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

tanko

To be honest, she's lacking in milk. She has good docility, fertility and calves herself every year. According to icbf she's only a 2.5 star cow.
Here's a 3 star TKO x HE cow with a nice KJB heifer.

I've a few ION cows here, they've plenty of conformation and muscle and great calving ability but milk isn't their strong point.

Connemara Farmer

Bit of lime put out today, killed a few thistles as well. Rain tomorrow :eek:

just do it

Connemara Farmer wrote: »

Bit of lime put out today, killed a few thistles as well. Rain tomorrow :eek:

Place is looking well ConFar

Connemara Farmer

just do it wrote: »

Place is looking well ConFar

Thanks, long ways to go before I'm happy with it though. Soil test results were bad, the word "starved" was mentioned. Despite putting out fert each year, no lime! So lime is the priority from now on. Paddocks & water system, small bit more spraying. Then we'll get to the interesting stuff

Limestone Cowboy

tanko wrote: »

To be honest, she's lacking in milk. She has good docility, fertility and calves herself every year. According to icbf she's only a 2.5 star cow.
Here's a 3 star TKO x HE cow with a nice KJB heifer.

I've a few ION cows here, they've plenty of conformation and muscle and great calving ability but milk isn't their strong point.

The calf doesn't look to be hungry but I see your point alright. My lad seems to be breeding them very square and muscly aswell. Have plenty of milk in the cows at the moment but don't really want to breed it out of them either. Serious step up in quality from the last couple of lim bulls we had though. Best bunch of calves we ever had and very quiet too. Still not much good without milk though, baffles me how a cow can be 4.5star maternal yet only have 1 star for milk. Another bull that Ncbc brought in aswell to breed replacements that didn't do what it said on the tin.

Limestone Cowboy

Connemara Farmer wrote: »

Thanks, long ways to go before I'm happy with it though. Soil test results were bad, the word "starved" was mentioned. Despite putting out fert each year, no lime! So lime is the priority from now on. Paddocks & water system, small bit more spraying. Then we'll get to the interesting stuff

Looks like the richest bit of ground in Connemara to me did you go with the bag lime or ground?

Connemara Farmer

Limestone Cowboy wrote: »

Looks like the richest bit of ground in Connemara to me did you go with the bag lime or ground?

Had to sell my soul to the devil and use the bagged stuff, no way of handling the ground lime which would be my preference to use.

Two sample areas tested ph of 4.99 & 4.80 :eek: Wouldn't mind so much but the last ph I remember was 5.1, going the wrong way!

There'll be a permanent dust cloud over my place now :pac:

Limestone Cowboy

Connemara Farmer wrote: »

Had to sell my soul to the devil and use the bagged stuff, no way of handling the ground lime which would be my preference to use.

Two sample areas tested ph of 4.99 & 4.80 :eek: Wouldn't mind so much but the last ph I remember was 5.1, going the wrong way!

There'll be a permanent dust cloud over my place now :pac:

I put out 4 bags to the acre of 10-10-20 and g-lime on similar enough type ground (but not quite as rough) this year that was seriously poor. It changed the colour of it anyway! Great the see the cattle peeling it now as they graze it.

Connemara Farmer

Limestone Cowboy wrote: »

I put out 4 bags to the acre of 10-10-20 and g-lime on similar enough type ground (but not quite as rough) this year that was seriously poor. It changed the colour of it anyway! Great the see the cattle peeling it now as they graze it.

4 bags to the acre, jaysus! Looks good though.

I put three bags of Granlime to the acre on the bit in the photo above this year and one bag of fert. Slooooooooow - stop growth, but the weather was cold as well.

Limestone Cowboy

Connemara Farmer wrote: »

4 bags to the acre, jaysus! Looks good though.

I put three bags of Granlime to the acre on the bit in the photo above this year and one bag of fert. Slooooooooow - stop growth, but the weather was cold as well.

It was soil tested 6 or 7 years ago and needed a silly amount of lime and hadn't got it in the meantime so I figured it hadn't got any better since. 10 acres in it so it got the whole pallet of both. I'll be getting it soil tested again for glad so will try and be a bit more targeted in what it gets next year. Fair bit of irony in it being seriously lacking in lime too considering its location.

Bullocks

Limestone Cowboy wrote: »

I put out 4 bags to the acre of 10-10-20 and g-lime on similar enough type ground (but not quite as rough) this year that was seriously poor. It changed the colour of it anyway! Great the see the cattle peeling it now as they graze it.

Did you notice extra weeds popping up with the boost of fert ? I did 3 acres like that and have docks and thistles flying better than ever before but a much more lush and plentiful grass on it . Bit of spray and it should be gorgeous next year altogether!

Connemara Farmer

Limestone Cowboy wrote: »

It was soil tested 6 or 7 years ago and needed a silly amount of lime and hadn't got it in the meantime so I figured it hadn't got any better since. 10 acres in it so it got the whole pallet of both. I'll be getting it soil tested again for glad so will try and be a bit more targeted in what it gets next year. Fair bit of irony in it being seriously lacking in lime too considering its location.

Lol, there is, I hadn't copped that. Lad I was talking to reckoned I'm wasting my time with fert until I get the PH situation sorted, I kinda half agree. Another lad I was talking to reckoned he lashed out lime and had serious grass, a result of freed up nutrients in the ground, still not sure about that as I think 3 bags to the acre that I put out is a good bit and I hadn't much grass at all this year. More black magic than science to this craic.

Limestone Cowboy

Bullocks wrote: »

Did you notice extra weeds popping up with the boost of fert ? I did 3 acres like that and have docks and thistles flying better than ever before but a much more lush and plentiful grass on it . Bit of spray and it should be gorgeous next year altogether!

Not really, I had the rushes licked last September and spent a few evening cutting them with the strimmers. Bit of lions paw in it alright but no worse than before. Killed the most of the flowers which will knock a few hundred off the Burren life payment aswell. Was neither good for winter or summer the way it was though. Good few thistles at the bottom of the hill alright but they were always in it too.

Limestone Cowboy

Connemara Farmer wrote: »

Lol, there is, I hadn't copped that. Lad I was talking to reckoned I'm wasting my time with fert until I get the PH situation sorted, I kinda half agree. Another lad I was talking to reckoned he lashed out lime and had serious grass, a result of freed up nutrients in the ground, still not sure about that as I think 3 bags to the acre that I put out is a good bit and I hadn't much grass at all this year. More black magic than science to this craic.

It definitely makes s big difference anyway. Anywhere I have put it out I have got a great kick out of it. Have to use the bag stuff to because there's very little of our ground you could travel with a lime spreader. Be interesting to see soil sample results at the end of the year. Going to try and get it right here over the next few years but it'll be an expensive job I'm afraid.

CloughCasey1

Connemara Farmer wrote: »

Thanks, long ways to go before I'm happy with it though. Soil test results were bad, the word "starved" was mentioned. Despite putting out fert each year, no lime! So lime is the priority from now on. Paddocks & water system, small bit more spraying. Then we'll get to the interesting stuff

Get in a ex60 for a week and you'd take 70% of those stones. Unless they are like icebergs and are 90% underground. I've light land with the world of stones but cannot compare to your situation. Your a credit to connemara. Majority of lads keep a few sucklers on crap and look forward to SFP.

Connemara Farmer

CloughCasey1 wrote: »

Get in a ex60 for a week and you'd take 70% of those stones. Unless they are like icebergs and are 90% underground. I've light land with the world of stones but cannot compare to your situation. Your a credit to connemara. Majority of lads keep a few sucklers on crap and look forward to SFP.

I'm not ready to show ye the crap bit at the moment :pac: It's a work in progress.

Only yesterday when I was doing those couple of jobs was I thinking about a machine, it might happen in the future yet. I know a couple of local lads who were looking at buying a heavy duty rock drill like ESB use, to bore holes then put in that expanding stuff to break them. They've a spreader like the one above and we've both the same issues, finding straight runs on the ground.

ganmo

CloughCasey1 wrote: »

Get in a ex60 for a week and you'd take 70% of those stones. Unless they are like icebergs and are 90% underground. I've light land with the world of stones but cannot compare to your situation. Your a credit to connemara. Majority of lads keep a few sucklers on crap and look forward to SFP.

a neighbour here was trying to get a flat place to build a bit of a hut for his donkeys so he got in a himac to clear a spot...the digger man found a rock he reckoned was 10T...its still there overshadowing the hut

Reggie.

Connemara Farmer wrote: »

I'm not ready to show ye the crap bit at the moment :pac: It's a work in progress.

Only yesterday when I was doing those couple of jobs was I thinking about a machine, it might happen in the future yet. I know a couple of local lads who were looking at buying a heavy duty rock drill like ESB use, to bore holes then put in that expanding stuff to break them. They've a spreader like the one above and we've both the same issues, finding straight runs on the ground.

Expanding stuff.....ya mean dynamite

CloughCasey1

Reggie. wrote: »

Expanding stuff.....ya mean dynamite

Jaysus Reggie might be a sideline for ya importing tnt into the whest from the day job!!

Connemara Farmer

Reggie. wrote: »

Expanding stuff.....ya mean dynamite

That would be more my style than theirs, but to be fair their idea would mean a lot less mess.

Reggie.

Connemara Farmer wrote: »

That would be more my style than theirs, but to be fair their idea would mean a lot less mess.

Sure half of it would end up in your neighbours field. Problem halved

onyerbikepat

Connemara Farmer wrote: »

...... Another lad I was talking to reckoned he lashed out lime and had serious grass, a result of freed up nutrients in the ground, ......

I noticed the same this year after I put out lime last year. Soil indexes were both 3 for p and K, but PH down at 4.5 (crazy, I know). Completely changed the field. Even the colour of the grass changed to a darker green. It got 3T to the acre.

Connemara Farmer

Reggie. wrote: »

Sure half of it would end up in your neighbours field. Problem halved

I would not begrudge them the "fill" either

onyerbikepat wrote: »

I noticed the same this year after I put out lime last year. Soil indexes were both 3 for p and K, but PH down at 4.5 (crazy, I know). Completely changed the field. Even the colour of the grass changed to a darker green. It got 3T to the acre.

Hopefully gran lime will have similar results here. I do want to put on ground limestone but until I make a road into the place......... That's min 2-3 years away yet though.

just do it

Connemara Farmer wrote: »

Thanks, long ways to go before I'm happy with it though. Soil test results were bad, the word "starved" was mentioned. Despite putting out fert each year, no lime! So lime is the priority from now on. Paddocks & water system, small bit more spraying. Then we'll get to the interesting stuff

Is it not limestone land like the burren?

Connemara Farmer

just do it wrote: »

Is it not limestone land like the burren?

Not even close, granite with the odd bit of quartz and bog :pac:

tanko

FL22 heifer, HCA bull

mugsyy

Finally got this 4acre field sewed out after 3 years of work.
About half it was under dense rushes and was very wet.
Neighbour allowed me to go through his field to find an outlet for the water and piped most drains to it.
It has dried up nicely despite the crap weather!!

Decided to fence it off when I had the digger there to drive the posts - bit of extra expense but done all the labour meself so only the materials to pay for.

Fingers crossed now the grass comes up soon!!

Original post here for comparison- http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=92373960&postcount=225

Nettleman

tanko wrote: »

FL22 heifer, HCA bull

Jaysus, mightly looking calf-didn't think HCA would produce calves like that when eurostars say 1.78 on conformation and 17kg on cwght- I was holding off using him on narrow cows incase the calves would be very narrow, but your results look good-how old?

tanko

Nettleman wrote: »

Jaysus, mightly looking calf-didn't think HCA would produce calves like that when eurostars say 1.78 on conformation and 17kg on cwght- I was holding off using him on narrow cows incase the calves would be very narrow, but your results look good-how old?

Yeah he's a fine calf, I've used HCA a lot and I'd say that's the best calf I've had off him. There's seven or eight generations of Ai breeding in him tho, his mother is off Highlander and his grandmother was a tank of an Angus x He cow that was about 750kgs. Most of the HCA calves I've had before didn't look like him. He's eight weeks old there.
There's no doubt HCA is a good, consistently easy calving bull to use on heifers and breeds decent growthy cattle, his skeletal figure on icbf is rubbish.
Progressive genetics are promoting him as a bull to breed replacements off but I wouldn't agree with this. His heifers have narrower hips than their mothers and don't have good calving ability.
I've two heifers off him calved earlier this year and I'm not impressed with them. They have less milk than their mothers so far anyway. If you are looking for a good easy calving bull to use on young cows you could do worse than try OZS, he breeds stylish heifers with better muscle and conformation. According to reports from France he brings milk too.

Nettleman

tanko wrote: »

Yeah he's a fine calf, I've used HCA a lot and I'd say that's the best calf I've had off him. There's seven or eight generations of Ai breeding in him tho, his mother is off Highlander and his grandmother was a tank of an Angus x He cow that was about 750kgs. Most of the HCA calves I've had before didn't look like him. He's eight weeks old there.
There's no doubt HCA is a good, consistently easy calving bull to use on heifers and breeds decent growthy cattle, his skeletal figure on icbf is rubbish.
Progressive genetics are promoting him as a bull to breed replacements off but I wouldn't agree with this. His heifers have narrower hips than their mothers and don't have good calving ability.
I've two heifers off him calved earlier this year and I'm not impressed with them. They have less milk than their mothers so far anyway. If you are looking for a good easy calving bull to use on young cows you could do worse than try OZS, he breeds stylish heifers with better muscle and conformation. According to reports from France he brings milk too.

youve have helped me make up my mind on two counts...Big SIM milky cows to get HCA as a trial to see if their heifers can get hip size / confirmation to make good replacements, along with hybrid vigour (LM & SIM) , and probably put RGZ or RIO on maiden heifers. lanky milky HE cows to get FSZ me thinks-hows temperament on the HCA heifers-theres a mindset block on red coloured cattle in the pubs around me !!!!