutes and no vet needed.

    No quick tests like that are available here afaik.
    Fumigated the building this am.
    Two more dead but contagion seems to be slowing.
    All calves between 8 and 12 days old have died.
    Vet told me that that age group would die because from 8 days old they hav to start generating their own antibodies for rota...but there is deffo something else at play. Will know tomorrow when results are back.

    Really pi*sed as I'd kept mortality under 2%...until now.

    Nothing can dishearten more than losing calves. Had a bad run with spring calve this year as well. Dunno can u spare a man but if you could have someone firing in the electrolytes during the day and and another feed late at night, being on your own at them constantly is fierce tough. If you could use an electrolyte with sodium bicarbonate in it to help with acidosis as well. Vet here used to put baking soda in to the drip if a calf was put on drip.


  • #5934
    blackdog1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,185 ✭✭✭blackdog1


    Hope fumigating works for you. I'd still hit it with 6% hydrogen Peroxide solution. Crypto has an ocylst that is very hard to break down. According to people formaldehyde fumigating works


  • #5935
    Dawggone
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,506 ✭✭✭Dawggone


    Milked out wrote: »
    Nothing can dishearten more than losing calves. Had a bad run with spring calve this year as well. Dunno can u spare a man but if you could have someone firing in the electrolytes during the day and and another feed late at night, being on your own at them constantly is fierce tough. If you could use an electrolyte with sodium bicarbonate in it to help with acidosis as well. Vet here used to put baking soda in to the drip if a calf was put on drip.

    I'm on it. Four feeds per day. None on drips...the bica is included in the electrolyte.


  • #5936
    alps
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,284 ✭✭✭alps


    Milked out wrote: »
    Text there from.teagasc, a lot of cases of grass tetany being reported so keep on top of the calmag

    Got a load of ration yesterday and driver said that that morning was like someone turned off the phones in the mill. Hardly any orders and trucks waiting around the yard for a bit of work. Looks like the minute it seemed safe to pull the feed....out it went..

    But was it safe...


  • #5937
    Milked out
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,433 ✭✭✭Milked out


    Other issue is lads may have had a load with a calmag feed rate for 4 or 5 kgs and then cut it back. Group meeting advisor said as much and if you are cutting back put it thru water or something. Some found the 1 kg calmag nut was unpalatable as well so some cows wouldn't eat it.


  • #5938
    jaymla627
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,128 ✭✭✭jaymla627


    alps wrote: »
    Got a load of ration yesterday and driver said that that morning was like someone turned off the phones in the mill. Hardly any orders and trucks waiting around the yard for a bit of work. Looks like the minute it seemed safe to pull the feed....out it went..

    But was it safe...

    Had exact same conversation today three out of six blowers parked up today, order nuts today at 12 and they where delivered 2 hours later


  • #5939
    Markcheese
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,995 ✭✭✭Markcheese


    Dawggone wrote:
    If they stayed healthy until 15 days old they be out of the farm for veal. All are beef x's.


    Dunno if its too hot ,but would it be possible to get them out of the calf sheds all together for a bit.? Maybe knock up shade/shelter out of pallets or something ... would have to be somewhere that you could keep a close eye though...

    Slava ukraini 🇺🇦



  • #5940
    alps
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,284 ✭✭✭alps


    Anyone get a protein hit lately. 3 day collection here which included a very wet Monday and Tuesday nights. Upped ration from 3 to 4 kg over the 3 milkings. Cows dropped 1l/day but protein plummeted from 3.51 to 3.36. Fats rema I ned exactly the same..cows rocking again, so let's see how fat that protein can recover..


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  • #5941
    whelan2
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 30,789 ✭✭✭✭whelan2


    Dawggone wrote: »
    No quick tests like that are available here afaik.
    Fumigated the building this am.
    Two more dead but contagion seems to be slowing.
    All calves between 8 and 12 days old have died.
    Vet told me that that age group would die because from 8 days old they hav to start generating their own antibodies for rota...but there is deffo something else at play. Will know tomorrow when results are back.

    Really pi*sed as I'd kept mortality under 2%...until now.
    How's it going now?


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