Farming Chit Chat

johngalway

moy83 wrote: »

Its the "considerable investment "that gets me every time

Now that's a coincidence :pac:

If you want another pipe dream (or maybe not) look into micro dairy and Jerseys

- Dexters are my newest fascination...

Muckit

1chippy wrote: »

Yeh took a few cubicles out, welded a 45mm steel tube from about four cubicles down, then fixed it to the gable wall. works a treat.

I think it was me that posted the photo of that creep idea! Good to know it gave a lad an idea to do the same

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056180522&page=2

Bizzum

Muckit wrote: »

I think it was me that posted the photo of that creep idea! Good to know it gave a lad an idea to do the same

Looks a good job. Does it work to your satisfaction?

johngalway

hiscan wrote: »

Very interesting tonight.

http://www.rte.ie/player/#!v=1129362

Wonder what they do with all the lambs.

reilig

johngalway wrote: »

Wonder what they do with all the lambs.

That came into my head too. Also, they kept talking about keeping 15,000 ewes. But when the showed the milking parlour, they said that they milked 2400 twice daily. The rest must suckle lams. Maybe they foster the lambs of the ewes that they milk??

5live

reilig wrote: »

That came into my head too. Also, they kept talking about keeping 15,000 ewes. But when the showed the milking parlour, they said that they milked 2400 twice daily. The rest must suckle lams. Maybe they foster the lambs of the ewes that they milk??

The ewes have only 6 month lactation iirc so they will have 2400 ready to lamb again when the first lot are dry. And they would have 3 farms (of 2400 milking and 2400 dry) as the processing plant is near Invercargill so the milk lorry collects from the farms supplying. That was my reading of it anyway

redzerologhlen

pakalasa wrote: »

Redz,
It would be no harm to get that cow PM'd. You might learn something.

Sorry, Wasnt on this since. Your right it would be nice to know whether it was something that could have been prevented (more than likely it could) but she went yesterday.

Bodacious

Fed up of this wind now... Cows heading for feeders leaning into the wind! It's harsh weather on them

johngalway

Bodacious wrote: »

Fed up of this wind now... Cows heading for feeders leaning into the wind! It's harsh weather on them

The sheep aren't happy either. Wind and rain, day in, day out. Dad, who is 77, and been farming since the 60's says he's never seen the land so wet.

just do it

Muckit wrote: »

I think it was me that posted the photo of that creep idea! Good to know it gave a lad an idea to do the same

What bedding do you use - much work involved with it?

1chippy

Thats the set up . cheers for that muck it. works a treat, .we just bed it with shavings every two days. find the calves always use it. We put ply wood on the last cubicle to stop any draught coming in the calves also. Also put half a 12 inch twin wall pipe on a frame for feeding a bit of crunch. will put in a low drinker at some stage to so they have there own supply of water. I was down with fabricator today and were starting a four bay open sided shed especially for cows and creep. 1 bay will be used as a dunkle two bays for sucklers and one for creep. was thinking of putting a small crush along the back of the pens exiting into the creep just for ease ofi ai. has anyone anything like this or a more inventive idea. Going cutting steel in two weeks so running out of tinker time.

Bodacious

johngalway wrote: »

The sheep aren't happy either. Wind and rain, day in, day out. Dad, who is 77, and been farming since the 60's says he's never seen the land so wet.

Hi John,

Your dad is bang on ,,.. place is saturated like ive never seen it! And no sign of wind easing tonight either

JohnBoy

What's a dunkle?

Kovu

JohnBoy wrote: »

What's a dunkle?

The pile of s**te that was left outside of the old byres.
My dad used to have heart failure when my brother and I ran across it for dares:o

On another topic, how does the icbf figures thing work? I only want to check one bull and I don't want to have to pay. Is there any other way of getting the info?

blue5000

Karen112 wrote: »

The pile of s**te that was left outside of the old byres.
My dad used to have heart failure when my brother and I ran across it for dares:o

On another topic, how does the icbf figures thing work? I only want to check one bull and I don't want to have to pay. Is there any other way of getting the info?

Type in his tag or ped name or ai code here

http://www.icbf.com/taurus/bull_search/index.php

Bizzum

1chippy wrote: »

was thinking of putting a small crush along the back of the pens exiting into the creep just for ease ofi ai. has anyone anything like this or a more inventive idea. Going cutting steel in two weeks so running out of tinker time.

If you already have a good crush available, would it be a runner to install the self locking feed barriers. You could AI away with them and they would stop the calves coming through the barriers!

Birdnuts

johngalway wrote: »

The sheep aren't happy either. Wind and rain, day in, day out. Dad, who is 77, and been farming since the 60's says he's never seen the land so wet.

Same with the in-laws in North Mayo - the weather has been pants since that fine spell at the end of April. The stock seem to spend most days in a heap under the nearest bit of shelter:(

reilig

Bloody house insurance has doubled in price since last year (€400 to €800) and I have no claims on it. Rang them up and they tell me that my contents insurance is a little high - mine is 26% of the rebuild cost, they say that 15% to 20% is more normal and this would reduce the cost quite a bit.

Also, do many people bother with accidental damage cover?

Going to get quotes from other companies.

Any advice on lowering the premium?

lakill Farm

Sometimes if you have a house alarm fitted (be careful they have clauses built in if the alarm isnt on) fbd dont discount. Also if there is a wired fire alarm.

Other companies discount if you have motor policy with them, or if you have a home policy no claim discount built up.

reilig wrote: »

Bloody house insurance has doubled in price since last year (€400 to €800) and I have no claims on it. Rang them up and they tell me that my contents insurance is a little high - mine is 26% of the rebuild cost, they say that 15% to 20% is more normal and this would reduce the cost quite a bit.

Also, do many people bother with accidental damage cover?

Going to get quotes from other companies.

Any advice on lowering the premium?

leg wax

i was told by ins company last year when i asked them how come my ins is 3 x cheaper now ,when i have 2 x the land ,3 x the cattle then when i was milking cows,answer ,dairy farmers can afford to pay more.gets you thinking its all about how much you are prepaired to pay,if iwas to look for a quote for the same in the west of ireland it would be cheaper again.

benjydagg

reilig wrote: »

Bloody house insurance has doubled in price since last year (€400 to €800) and I have no claims on it. Rang them up and they tell me that my contents insurance is a little high - mine is 26% of the rebuild cost, they say that 15% to 20% is more normal and this would reduce the cost quite a bit.

Also, do many people bother with accidental damage cover?

Going to get quotes from other companies.

Any advice on lowering the premium?

Have a look at Chimneysafe.com. FBD are giving a discount for having it installed. It eliminates ever having to sweep the chimney again.

snowman707

while having lunch o/h asked me if I had full cardiology cover with VHI, , cos you might need it when you see the renewal premium

annual premium is more than I built the house for in the mid 1970's... ok it's not a mansion but even so :mad:

blue5000

reilig wrote: »

Bloody house insurance has doubled in price since last year (€400 to €800) and I have no claims on it. Rang them up and they tell me that my contents insurance is a little high - mine is 26% of the rebuild cost, they say that 15% to 20% is more normal and this would reduce the cost quite a bit.

Also, do many people bother with accidental damage cover?

Going to get quotes from other companies.

Any advice on lowering the premium?

Got mine down a bit last time, told them the house wasn't worth what it was. They argued that replacement costs haven't gone down, told em if I had to re build I wouldn't be doin the garden, patio or septic tank etc. again.

Pays to shop around, a lot of the increases might be due to something big like 9/11 or a big oil spill, or on a local level floods last yr in Dublin:eek:. Risks would have been shared, a bit like the way bookies spread risk. So not every company gets caught with the same big events. This means that some companies have had less payout in the previous year so can quote better.:cool:

5live

reilig wrote: »

Bloody house insurance has doubled in price since last year (€400 to €800) and I have no claims on it. Rang them up and they tell me that my contents insurance is a little high - mine is 26% of the rebuild cost, they say that 15% to 20% is more normal and this would reduce the cost quite a bit.

Also, do many people bother with accidental damage cover?

Going to get quotes from other companies.

Any advice on lowering the premium?

Have a look at SCS.ie. Gives a breakdown on rebuilding costs. Helped me knock 20% off farm and house cover this year, along with a bit of help from another company and not paying for a week after the premium up. A bit risky if something goes wrong but it worked this year anyway:)

keep going

reilig wrote: »

Bloody house insurance has doubled in price since last year (€400 to €800) and I have no claims on it. Rang them up and they tell me that my contents insurance is a little high - mine is 26% of the rebuild cost, they say that 15% to 20% is more normal and this would reduce the cost quite a bit.

Also, do many people bother with accidental damage cover?

Going to get quotes from other companies.

Any advice on lowering the premium?

we are currently dealing with a relatives house fire the first thing ill tell you is -contents go for 100k +,second thing dont over insure re building .calculate your floor area -thats inside the walls and multiply by 120 or 130e thats roughly all your going to get,dosent matter if you insure for twice that .you might put in extra 10000e for rent + fire brigade.inevitably you will end up using some contents money to rebuild house and you will be paid for the contents new for old but nobody replaces every thing in the house that was burnt.thats why they like to shove down the contents and shove up the building cost.also you be amazed how much stuff people gather over the years

Muckit

snowman707 wrote: »

while having lunch o/h asked me if I had full cardiology cover with VHI, , cos you might need it when you see the renewal premium

annual premium is more than I built the house for in the mid 1970's... ok it's not a mansion but even so :mad:

A month's mortgage for the rest of us so

whelan1

snowman707 wrote: »

while having lunch o/h asked me if I had full cardiology cover with VHI, , cos you might need it when you see the renewal premium

annual premium is more than I built the house for in the mid 1970's... ok it's not a mansion but even so :mad:

is that the whole farm insurance? or just the house insurance? mine went up €400 but my husband had a claim after a tractor wheel fell on his hand and i had a revenue audit claim, so justified in the increase , first increase in a few years

Muckit

Bizzum wrote: »

Looks a good job. Does it work to your satisfaction?

Yes Plenty big enough to hold the calves for the number of cows that fit comfortably in the slatted pen. What I like about it is the flexibility of the design. Take the barrier off and it can be used for drystock and it's a small enough concrete area to not get overly dirty.

I think alot of lads get carried away with the size of creep pens. This I believe is due to a combination of possible restrictions regarding shed design and the necessity for the creep pen to be a certain width to gain tractor access for cleaning out.

just do it

whelan1 wrote: »

mine went up €400 but my husband had a claim after a tractor wheel fell on his hand and i had a revenue audit claim, so justified in the increase , first increase in a few years

I didn't realise you could claim a revenue a audit bill on your insurance. Did it cover the full bill, and the bill if your accountant?

whelan1

just do it wrote: »

I didn't realise you could claim a revenue a audit bill on your insurance. Did it cover the full bill, and the bill if your accountant?

just towards thje accountant... if it was to cover the fine sure no one would pay their tax:D

whelan1

got our 2 pet lambs killed this morning lad came to the yard and did them for us took them away and will cut them up and bag them , €30 each... would that be reasonable ?

johngalway

€30 down this part of the world too, have one booked in for Monday.

just do it

whelan1 wrote: »

just towards thje accountant... if it was to cover the fine sure no one would pay their tax:D

I hadn't thought of that, I must just be too honest!!!!

leg wax

when i went down to move the strip wire for the heifers on the turnips this morn all i could see was 1 heifer on her own layed out and no movement ,the language was sweet crossing over the field kicking every bloody turnip i saw ,ended up kicking 1 and it hit her on the back ,and up she jumped and straight thru the strip wire and ended bringing the other heifers with her,she was fast asleep in the warm sun shine,took me a hour to get them back out .

just do it

leg wax wrote: »

when i went down to move the strip wire for the heifers on the turnips this morn all i could see was 1 heifer on her own layed out and no movement ,the language was sweet crossing over the field kicking every bloody turnip i saw ,ended up kicking 1 and it hit her on the back ,and up she jumped and straight thru the strip wire and ended bringing the other heifers with her,she was fast asleep in the warm sun shine,took me a hour to get them back out .

..... "and after a fleeting minute of joy when he realised she was still alive, the sweet language returned as he wiled away an hour rounding the b****es up!".

It's one of those incidents that are very frustrating at the time but is a great story for the pub over the years to come!!:D

snowman707

Beautiful morning here ..our 4 Lisdoonvarna ewes (as they have been affectionately christened) and their 9 lambs out on grass,,

a cock pheasant who is quite tame and has been around the meal troughs for a couple of weeks being chased by the mothers , just runs away enough to avoid a head butt

whelan1

was a great stretch in the evening yesterday evening, didnt turn lights on in sheds til 5...

johngalway

johngalway wrote: »

€30 down this part of the world too, have one booked in for Monday.

Operation "Mint Sauce" has been put into action :cool:

pakalasa

whelan1 wrote: »

was a great stretch in the evening yesterday evening, didnt turn lights on in sheds til 5...

When you're part-time and rushing home to do the foddering, those extra few minutes of daylight after work make all the difference.

blue5000

I see we have 101 ppl viewing farm forestry pages atm. I wonder what's the most ppl that have been on at once?

Kovu

blue5000 wrote: »

I see we have 101 ppl viewing farm forestry pages atm. I wonder what's the most ppl that have been on at once?

105 now!

1chippy

heaps of questions for you here leg wax. The only turnips i see round here come on a plate. Maybe im asking obvious questions here but im presuming your feeding the heifers on a system on the same lines of kale. would you tell me a bit more on it or experience, costs and returns. Cheers.

limo_100

did any of use see the teagasc utube page some good videos on it

http://www.youtube.com/user/TeagascMedia

leg wax

1chippy wrote: »

heaps of questions for you here leg wax. The only turnips i see round here come on a plate. Maybe im asking obvious questions here but im presuming your feeding the heifers on a system on the same lines of kale. would you tell me a bit more on it or experience, costs and returns. Cheers.

costs and returns:eek:christ now thats one.straight up as i was telling muckit,i only set these crops because legwax does not like picking stones when reseeding a field,now this is all on a rented farm the owner drained and ripped the 2 paddocks in question and afterwards they were as rough as hell and legwaxs new fert spreader was hopping allover the place.the owner said thelast time he ploughed it they were on their hands and knees comeing out after picking stones for days,legwax said fook that so we said let the cattle do the work.costs i put them up before i cant be sure but seed 30-40 acre set 30 acre fert 3 bags 18 6 12 slurry and roll.at the moment i wont be setting any more as on this farm i have a slatted unit,but i would grow it 100% of the time and keep stock out rather that putting up a fancey shed and concrete.i am going to buy a video cam and i will see about putting up here,and hope to start up on you tube with my blue children.by the way anyone got a good name for you tube that will be catchy for farmers to remember.

whelan1

i'm off to the mart will report back later:D

leg wax

whelan1 wrote: »

i'm off to the mart will report back later:D

money money money is a rich mans world:D.

redzerologhlen

snowman707 wrote: »

Beautiful morning here ..our 4 Lisdoonvarna ewes (as they have been affectionately christened) and their 9 lambs out on grass,,

a cock pheasant who is quite tame and has been around the meal troughs for a couple of weeks being chased by the mothers , just runs away enough to avoid a head butt

You have me puzzled snowman because I cant think of anyone in the spa with sheep!!

whelan1

the guy that runs our local mart came over with a photo of my dad at a local cattle fair in the 1950's great picture to see, my da is the youngest in the photo by about 40 years, amazing to see my brother is the spitting image of my dad.... love seeing photos like that, every picture tells a story:)

Muckit

leg wax wrote: »

i am going to buy a video cam and i will see about putting up here,and hope to start up on you tube with my blue children

Good idea Have some video clips myself, must try load em up here. Took me a while to get hang of photos so could take me a while to figure it out!

reilig

Muckit wrote: »

Good idea Have some video clips myself, must try load em up here. Took me a while to get hang of photos so could take me a while to figure it out!

Load them onto youtube and then when you want to post them on boards, click on the youtube tab in the message reply box and this will allow you to wrap tags around the video and display it onto the post that you want it on.