Livestock/General Farming photo thread TAKE #2 ::::RULES IN 1st POST::::

Limestone Cowboy

funkey_monkey wrote: »

How did your calving go this year? Did you have the vet out any times or were you able to calve them all your self?
Those are class calves but I'd imagine calving could be problematic with them, are they?

The most of the charolais came grand, had to pull a few of the bulls alright and lost 1 that I should have done a section on but I didn't think them too bad overall. The cow calved the heifer in the pic herself. The lim calves out of the springers broke my heart though, 3 sections, lost 1 calving and big pulls with the rest of them. Had 2 2yo heifers that broke to a neighbours ch bull that I had to section too so overall not that good. Ive only had 1 section out of the ch bull in 2 years and the calf was upside down and backwards.

Limestone Cowboy

Mac Taylor wrote: »

Ah.....very average.....have you anything better:D

Real smasher btw....

Ha, she's nearly at the top of the pile at the moment. Have a few nice bull calves but they are a good bit younger. Will be nice when they fill out.

ABlur

Farmyard barbeque who needs the beach!

funkey_monkey

Anyone know where I'd get a trace element dispenser from and cost?
Looking at this but can't get a price:
http://www.peta.co.nz/dispensers/multi-purpose-dispenser/

They screw into a gallon jar and dispense zinc, trace lements etc.

patsy_mccabe

As handy as a piece of baling twine........

Got these from a neighbour today. I help him bring in the rest with my tractor and trailer.

High bike

U must like hardship patsy��

funkey_monkey

How much roughly does it cost for AI technican minus cost of straws approx?

patsy_mccabe

High bike wrote: »

U must like hardship patsy��

A bit of that alright. 2 forking together and it's a much easier job.
Small balers going flat out around here.

patsy_mccabe

funkey_monkey wrote: »

How much roughly does it cost for AI technican minus cost of straws approx?

€25 with Munster, if you have your own straws.

High bike

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

A bit of that alright. 2 forking together and it's a much easier job.
Small balers going flat out around here.

knots down and out I remember the fcukers

patsy_mccabe

High bike wrote: »

knots down and out I remember the fcukers

We haven't made small bales here since the 80s. They are fierce handy to have though.

High bike

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

We haven't made small bales here since the 80s. They are fierce handy to have though.

same here but ur right a hundred in a shed are hady but too much work involved for me at this stage

funkey_monkey

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

€25 with Munster, if you have your own straws.

Thanks.

Anyone know who has Stabiliser straws for sale here in Ireland?
I know Cogent is the UK agent, but does anyone here hold them?

Hard Knocks

funkey_monkey wrote: »

Thanks.

Anyone know who has Stabiliser straws for sale here in Ireland?
I know Cogent is the UK agent, but does anyone here hold them?

Cogent & Eurogene work together
K Genetics and Elite Pedigree could be worth a call

funkey_monkey

Thanks.
Eurogene only list two of the black bulls.
Might go for an easy calving Char or one of the Ampertaine Limos.

Limestone Cowboy

Lovely.

Albert Johnson

Limestone Cowboy wrote: »

Lovely.

They find new ways to make the same mistakes all the time. At least you'll not need much help to pull him out, was he in it awhile with the way his jaw is marked?

Limestone Cowboy

Albert Johnson wrote: »

They find new ways to make the same mistakes all the time. At least you'll not need much help to pull him out, was he in it awhile with the way his jaw is marked?

She was with the cows yesterday anyway. I was gone working today and lucky the aul fella did the herding and rang to say she was missing and the cow was going around bawling. I had a fair job to get her out, had to get the aul fella to come up with the quad. She didn't get up yet either, has power in the legs but very stiff in 1 side. Looks to be a good bit of swelling on 1 side of her back. This happens at some stage nearly every year, have a good few of those swallow holes in my place. That hole wasn't too bad but some of them have a lot of jagged rocks inside around them and the tear themselves asunder trying to get out. They don't stay in the same place either so not much you can do with them.

Albert Johnson

Limestone Cowboy wrote: »

She was with the cows yesterday anyway. I was gone working today and lucky the aul fella did the herding and rang to say she was missing and the cow was going around bawling. I had a fair job to get her out, had to get the aul fella to come up with the quad. She didn't get up yet either, has power in the legs but very stiff in 1 side. Looks to be a good bit of swelling on 1 side of her back. This happens at some stage nearly every year, have a good few of those swallow holes in my place. That hole wasn't too bad but some of them have a lot of jagged rocks inside around them and the tear themselves asunder trying to get out. They don't stay in the same place either so not much you can do with them.

Every day brings its own challenges, hopefully it's only a temporary setback. My father's home place has a few fields like that, it's limestone land with a lot of underground rivers. The hole might only start out the size of your fist but would keep crumbling away with time. A cow might step into it and with the effort of trying to get out she'd keep widening the hole until she was buried. As you said there's not much can be done although he reckons that they caused more bother years back for whatever reason.

Limestone Cowboy

Albert Johnson wrote: »

Every day brings its own challenges, hopefully it's only a temporary setback. My father's home place has a few fields like that, it's limestone land with a lot of underground rivers. The hole might only start out the size of your fist but would keep crumbling away with time. A cow might step into it and with the effort of trying to get out she'd keep widening the hole until she was buried. As you said there's not much can be done although he reckons that they caused more bother years back for whatever reason.

Ya that's it exactly, both places I have that they are in are limestone ground at the source of a small river at the bottom of a valley, water bursts up through the ground in them when we get a flood. I have filled loads of them and it's a waste of time, a new one just opens again somwhere else instead of it. You'd see different ones that are much bigger and deeper where the limestone meets the bog around here. There was a part of my grandmother's homeplace that was notorious for them that they planted years ago, my father and his family pulled dozens of cows out of them over the years and he always said very few of them did any good after it, could be down 10ft+. A very popular spot for going caving now though.

Albert Johnson

Limestone Cowboy wrote: »

Ya that's it exactly, both places I have that they are in are limestone ground at the source of a small river at the bottom of a valley, water bursts up through the ground in them when we get a flood. I have filled loads of them and it's a waste of time, a new one just opens again somwhere else instead of it. You'd see different ones that are much bigger and deeper where the limestone meets the bog around here. There was a part of my grandmother's homeplace that was notorious for them that they planted years ago, my father and his family pulled dozens of cows out of them over the years and he always said very few of them did any good after it, could be down 10ft+. A very popular spot for going caving now though.

It's just a feature of the ground seemingly and there's no real remedy as such. I must ask him more about it because I've never heard of anything getting stuck in one recently but it seemed commonplace when he was young. Yes he said they would often be a few foot down and it was an ordeal to get them out although I suppose help was a lot more plentiful in those days.

A neighbor rang me a few weeks back in a panic about a heifer in a bog drain. They must have gotten a fright with deer and ran down through the fence into a bog on the back of a remote bit of hill grazing. It's a good 20 minute's of a walk from the nearest road with no other access. The heifer was about 450kg and buried to her neck in a big soft drain. The auld lad, my brother, her owner and myself spent over an hour pulling and dragging before we freed her. There'd be no chance of getting near her other than on foot as it's all covered in scrub. Help would be in short supply locally and the few that are left are all 60+ and most long more so not suited to hardship.

funkey_monkey

Do many on here finish cattle? If so, what scale are you operating on?

Got a few young bull calves this year and was wondering just how feasible it is to finish them ourselves - or whether volume is needed to make it work.
Seems to be a lot of ration required to finish them - not sure if we should be thinking of it.

patsy_mccabe

Amazed at how well cattle are thriving in the drought.. This is my 20 month old teaser bull. Hardly anything to eat for the last few months and he's nearly fit to kill.

bogman_bass

funkey_monkey wrote: »

Do many on here finish cattle? If so, what scale are you operating on?

Got a few young bull calves this year and was wondering just how feasible it is to finish them ourselves - or whether volume is needed to make it work.
Seems to be a lot of ration required to finish them - not sure if we should be thinking of it.

Not a bit. Finish cattle off grass no bother. Now i’ve Gone in with meal this week but that’s due to the drought.
Proper May silage over the winter and away you go.

Figerty

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

Amazed at how well cattle are thriving in the drought.. This is my 20 month old teaser bull. Hardly anything to eat for the last few months and he's nearly fit to kill.

Very little fluke this year, and I've noticed no ticks on cattle this year. Dry weather has many benifits.

Lady Haywire

Figerty wrote: »

Very little fluke this year, and I've noticed no ticks on cattle this year. Dry weather has many benifits.

Ticks are alive & well in Leitrim. My legs are destroyed with the little shíts.

Limestone Cowboy

Figerty wrote: »

Very little fluke this year, and I've noticed no ticks on cattle this year. Dry weather has many benifits.

There has hardly been a day in the last 2 months I haven't pulled a tick off myself. Horrible little things.

tanko

Heard of a couple of cases of Redwater locally last week.

ballinadog

funkey_monkey wrote: »

Do many on here finish cattle? If so, what scale are you operating on?

Got a few young bull calves this year and was wondering just how feasible it is to finish them ourselves - or whether volume is needed to make it work.
Seems to be a lot of ration required to finish them - not sure if we should be thinking of it.

We finish approx 45 - 50 Steers each year. Ideally April/May born, bought in Oct, Nov at 18 months, kept for the year and let off to Factory just prior to them hitting 30 months. Rinse & repeat. Ya wont get rich at it but ya wont go hungry either...

Re your own, if they decent quality (avg R= Grade) and not gone too strong, squeeze them and that negates the necessity for all the Ration...

Hard Knocks

tanko wrote: »

Heard of a couple of cases of Redwater locally last week.

Heard the same and ground that never had an issue before