Farming Chit Chat

bbam

Kovu Murr wrote: »

I've just been kicked out of my bed by a cat. Literally. So I'm getting all my booted and suited gear ready for a night on the couch.
In other words, mountaineering gear out of storage and air it so I can sleep in the cattle shed for 5 weeks

And people wonder why I'm single:rolleyes:

See!
And people wonder why I don't like cats.

td5man

delaval wrote: »

Does anyone use a timer on the cow paddock gap during grazing season?
Are they worthwhile?

Afaik you can get a gsm one that you can open with your phone. They have a buzzer to let the cows know when it open.

whelan1

going back to topic discussed the other day, listening to local radio, louth has the highest rate of burglaries in the country in 2012:eek:

bob charles

whelan1 wrote: »

going back to topic discussed the other day, listening to local radio, louth has the highest rate of burglaries in the country in 2012:eek:

thats because all the rich people live there, down around here you would be luck to get food in a house

hugo29

Kovu Murr wrote: »

I've just been kicked out of my bed by a cat. Literally. So I'm getting all my booted and suited gear ready for a night on the couch.
In other words, mountaineering gear out of storage and air it so I can sleep in the cattle shed for 5 weeks

And people wonder why I'm single:rolleyes:

try putting a advert in somewhere, "wanted person to share a bed in a slatted shed for 5 weeks":D see how many hits you get

i will be in the same boat me self soon, not looking forward, gave up the cigs at new year and you cant beat a cig at 3-30 am just after a cow calving, wonder what straw tastes like

lakill Farm

how come ye are planning at calving at night? isnt there evidence that if you feed the cows at 7-9pm they wount calve during the night :rolleyes:.

whelan1

lakill Farm wrote: »

how come ye are planning at calving at night? isnt there evidence that if you feed the cows at 7-9pm they wount calve during the night :rolleyes:.

some people love hardship:D

hugo29

lakill Farm wrote: »

how come ye are planning at calving at night? isnt there evidence that if you feed the cows at 7-9pm they wount calve during the night :rolleyes:.

I feed every evening usually after 7 sometimes later and last year half the cows calved during the day and the other half in the middle of night

td5man

hugo29 wrote: »

I feed every evening usually after 7 sometimes later and last year half the cows calved during the day and the other half in the middle of night

I feed in the evening and very rarely a cow calves between 2-6am

hugo29

maybe this year will be different, so far 3 calved and all day time so far, although when ur away at work that can be a pain too

Tipp Man

td5man wrote: »

Afaik you can get a gsm one that you can open with your phone. They have a buzzer to let the cows know when it open.

And what about the opening of the wire in the next paddock for the next grazing - surely that has to be done anyway??

And far more importantly how are you meant to assess how well a paddock is grazed if the cows are letting themselves in??

Sounds like pure laziness to me

Tipp Man

lakill Farm wrote: »

how come ye are planning at calving at night? isnt there evidence that if you feed the cows at 7-9pm they wount calve during the night :rolleyes:.

Who wants to be feeding cows at 9pm??

darragh_haven

Tipp Man wrote: »

And what about the opening of the wire in the next paddock for the next grazing - surely that has to be done anyway??

And far more importantly how are you meant to assess how well a paddock is grazed if the cows are letting themselves in??

Sounds like pure laziness to me

If you mean lazy as being smart and time saving... yes.
The cows dont let themselves in. If you want to start milking at 6 in the evening and they are in the far off field, set it for 5:30 and they will be standing in the yard at 6. It save you going out to the field and the slower b1tchs wasting half an hour hunting them in.

Tipp Man

darragh_haven wrote: »

If you mean lazy as being smart and time saving... yes.
The cows dont let themselves in. If you want to start milking at 6 in the evening and they are in the far off field, set it for 5:30 and they will be standing in the yard at 6. It save you going out to the field and the slower b1tchs wasting half an hour hunting them in.

And how are you to monitor how the cows are grazing the paddocks out? will they get another grazing in the paddock etc?

Nothing smart about it - just lazy

bbam

Tipp Man wrote: »

Who wants to be feeding cows at 9pm??

I work full time off farm so it's usually six to six thirty when I'm home.
Swing round by the shed still in "office" attire and make they're all standing.

In get the dinner, chat with kids and herself. Get to feeding about seven/seven thirty.

Two evenings the older girl has stuff on and I'll have the 4 year old until half eight, is nine when I get feeding up those two evenings.

I wouldn't choose it, but sometimes there is no choice.

Tipp Man

bbam wrote: »

I work full time off farm so it's usually six to six thirty when I'm home.
Swing round by the shed still in "office" attire and make they're all standing.

In get the dinner, chat with kids and herself. Get to feeding about seven/seven thirty.

Two evenings the older girl has stuff on and I'll have the 4 year old until half eight, is nine when I get feeding up those two evenings.

I wouldn't choose it, but sometimes there is no choice.

I understand your (anymany others) situation - i was more referring to full time farmers and dairy farmers

just do it

hugo29 wrote: »

maybe this year will be different, so far 3 calved and all day time so far, although when ur away at work that can be a pain too

Same as that, my preference is night time

lakill Farm

Tipp Man wrote: »

Who wants to be feeding cows at 9pm??

I dont calve cows at all. It does be 7-8pm when i do feed. Grape up in the morning.

darragh_haven

Tipp Man wrote: »

And how are you to monitor how the cows are grazing the paddocks out? will they get another grazing in the paddock etc?

Nothing smart about it - just lazy

It takes 2 minutes to skip out to the field on the quad to check it out. A lot of farmers operate a system where the far fields will only be grazed by day and the near fields by night.... therefore cows are in the parlor in less that 10 mins and the day starts off quickly. and the cow wont go back to that field until after the evening milking. the use of a "Batt-Latch" of timer latch reduces the time spent hunting cows which could be up to an hour a day on some farms. Its all part of smart time management and grassland management.

Tipp Man

darragh_haven wrote: »

It takes 2 minutes to skip out to the field on the quad to check it out. A lot of farmers operate a system where the far fields will only be grazed by day and the near fields by night.... therefore cows are in the parlor in less that 10 mins and the day starts off quickly. and the cow wont go back to that field until after the evening milking. the use of a "Batt-Latch" of timer latch reduces the time spent hunting cows which could be up to an hour a day on some farms. Its all part of smart time management and grassland management.

We will have to agree to disagree

cows should graze out a paddock entirely - not part graze it, different paddock for night and then back to it. That has a huge detrimental effect on paddock regrowth as the cows are chopping the initial regrowth. The same as you shouldn't run dry cows or heifers behind the milking cows

bob charles

Tipp Man wrote: »

Who wants to be feeding cows at 9pm??

I dont, but find i constantly am, keeps the crows at bay feeding at night

jfh

rather than add to an old post, i'm going to put this query in here, mod please feel free to move,
where are people getting their tags, we usually get everything though mullinahone.
is there much advantage going with enfer?
thanks

whelan1

jfh wrote: »

rather than add to an old post, i'm going to put this query in here, mod please feel free to move,
where are people getting their tags, we usually get everything though mullinahone.
is there much advantage going with enfer?
thanks

afaik enfer just do the testing and mullinahone just do the tags 2 different jobs, i use enfer for the testing and i am very happy with the service, get the tags from mullinahone

redzerologhlen

Heres a post I spotted of facebook earlier by James Alexander (jalex herd) about the horsemeat saga, I thought it showed the farmers perspective on the whole thing very well.

Right guys, i know the whole horse burgers/tescos scandal is very amusing and some people have been quite inventive on photoshop to show the lighter side of this story.

But the truth of the matter is I like every farmer out there spend far too much of my time jumping through hoops trying to keep the paperwork side of my farm right, whether it be Farm Quality Assurance, Cross Compliance Inspections, calves registered in time and correctly, every animal carrying 2 tags at all times permits/passport correct and reported, medicine books to prove that the animals we slaughter have no antibiotics in their system, the list goes on and on and on

And God forbid if we make a mistake- dont register a calf in time, put the wrong sex/colour down, have a cow with no tags on farm, forget to post the passport in time, if any of these happen the animal is given more letters behind its number than Stephen Hawking. And is near impossible to get sold.

We are told that this is all to increase loyalty and build confidence, to assure the public and customers of our produce that what they are buying is the best, that the animals are well cared for, that we have full trace-ability.

All that work we do and all the hoops we jump through, all the trace-ability and records from birth to slaughter that we meticulously keep, all goes to pot when the animal goes to the meat plant, then the rules seem to change.

How can it be the case that the UKs largest food retailer can sell meat and not even know what type of meat they are selling let alone trace it back to the farm where it was born/reared/finished. Does that not make all the extra work we do nil and void. i am not sure about you but i could find enough to do on the farm just trying to care for stock and do my best with them without having to spend a huge proportion of my time in the office behind a computer screen trying to keep my records in order.

I am trying to keep ever animal on the farm alive and thriving and trying to keep ever animal on the farm perfect on paper, every birth, every movement, every injection/vaccination, clear from the dreaded letters NMN/NNO,LMN,IDQ,DOBQ, etc. so that if i can do my job correctly and it does live and make it to slaughter it can be processed thrown in a pot along with a bit of horse that came from who know where in what who knows what state, to be sold to my public buyer as prime UK beef. All trace-ability lost, all my records and paper work wasted.

Na Folks that doesn't add up.

Surely this is an opportunity to get things in line, our labeling, the meat plants, the super markets.

I have a FQA inspection next Wednesday, the checklist is a page long, pic attached, what am i doing that all for if the meat plants can add what they want and the retailer doesn't even know it!

So whats the plan?
and whats your thoughts?
lets use FB properly.

bogman_bass

the enfer tags are just if you want to test an adult animal. Their tags are not part of the national erradication scheme

Muckit

Is there a time limit on sending back the button tag for a Dec 2012 born calf?

Timmaay

Muckit wrote: »

Is there a time limit on sending back the button tag for a Dec 2012 born calf?

Don't think so, but in terms of if the calf is a PI then sooner you get rid of it the better to stop it spreading to other animals.

Injuryprone

darragh_haven wrote: »

It takes 2 minutes to skip out to the field on the quad to check it out. A lot of farmers operate a system where the far fields will only be grazed by day and the near fields by night.... therefore cows are in the parlor in less that 10 mins and the day starts off quickly. and the cow wont go back to that field until after the evening milking. the use of a "Batt-Latch" of timer latch reduces the time spent hunting cows which could be up to an hour a day on some farms. Its all part of smart time management and grassland management.

Do you have a link for that product?

whelan1

just went down to end of the lane to get the wheelie bins, fook sake driving wind and rain on the way back up, couldnt breathe with the driving rain and its really cold too

delaval

Really bad forecast for next few days no cow due to calve here for 2 weeks T.G.

Birdnuts

whelan1 wrote: »

just went down to end of the lane to get the wheelie bins, fook sake driving wind and rain on the way back up, couldnt breathe with the driving rain and its really cold too

Are you far from the coast Mrs W?? - your part of the world could see alot of snow tommorow!!

whelan1

Birdnuts wrote: »

Are you far from the coast Mrs W?? - your part of the world could see alot of snow tommorow!!

abot 7 miles from the sea...

delaval

darragh_haven wrote: »

It takes 2 minutes to skip out to the field on the quad to check it out. A lot of farmers operate a system where the far fields will only be grazed by day and the near fields by night.... therefore cows are in the parlor in less that 10 mins and the day starts off quickly. and the cow wont go back to that field until after the evening milking. the use of a "Batt-Latch" of timer latch reduces the time spent hunting cows which could be up to an hour a day on some farms. Its all part of smart time management and grassland management.

Do you use one or where can they be got?

just do it

jfh wrote: »

rather than add to an old post, i'm going to put this query in here, mod please feel free to move,
where are people getting their tags, we usually get everything though mullinahone.
is there much advantage going with enfer?
thanks

I was on the enfer website earlier and for ordering tags they provide the link to the mullinahone website. I believe there was a tender for the tags so that would mean there is only one supplier.

Birdnuts

whelan1 wrote: »

abot 7 miles from the sea...

I assume your not too high up(less then 250 feet??) so hopefully you will miss the worst.

Timmaay

delaval wrote: »

Really bad forecast for next few days no cow due to calve here for 2 weeks T.G.

Same here, next cow not due until early Feb! Stupid easterly breeze though, parlour is very exposed on that side so milking isn't fun at the minute!

delaval

Just this evening did not enjoy milking weather really pissing us all off

delaval

Rain pelting window going for a pint to compare hardship with my neighbours!!!!!!!

hugo29

whelan1 wrote: »

just went down to end of the lane to get the wheelie bins, fook sake driving wind and rain on the way back up, couldnt breathe with the driving rain and its really cold too

Same here except rain not as bad more like sleet

darragh_haven

delaval wrote: »

Do you use one or where can they be got?

My dad got one in NZ 20 years ago, we used it till we got out of cows a few years ago. Our neighbour bought it off us and still uses it. I'll put up a link tomorrow and pm the 2 of ye that asked about it.

bbam

Nice covering of snow here this morning. Decent wind too so if it snows much I can see it gathering up.

whelan1

bbam wrote: »

Nice covering of snow here this morning. Decent wind too so if it snows much I can see it gathering up.

no snow here , but driving rain and its reallllllllly cold

freedominacup

whelan1 wrote: »

no snow here , but driving rain and its reallllllllly cold

Huge dump of rain here yesterday evening and last night. 8 degrees and sunny now, good bit of rain forecast for the next few days but no cold down here unless that cold front shifts west a good bit.

kevthegaff

freedominacup wrote: »

Huge dump of rain here yesterday evening and last night. 8 degrees and sunny now, good bit of rain forecast for the next few days but no cold down here unless that cold front shifts west a good bit.

feckin tanks are all full, the joys of it!

freedominacup

kevthegaff wrote: »

feckin tanks are all full, the joys of it!

+1 every hostage to fortune I took in the past forthnight has got me into trouble, cell counts, grazing and slurry. I'll try to keep the gob shut in future:(

whelan1

kind of same here spoke about scc and an hour later got a glanbia alert text:mad: was halved by the next collection and i did nothing different.. has the glanbia limit been reduced to 350?

mf240

whelan1 wrote: »

kind of same here spoke about scc and an hour later got a glanbia alert text:mad: was halved by the next collection and i did nothing different.. has the glanbia limit been reduced to 350?

it's going down 25 a year to 300 it was 375 last year

freedominacup

whelan1 wrote: »

kind of same here spoke about scc and an hour later got a glanbia alert text:mad: was halved by the next collection and i did nothing different.. has the glanbia limit been reduced to 350?

I thought it was 300. Ours spiked from 170 to 470 over a couple of colections no sign of mastits. Then we spotted a fairly severe mortellaro infection treated it for 3 days and footbathed a couple of times, problem treated and second collection cell count back down to 150.

chippie1

have cows due to calve in late april (outside hopefully) and have access to a cubicle behind them, how many is recommended per bay as have seven at mo and have no where to put a store heifer to be put in calf around march.

redzerologhlen

Awful rain here last night too. Have a Burren Life inspection now, I hope all my work was up to scratch for them.