Dairy Chitchat 3

Dakota Dan

Buford T. Justice VI wrote: »

Tell me about it!


Yeah, local ones. I had a look before the service van arrived, there's a rubber covered electrical panel on top of the motor next to the oil filter, that seems to have gone up in flames. Scrapers still worked with half the cover melted so I'll have to take that as a plus.

Good job I decided to get up to look at that ewe, good job that I had an extinguisher close by and bad luck that I'll be switching over to manual from now on. I'd normally switch over later in the month anyway in case I missed a cow calving in the cubicles.

I'm not in the better of that, tbh.

My neighbors fuse box in the dwelling house went on fire the end of last year, lucky enough it was during the day and he was there. He had to get the neighbors fire extinguisher and had to wait a week to get the electricity back after repairs and jumping through all the hoops with the esb.

Gawddawggonnit

https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/moves-to-tighten-veterinary-controls-a-hammer-blow-icsa/

It’ll be a hammer blow to me!

Wormers etc are POM here with years, thus the likes of 5L Eprinex is €700-800 and can only be bought from Vets.
I buy in Ireland for significantly less...

Buford T. Justice XIX

I was at the Grassland conference today and Donagh Berry mentioned the benefits of using linear scoring to possibly increase health benefits and increase longevity in cows.

First time hearing a senior man in ICBF advocating linear scoring.

jaymla627

Buford T. Justice VI wrote: »

I was at the Grassland conference today and Donagh Berry mentioned the benefits of using linear scoring to possibly increase health benefits and increase longevity in cows.

First time hearing a senior man in ICBF advocating linear scoring.

Bit to late to be trying to put that genie back in the bottle, type and functional cows where/are a after thought when going with high ebi bulls

alps

Buford T. Justice VI wrote: »

I was at the Grassland conference today and Donagh Berry mentioned the benefits of using linear scoring to possibly increase health benefits and increase longevity in cows.

First time hearing a senior man in ICBF advocating linear scoring.

Nooooooo...

First the calf..

Now they forgot the cow needs to be functional....

whelan2

My milking parlour man is scaling down. I have the choice of dairy master or delaval. Any plus or minuses for either?

Panch18

whelan2 wrote: »

My milking parlour man is scaling down. I have the choice of dairy master or delaval. Any plus or minuses for either?

Dairymaster here

Would have question marks over the quality of some of the components. It’s in 12 years and let’s say it hasn’t been flawless, but I don’t know if any of them are

1 thing I will say though is that we think the claw piece of the dairy master is the most comfortable to use of any that we looked at. It’s lighter, and less cumbersome than all others that we saw. And that’s important when you lift them a few hundred times every day.

Gawddawggonnit

I’ve been offered heifer calves from a 11500kg herd for €80/hd. Calves reared to 2mts old. Herd has been closed for 35yrs and is free from all diseases. Should I test them for IBR, BVD, Johnes etc? Or just roll with it?

whelan2

Gawddawggonnit wrote: »

I’ve been offered heifer calves from a 11500kg herd for €80/hd. Calves reared to 2mts old. Herd has been closed for 35yrs and is free from all diseases. Should I test them for IBR, BVD, Johnes etc? Or just roll with it?

Johnes wont test positive at that age

straight

Gawddawggonnit wrote: »

I’ve been offered heifer calves from a 11500kg herd for €80/hd. Calves reared to 2mts old. Herd has been closed for 35yrs and is free from all diseases. Should I test them for IBR, BVD, Johnes etc? Or just roll with it?

Keep a closed herd I'd say

GrasstoMilk

What's ppls thinking on urea soon?
None ordered here yet and couldnt see us spreading any in the next 10 days with how the forecast is looking

whelan2

whelan2 wrote: »

Johnes wont test positive at that age

On johnes. Vet was telling me that a farmer had 120 cows tested for johnes through milk samples in November. 100 % positive. He reckoned the volume of milk wasnt there to get a reliable result. He dung sampled them all and the results were more accurate

Mooooo

Gawddawggonnit wrote: »

I’ve been offered heifer calves from a 11500kg herd for €80/hd. Calves reared to 2mts old. Herd has been closed for 35yrs and is free from all diseases. Should I test them for IBR, BVD, Johnes etc? Or just roll with it?

Is the adult herd tested free of all those or is he saying it's free due to being closed. If herd is closed for that long what is the avg lactation no.? If they are low Johnes may be there but not picked up

Mooooo

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

What's ppls thinking on urea soon?
None ordered here yet and couldnt see us spreading any in the next 10 days with how the forecast is looking

Fert prices are supposed to be declining, altho dunno if the middle East carry on will have any effect on that. Was talking to a neighbour and he reckons he's going to switch to using as it's needed, not getting the yearly supply but just what's needed every 4 to 6 weeks or whatever. Reduces risk of bag damage or awkward to spread stuff or weather conditions not suiting etc. He is like myself in that it is stored outside most of the time.

Gawddawggonnit

straight wrote: »

Keep a closed herd I'd say

Bit late for that...

Gawddawggonnit

whelan2 wrote: »

Johnes wont test positive at that age

Interesting. At what age would it show?

whelan2

Gawddawggonnit wrote: »

Interesting. At what age would it show?

Over 2 years of age

Gawddawggonnit

Mooooo wrote: »

Is the adult herd tested free of all those or is he saying it's free due to being closed. If herd is closed for that long what is the avg lactation no.? If they are low Johnes may be there but not picked up

Herd tested free for Johnes, BVD, IBR, TB, Brucellosis, Q fever, Neosporose and Leptospirosis with many years.
Average lactation is 3.8, but he’s always culled hard...it isn’t easy to get to that level of production without robots.

I’ve bought culls off of him before and I was very pleased with them in fairness.

The man is 58 and none of his children will touch the farm, and nobody interested in taking on the farm either. Lovely 308ha farm in two blocks. He’ll be retiring in two years time so all young stock will be sold from now on.

Gawddawggonnit

Mooooo wrote: »

Fert prices are supposed to be declining, altho dunno if the middle East carry on will have any effect on that. Was talking to a neighbour and he reckons he's going to switch to using as it's needed, not getting the yearly supply but just what's needed every 4 to 6 weeks or whatever. Reduces risk of bag damage or awkward to spread stuff or weather conditions not suiting etc. He is like myself in that it is stored outside most of the time.

Fert has jumped €28-33/t from a month ago when I bought, and will go more.

Seems with wwheat plantings down the manufacturers ceased production, cleared existing stocks, and are waiting until price rises to resume production. Nice.

mahoney_j

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

What's ppls thinking on urea soon?
None ordered here yet and couldnt see us spreading any in the next 10 days with how the forecast is looking

Ordered and will be delievered by weekend ,won’t be spreading for a bit by look of weather .no panic either unless ground temps and conditions are good

Gawddawggonnit

Cheapest milk powder I can find.
50% skim.
19% pr.
21% fats.
Opinions?

visatorro

https://www.donedeal.ie/dairycattle-for-sale/pyon-heatwave-adlib-milk-warmer-feeder/23903821

Has anyone one got anything similar to this ad-lib way of feeding.? Any opinions?

Gawddawggonnit

visatorro wrote: »

https://www.donedeal.ie/dairycattle-for-sale/pyon-heatwave-adlib-milk-warmer-feeder/23903821

Has anyone one got anything similar to this ad-lib way of feeding.? Any opinions?

Ad-lib milk?
Better have plenty rehydration salts available...
They’d want to be around 4-6 weeks old before I’d chance it.

Mooooo

Used to feed adlib years ago. Milk coming from a barrel in to a container in a water bath to heat it up. Used to mix milkshake acidifier into the milk, it would be brought up cold from the bulk tank and the barrel feeding the heating unit had a gentle agitator on a timer to keep milk from separating any bit. Calves did well. Would have 5 or 6 lines out to teats that needed cleaning every day. Would have to keep a good eye on the calves. Hardly remember it myself we would have been heading over quota when that was used and had limo and simmental stock bulls as well. Feckers used to be massive but then I was young enough as well. The horns used to come later than the fr and remember they wouldn't fit in the dehorning crate

Mooooo

Keepgrowing wrote: »

This exact topic is being covered at IGA Dairy conference next Wednesday.

How did the conference go? Any info on this subject? On another note enquired on the milk shuttle from urban and would suit here with calves in a couple of sheds but the cost of them is big. Grant for milk trolley type equipment is max 4 hundred and something from the formulas on the site, the max Grant is only available on the auto calf feeders

Castlekeeper

visatorro wrote: »

https://www.donedeal.ie/dairycattle-for-sale/pyon-heatwave-adlib-milk-warmer-feeder/23903821

Has anyone one got anything similar to this ad-lib way of feeding.? Any opinions?

I don't know anything about that particular model but I've been feeding ad lib wheole milk (plus acidifer) with automatic calf feeders all my life.
Super job, once you know a few tricks. It takes a lot of the stress out of calf rearing and contrary to perception, you never get nutritional scour barring poor management such as wet cold housing etc. It's a pleasure to check the calves in the morning and to have them ignore you.
Keep the milk lukewarm warm, too hot and it'll block the pipes. 5mm pipes are best with non return valves and bayonet type nipples. All available from coop- mullinahone supply.
Wash every second day, usuallt about 20-30 minutes.
Always use 2 leads and nipples per pen. This is key, and often omitted/ unknown, as it greatly reduces the bullying and training of calves as a drinking calf will attract other calves to drink.
Provide fresh water and feed.
They'll drink 8-10 litres a day, but they'll grow mad and it's the cheapest weight you'll put on an animal. Great for good quality calves especially in a good price year. Not so sure about jex bulls this year !
You'd want to be taking replacement heifers off it after 3-4 weeks and putting them on 2ad and then 1ad for cost and to get them eating.

That model has a flaw in that it doesn't supply a milk churn/reservoir as part of the setup. A milk reservoir without a circulation / agitation won't work for whole milk due to separation and a calf getting a feed of cream!
A conplete second hand stainless steel / fibreglass model will cost about €800 and is a far superior job. Power calf feeders near liscarroll would be worth a try or you'd see them in done deal but you'd want to know the one you'd be getting and where you'd get parts etc.

Buford T. Justice XIX

Lepto and IBR vaccinations done on anything over 12 months here today and fluke and worm done as well. I'll probably have to do a second round of fluke dosing next month as there were higher than expected fluke levels showing up last year after a single fluke and worm dose. I must try to organising TB testing a few weeks earlier next year and go back to Fasinex.

whelan2

Buford T. Justice VI wrote: »

Lepto and IBR vaccinations done on anything over 12 months here today and fluke and worm done as well. I'll probably have to do a second round of fluke dosing next month as there were higher than expected fluke levels showing up last year after a single fluke and worm dose. I must try to organising TB testing a few weeks earlier next year and go back to Fasinex.

Did the sucklers today with animec, I think it was called. Does for fluke worms and lice in the one injection. Normally dosing them ends up a major ordeal. This was handy enough

Buford T. Justice XIX

whelan2 wrote: »

Did the sucklers today with animec?, I think it was called. Does for fluke worms and lice in the one injection. Normally dosing them ends up a major ordeal. This was handy enough

We would normally do the cows with Fasinex but we just had the first of them dried off when we got notified of a herd test over Christmas. So we had to use shorter acting dry cow tubes than we were recommended to use and couldn't use Fasinex because the Dept wouldn't give permission as the cows would be on the farm for too long if we had a reactor.

3 tests a year now for the next couple of years at best.

Waffletraktor

Buford T. Justice VI wrote: »

We would normally do the cows with Fasinex but we just had the first of them dried off when we got notified of a herd test over Christmas. So we had to use shorter acting dry cow tubes than we were recommended to use and couldn't use Fasinex because the Dept wouldn't give permission as the cows would be on the farm for too long if we had a reactor.

3 tests a year now for the next couple of years at best.

Would you be in a high population of wildlife area or is it just in the herd/area?

Millionaire only not

1373 wrote: »

We put in new dm scrapers , if yours are anything like ours you can get use to plenty of problems . We have had seals leak at 13 months, not covered under 12 months warranty. Pipes leak at joiners , grub screws loose and leaking . Fixed the small problems ourself as call outs were shockingly expensive . €400 to replace a ram seal

That’s daylight robbery should be highlighted more extravagant prices !
Never tell u that when sales man calls !

Buford T. Justice XIX

Waffletraktor wrote: »

Would you be in a high population of wildlife area or is it just in the herd/area?

We were upgraded to a high risk area sometime after August as I was told my next test was the end of February. A neighbour went down with one reactor and we were suddenly classified as high risk.

We're the exact same risk with the last 3 or 4 years unless the Dept do something about the massive reservoir of TB in badger setts in the area. It's a dairy area so little stock coming in and any that have come in, bulls mainly, have all tested clear.

They are starting TB vaccination in the east of the county and claim that this will break the cycle of transmission. They still cull badgers in high risk areas, except in July, August and September. Now, I'm by no means the smartest man in any room but allowing young badgers be reared in infected setts doesn't seem to be the best idea anybody has ever had. Even if the vaccination works (it doesn't, it's only effective in 60% of vaccinations), the high level of infection in the setts will easily overcome the immune response. That's immunology 101.

So we will remain a high risk area until those setts are closed up. There is absolutely no possibility of the Dept meeting their target of eradication of TB in 2030 until the badger setts are at the very least disinfected like all housing that cattle spend their time in has to be disinfected to prevent transmission of TB from the housing.

It's not like there's a lower risk of TB transmission from cow to cow than badger to badger, badger to badger transmission is hugely more prevalent than cow to cow transmission:rolleyes:
https://twitter.com/bovinetb/status/1213726594277265409?s=20

Buford T. Justice XIX

Folks you may want to check any chlorine based detergents you might have in stocks as some won't have a PCS number this year and can't be used.
https://www.farmersjournal.ie/chlorine-cross-compliance-issues-519223

Gawddawggonnit

Two days milk down the drain...
Feckin bracelet fell off.

whelan2

Gawddawggonnit wrote: »

Two days milk down the drain...
Feckin bracelet fell off.

A lot to be said for red spray

dar31

whelan2 wrote: »

A lot to be said for red spray

Red tail tape one on ankle and one on tail at eye level

Castlekeeper

dar31 wrote: »

Red tail tape one on ankle and one on tail at eye level

Always do spray and both ankles, needs to be fool proof, boss spends half his time on the phone!.

jaymla627

whelan2 wrote: »

A lot to be said for red spray

Tail paint is alot better job, just daub it over the udder stays on for a good week, spray is dodgey enough, started tying two ai gloves to their legs aswell, pretty foolproof

awaywithyou

jaymla627 wrote: »

Tail paint is alot better job, just daub it over the udder stays on for a good week, spray is dodgey enough, started tying two ai gloves to their legs aswell, pretty foolproof

separating them from rest of herd and milking last is the only job

Gawddawggonnit

whelan2 wrote: »

A lot to be said for red spray

I suspect that the cow may not have lost the bracelet...it’s been nearly 2mts since a cow had mastitis, and would be easy to forget/overlook. Never had a bracelet lost before.
First thing Mon morning is buy some spray paint.
No insurance will cover antibiotics in the tank here..

Mooooo

Red tape on tail and spray paint for antibiotics, green tape on tail and angle strap on the side of 3 teat cow's and blue tape on tail of high scc. Big board on wall with info written on it as well in those colours, red for keep out, green for three teat, blue for scc and black for general info

jaymla627

Glenmore estates pulling the pin milking after one year dairying and a fortune spent on sheds and robots is a odd one

GrasstoMilk

Culls a good trade in carnew today. Few big cows making 1.50 kg

straight

jaymla627 wrote: »

Glenmore estates pulling the pin milking after one year dairying and a fortune spent on sheds and robots is a odd one

A fortune is right. 20 robots or something was it

Mooooo

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

Culls a good trade in carnew today. Few big cows making 1.50 kg

Sold a couple out of the yard for a euro a kg. Could have pushed for more but a regular buyer who has often taken a few cows that need a bit of tlc

Injuryprone

Gawddawggonnit wrote: »

I suspect that the cow may not have lost the bracelet...it’s been nearly 2mts since a cow had mastitis, and would be easy to forget/overlook. Never had a bracelet lost before.
First thing Mon morning is buy some spray paint.
No insurance will cover antibiotics in the tank here..

The thing with spray paint is that it can't be immediately removed when she's going back into the tank. Can get a bit confusing if you've alot sprayed especially in the spring.

I use ordinary electric tape around each leg. I've yet to have one fall off. Tried the tail tape last year and it didn't seem as strong and a few of them split and fell off. You could always use 2 bracelets if that's what you're used to.

Say my name

straight wrote: »

A fortune is right. 20 robots or something was it

It'd be nothing to them though. They're involved in the poultry litter business and digestate and gas production and so on.
Was there people complaining of the farm being a dumping ground for the stuff coming from across the border and especially with water quality in the estuary?

Waffletraktor

Say my name wrote: »

It'd be nothing to them though. They're involved in the poultry litter business and digestate and gas production and so on.
Was there people complaining of the farm being a dumping ground for the stuff coming from across the border and especially with water quality in the estuary?

A farm that size would easily facilitate a 2.5mw plant

Say my name

Waffletraktor wrote: »

A farm that size would easily facilitate a 2.5mw plant

I think there's already a plant of some sort on it?

From reports the locals had a committee set up against odours from animal manures used on farm and after the new owners moved in there was opposition to ditch clearances and tree felling.

It looks to me with all that's being going on since the farm changed ownership that the new owners were never serious about having it run as a dairy farm but just wanted to make the farm as machinery friendly as possible and just have the land bank for their business and to grow the maize or rye and take the digestate.

You'd have to wonder if the farm took in poultry waste then about botulism.

Base price

Say my name wrote: »

I think there's already a plant of some sort on it?

From reports the locals had a committee set up against odours from animal manures used on farm and after the new owners moved in there was opposition to ditch clearances and tree felling.

It looks to me with all that's being going on since the farm changed ownership that the new owners were never serious about having it run as a dairy farm but just wanted to make the farm as machinery friendly as possible and just have the land bank for their business and to grow the maize or rye and take the digestate.

You'd have to wonder if the farm took in poultry waste then about botulism.

From memory after reading an article last year when cattle died due to botulism poisoning, tillage farmers can take in poultry waste but it has to be ploughed in immediately and cannot be spread on ground adjacent to livestock.