Dairy Chitchat 3

mahoney_j

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

Hot our maize tested today.
In the pit 2 weeks
32% dm
34% starch
9% protein
3.8 ph

Its good stuff. Feeding 4 kg per hd to cows atm

Best of my silage is 2nd cut bales at 78 dmd and 18% protein, should have enough good fodder to feed between the maize and that silage when cows arent at grass for the last few weeks before dry off and any days they wont be grazing in the spring.
Pit of Dry cow silage tested at 70 dmd and 28% dm

Great quality maize ,great stuff to buffer at grass

straight

mahoney_j wrote: »

Great quality maize ,great stuff to buffer at grass

Can you just throw it along the feed barrier or do u need to mix it

GrasstoMilk

straight wrote: »

Can you just throw it along the feed barrier or do u need to mix it

I'm putting it through a feeder because we have one but if you knew what your loader bucket held you could just put it out with it. We try to use it at grass, saves buying a higher protein nut to balance it

GrasstoMilk

mahoney_j wrote: »

Great quality maize ,great stuff to buffer at grass

Ye cows gone fierce content. Went up a litre but solids dropped back from 5.54 bf to 4 92 bf and 4.45 pr to 4.32 p

Itll help BCS though with the rotten weather that's been and they'll be in good condition at dry off

whelan2

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

Ye cows gone fierce content. Went up a litre but solids dropped back from 5.54 bf to 4 92 bf and 4.45 pr to 4.32 p

Itll help BCS though with the rotten weather that's been and they'll be in good condition at dry off

My parents were down your area yesterday, they said they had to stop driving the rain was that bad

Gawddawggonnit

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

Hot our maize tested today.
In the pit 2 weeks
32% dm
34% starch
9% protein
3.8 ph

Its good stuff. Feeding 4 kg per hd to cows atm

Best of my silage is 2nd cut bales at 78 dmd and 18% protein, should have enough good fodder to feed between the maize and that silage when cows arent at grass for the last few weeks before dry off and any days they wont be grazing in the spring.
Pit of Dry cow silage tested at 70 dmd and 28% dm

Fair dues. Under plastic?

Those forages will support about 24L milk production without any meal.

Are you feeding 4kgDm of maize or 4kg whole?

GrasstoMilk

whelan2 wrote: »

My parents were down your area yesterday, they said they had to stop driving the rain was that bad

Yeah I had a dg here today some of them got very heavy rain that we didnt get here. Was a torrential shower at 3.30 that made the cows decide they wanted to come back to the yard, saved me walking them in any way!

GrasstoMilk

Gawddawggonnit wrote: »

Fair dues. Under plastic?

Those forages will support about 24L milk production without any meal.

Are you feeding 4kgDm of maize or 4kg whole?

Yeah, grown by my silage contractor.
4kg DM, 2 kg nuts in parlour. Cows doing 15.5l
Was allowing it to be 30% dm before I got it tested. Seriously sweet smelling stuff, can smell it across the yard when a fresh grab has been taken out from it.

Timmaay

Dawg I only heard of one crop of maize not sown under plastic here this year, and it totally failed and was ploughed back into the ground...

dar31

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

I'm putting it through a feeder because we have one but if you knew what your loader bucket held you could just put it out with it. We try to use it at grass, saves buying a higher protein nut to balance it

How long after cutting till feeding. Was told 3 wks if possible.

Gawddawggonnit

Timmaay wrote: »

Dawg I only heard of one crop of maize not sown under plastic here this year, and it totally failed and was ploughed back into the ground...

You’d want to be getting at least the same quality as above and a minimum of 14tDm/ha with the cost of plastic.

A twist that ye often miss is the fibre in forage maize is excellent for bf when grass is rich and cows are loose.

Gawddawggonnit

dar31 wrote: »

How long after cutting till feeding. Was told 3 wks if possible.

When the temperature of the maize drops below 22*, it’s safe to feed. It can be fed when red hot but it plays havoc with the gut of the animals.

Gawddawggonnit

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

Yeah, grown by my silage contractor.
4kg DM, 2 kg nuts in parlour. Cows doing 15.5l
Was allowing it to be 30% dm before I got it tested. Seriously sweet smelling stuff, can smell it across the yard when a fresh grab has been taken out from it.

32-33%Dm is the sweet spot for dairy cows.
35-38% for beef.

Gawddawggonnit

Impeller of one of the milk pumps disintegrated earlier. €600 for the part + weekend callout = €800!!
Lovely.

Bullocks

Gawddawggonnit wrote: »

Impeller of one of the milk pumps disintegrated earlier. €600 for the part + weekend callout = €800!!
Lovely.

The kind of thing thing you never expect to crop up, painful.

Reggie.

Gawddawggonnit wrote: »

Impeller of one of the milk pumps disintegrated earlier. €600 for the part + weekend callout = €800!!
Lovely.

Small change to the likes of you :P

whelan2

See the gap between the side wall and the roof is this too big?

GrasstoMilk

dar31 wrote: »

How long after cutting till feeding. Was told 3 wks if possible.

A week. I was always told you could feed maize straight away

liosnagceann75

whelan2 wrote: »

See the gap between the side wall and the roof is this too big?

No

GrasstoMilk

Gawddawggonnit wrote: »

You’d want to be getting at least the same quality as above and a minimum of 14tDm/ha with the cost of plastic.

A twist that ye often miss is the fibre in forage maize is excellent for bf when grass is rich and cows are loose.

Why did my bf drop from 5.54 to.4.92 ?.

GrasstoMilk

whelan2 wrote: »

See the gap between the side wall and the roof is this too big?

Are you going to sheet it down?

whelan2

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

Are you going to sheet it down?

No. Hadnt planned to but it looks a big gap now.

Wildsurfer

whelan2 wrote: »

See the gap between the side wall and the roof is this too big?

Most of the sheds going up around here lately have no walls at all, feeding around perimeter. Sur you can always space board it later if its leaving in too much weather

Mooooo

whelan2 wrote: »

See the gap between the side wall and the roof is this too big?

What side of the shed is it on, it's where the normal wind/ rain comes from it may be worth Yorkshire boarding it. If not I'd leave it be and see how it pans out. Cubicles inside the wall I presume?

whelan2

Ye cubicles inside the wall. Will probably just have to wait and see how it goes

Mooooo

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

Why did my bf drop from 5.54 to.4.92 ?.

Litres going up maybe diluted a bit, that and adjusting to diet? The kick dawg is talking about I think may be more prevalent in fresh calvers / early lactation as opposed to late lactation

Buford T. Justice XIX

whelan2 wrote: »

No. Hadnt planned to but it looks a big gap now.

Is that the prevailing wind side? Is the far side going to be left open for ventilation or is there a ridge in the middle for ventilation?

You need half the outlet area as the inlet area, something to keep an eye on.

https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/publications/2015/Why-ventilation-is-vital-Todays-Farm-November-December.pdf

straight

whelan2 wrote: »

No. Hadnt planned to but it looks a big gap now.

I'd put ventilated sheeting on it. Your roof is high enough

Say my name

Buford T. Justice VI wrote: »

Is that the prevailing wind side? Is the far side going to be left open for ventilation or is there a ridge in the middle for ventilation?

You need half the outlet area as the inlet area, something to keep an eye on.

https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/publications/2015/Why-ventilation-is-vital-Todays-Farm-November-December.pdf

I'd nearly think in today's new weather climate you'd want to be planning some way of stopping snow blowing in.
The prevailing wind is from the west. Any snow we get is from the east on an east wind. That powdery talcum powder stuff we got last year and how it came in on the wind and the damage and quantity it came into sheds. If you had a way of stopping it when your building the shed.
It'd make life much simpler if the worst came to the worst again.

Injuryprone

Those windbreakers would probably be a simple solution. Twould be a fright after spending all that money putting up the shed only to come out in the morning to find all the beds on the inside of the wall drowned wet almost as if there was no roof over them.

As an aside, clean, dry beds are going to become a vital requirement going forward as drycow tubes' use becomes restricted post 2022.

whelan2

I must actually see what it's like inside the next time it rains.

Mortelaro

whelan2 wrote: »

I must actually see what it's like inside the next time it rains.

That's your best option for now
The wall is high
Any rain getting in will likely blow in across at the same height and only start to fall towards the middle or far end of the shed depending on the strength of the wind
Most rainy days will be different so to be honest you'd be better off taking a couple of months to observe unless things end up very wet inside early on

As for snow,I just hope to Fuck we don't have another feb march 2018
There was a foot of that even up stairs in our sealed nuts loft, which means it got in through a mm or two gap like saharan sand

Buford T. Justice XIX

Wholecrop soyabean, anyone?

https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/tillage-focus-whole-crop-soybean-harvest-in-co-wicklow/

Grueller

straight wrote: »

I'd put ventilated sheeting on it. Your roof is high enough

I certainly wouldn't put that over priced sh1te on it anyway. It only allows in about 5% extra air over a standard sheet. Yorkshire boarding would be far better.

yosemitesam1

Buford T. Justice VI wrote: »

Wholecrop soyabean, anyone?

https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/tillage-focus-whole-crop-soybean-harvest-in-co-wicklow/

Peas could have been sown at the same time, harvested earlier and given similar yields I would've thought

mahoney_j

whelan2 wrote: »

I must actually see what it's like inside the next time it rains.

One of my sheds very simillar with simillar gap ,cubicles on inside whenever rain comes from east all beds are wet ,got some winbreak from odwyer steel .very easy put up clips on to pillar at one side and ratchet strap tightens on other .worked out at 185 per bay (15 ft 9 long 5 foot high .beds dry now

straight

Grueller wrote: »

I certainly wouldn't put that over priced sh1te on it anyway. It only allows in about 5% extra air over a standard sheet. Yorkshire boarding would be far better.

Works well here. I'm fairly exposed. Hate wet mats. Yorkshire boarding won't have the same lifespan

straight

I'm asking Santa for a calf feeder. Leaning towards a jfc evolution. Have any of you any experience of them.

Buford T. Justice XIX

straight wrote: »

I'm asking Santa for a calf feeder. Leaning towards a jfc evolution. Have any of you any experience of them.

Keepgrowing has a few in, iirc.

Water John

Nephew got one last year. Delighted with it and the after sales service.

GrasstoMilk

straight wrote: »

I'm asking Santa for a calf feeder. Leaning towards a jfc evolution. Have any of you any experience of them.

2 station one ordered here for the heifers. Not that dear on finance over 5 years.
Myself and dad will be able to milk more cows here with no extra labour (atm) and the job will be done well

Mooooo

Have ye a new shed for calves or are ye retro fitting to an existing calf shed? Have a bit of space in a second yard and thinking of putting the heifers there, auto feeder would make things handier time wise the days I'm on my Todd, wouldn't be in a rush morning and evening to feed. Not ideal in terms of layout but is big enough to take a group and straw is stored there

GrasstoMilk

Mooooo wrote: »

Have ye a new shed for calves or are ye retro fitting to an existing calf shed? Have a bit of space in a second yard and thinking of putting the heifers there, auto feeder would make things handier time wise the days I'm on my Todd, wouldn't be in a rush morning and evening to feed. Not ideal in terms of layout but is big enough to take a group and straw is stored there

It's an existing shed we used to house the incalf heifers on straw, all cows and incalf heifers will be on cubicles this year so its spare now.
A new floor is going into it and walls in place of feeding barriers and Yorkshire boarding over it for ventilation. Should work out the finest, will take the pressure off our other calf shed which was part of our rota problem last spring.

If putting in another yard you should definitely need to get the text service on the machine, if something happened during the night at least you'd know first thing in the morning instead of it being after milking when you get time to go to that yard

Water John

If doing a new floor, make sure it has a draining slope.

GrasstoMilk

Water John wrote: »

If doing a new floor, make sure it has a draining slope.

That's the idea of the new floor

alps

Water John wrote: »

If doing a new floor, make sure it has a draining slope.

+1, and go way beyond the regulation spec with the slope.

Buford T. Justice XIX

Autumn hitting with a bang here. Kerry moved to twice a week collection for their own drivers this weekend, no more Sunday collections until February/March again.

mahoney_j

Buford T. Justice VI wrote: »

Autumn hitting with a bang here. Kerry moved to twice a week collection for their own drivers this weekend, no more Sunday collections until February/March again.

Went in 3 day collection here too last week ,didn’t happen till first week November last year

Buford T. Justice XIX

mahoney_j wrote: »

Went in 3 day collection here too last week ,didn’t happen till first week November last year

Talking to the lorry driver last week and he said the wet weather hammered collections. Iirc, the Sunday drop out used happen the start of November here.

Mooooo

Polish driver gone home for the winter here, still on 2 day collections tho