Dairy Chitchat 3

whelan2

kevthegaff wrote: »

They didnt go in calf, disgusted mustn't been doing them right

In fairness with the drought last year it was tough on cows going in calf

Mooooo

kevthegaff wrote: »

They didnt go in calf, disgusted mustn't been doing them right

Who did you do the course with? They may do a refresher with you before this season maybe. As Whelan said too the breeding season last year was difficult on the cows / heifers last year between dietary changes etc

tanko

kevthegaff wrote: »

They didnt go in calf, disgusted mustn't been doing them right

Did you get on ok with your cows?
When i did the course we were advised not to do heifers the first year until we built up confidence on the cows. I think this was good advice.
Having trouble with heifers can be disheartening at the beginning and can knock your confidence.
Keep at it, it will come right for you.
I got poor results in my first year but have been getting 85% in calf to first service now with the sucklers.

alps

kevthegaff wrote: »

They didnt go in calf, disgusted mustn't been doing them right

Heifers are really difficult Kev. The "equipment " inside is not at all as definitive as a cow, and often we serve heifers once a day, and many will have lost that in heat lubrication by the time we go to serve them, The cervix of a heifer in standing heat is far more accepting than a one gone off heat.

I5s great to have the control of being able to do your own AI, so don't loose hope on it. I'd suggest, stay with the cows and get the AI man to the heifers until you have the confidence rocking again.

The only other thing to do is lash in the vodka to the heifers....theyd stand mad after that...

cosatron

keep the faith Kev, I was the same way 6 years ago and im flying it now, that im even tidying up after the bull. the old man has full confidence in me which is hard earned. With heifer I would ai them when there are standing heat instead of 12 hours later, allot easier to do and 4 out of 5 last years heifers kept.

Mooooo

Cow's very considerate this evening, one warmed up the back as I was washing the shower I got on the front off me

straight

Some man for one man....

https://m.independent.ie/business/farming/dairy/dairy-farm-profiles/how-this-dairy-farmer-is-operating-a-220cow-herd-as-a-onemanshow-37756773.html

einn32

straight wrote: »

Some man for one man....

https://m.independent.ie/business/farming/dairy/dairy-farm-profiles/how-this-dairy-farmer-is-operating-a-220cow-herd-as-a-onemanshow-37756773.html

It's misleading. It's not a one man show. I used to like the farming independent but I rarely read it now.

Mooooo

1 man + another 3 days a week + every second weekend.....Yeah loose headline alright

charolais0153

Mooooo wrote: »

1 man + another 3 days a week + every second weekend.....Yeah loose headline alright

And another lad 2 evenings a week:rolleyes:

whelan2

charolais0153 wrote: »

And another lad 2 evenings a week:rolleyes:

And as someone else said he has kids surely they'd help out. Daughter brought in cows for me this evening

orm0nd

What's the best calf jacket and supplier ?

visatorro

orm0nd wrote: »

What's the best calf jacket and supplier ?

There's a rep calls here with stuff from mayo healthcare. That's who I bought a couple off anyhow.

Buford T. Justice XIX

The pressure is starting early this year.
https://twitter.com/Grasslandagro/status/1096185104500752384?s=19

Wildsurfer

orm0nd wrote: »

What's the best calf jacket and supplier ?

I saw a promo somewhere online today for €25 jackets, seems cheap if someone else saw they might link to it. A word of advice is to go for a smaller jacket for dairy calves. I won a box of them lately but way too big, just won't fit on snugly even with straps pulled to last.

Wildsurfer

orm0nd wrote: »

What's the best calf jacket and supplier ?

I saw a promo somewhere online today for €25 jackets, seems cheap if someone else saw they might link to it. A word of advice is to go for a smaller jacket for dairy calves. I won a box of them lately but way too big, just won't fit on snugly even with straps pulled to last.

Base price

orm0nd wrote: »

What's the best calf jacket and supplier ?

I bought two of these ones from agridirect in 2017. I think they were €25 each at the time. They were used a good bit last Spring when the beast for the east arrived. I prefer this design with the one belly strap and two leg straps.
Edit to say that they come in two sizes - medium and large. I have the medium ones and they suit FR calves.
https://www.agridirect.ie/product/calf-jacket-thermoplus

Keepgrowing

orm0nd wrote: »

What's the best calf jacket and supplier ?

Use DeLaval ones here. Not sure who makes them. We got to weaker or sick calves, wash at local SuperValu in those big washing machines. Be careful of the cheaper ones as they may over heat a calf leading to sweating and then chills as it cools down. They must be breathable

Injuryprone

whelan2 wrote: »

And as someone else said he has kids surely they'd help out. Daughter brought in cows for me this evening

And a wife! Apparently some have been known to lend a hand from time to time

Wildsurfer

Keepgrowing wrote: »

orm0nd wrote: »

What's the best calf jacket and supplier ?

Use DeLaval ones here. Not sure who makes them. We got to weaker or sick calves, wash at local SuperValu in those big washing machines. Be careful of the cheaper ones as they may over heat a calf leading to sweating and then chills as it cools down. They must be breathable

Ha great idea, the wife will divorce me if I put calf jackets in the washing machine again!

atlantic mist

orm0nd wrote: »

What's the best calf jacket and supplier ?

http://www.boviwear.co.uk/
use the above find them great

simx

Got a few cosy calf jackets this year think they’re a fine job and good quality €35!each

straight

Ffs, I hardly have a jacket for myself. Fr bull calves are a disaster this year. I've heard of people shooting them. We're well on the road to new zealand farming. Just hope the milk cheque holds up because calf money or cull cow money is no more good.

Keep Sluicing

straight wrote: »

Ffs, I hardly have a jacket for myself. Fr bull calves are a disaster this year. I've heard of people shooting them. We're well on the road to new zealand farming. Just hope the milk cheque holds up because calf money or cull cow money is no more good.

Ive never heard of anyone shooting even Jersey X. Are you sure its not just sending to a slaughter house.

visatorro

Can you do a check for SCC with fairy liguid? Just wanted a rough idea

Keepgrowing

straight wrote: »

Ffs, I hardly have a jacket for myself. Fr bull calves are a disaster this year. I've heard of people shooting them. We're well on the road to new zealand farming. Just hope the milk cheque holds up because calf money or cull cow money is no more good.

It’s a long time since calf money was anything to wrote home about. Lads bringing month old calves to the mart for €150-70 was always false economy but good for ego

Mooooo

Keepgrowing wrote: »

It’s a long time since calf money was anything to wrote home about. Lads bringing month old calves to the mart for €150-70 was always false economy but good for ego

What's worse is lads going to mart to sell calves and bringing them home when they get bids of 50 euro. .. can't understand it. Hauler takes em here and only instruction is don't bring them home.

cute geoge

Keepgrowing wrote: »

It’s a long time since calf money was anything to wrote home about. Lads bringing month old calves to the mart for €150-70 was always false economy but good for ego

what is wrong with a price of 150 after a months feeding ,it is not that a calf can consume a massive amount of milk in the first month .Last year was it about €60/70 for 10 day old good fr bull calf out of yard .What is that price this year anyone know

whelan2

Is multivit injection gone off the market?

Keepgrowing

Chap who helps a weekends arrived 40 minutes late this morning. He slipped in past me as I was out moving wires. I arrived back to the yard to hear him getting one of the best dressing downs I’ve heard in a while.

Our two full time guys are both mid forties and totally reliable often going way beyond what reasonable to expect. Saturday here is treated as a Sunday work wise ie they like a few hours free between the morning and evening jobs.

They outlined to your man that he didn’t let the boss down as he will just get someone else to help out but he had let them down. He has caused them to miss an hour or two down time today and that if it happens again that he’s not to bother coming at all.

Me, I went and made a cuppa!

Keepgrowing

Mooooo wrote: »

What's worse is lads going to mart to sell calves and bringing them home when they get bids of 50 euro. .. can't understand it. Hauler takes em here and only instruction is don't bring them home.

I’ve sold calves for €5 in the mart

whelan2

Heifer calving at the moment, they are all in calf to an angus bull. Feet are white and legs are white. This could be interesting...

mahoney_j

straight wrote: »

Ffs, I hardly have a jacket for myself. Fr bull calves are a disaster this year. I've heard of people shooting them. We're well on the road to new zealand farming. Just hope the milk cheque holds up because calf money or cull cow money is no more good.

Not hearing of any calves been shot and nearly certain it ain’t true none the less u shouldn’t be posting stuff like that in a public forum ,lots of vegans about to twist it if u can’t take down that post I suggest one of the mods do

mahoney_j

cute geoge wrote: »

what is wrong with a price of 150 after a months feeding ,it is not that a calf can consume a massive amount of milk in the first month .Last year was it about €60/70 for 10 day old good fr bull calf out of yard .What is that price this year anyone know

60/70 at 10 days for fr bull id take it all day long

whelan2

whelan2 wrote: »

Heifer calving at the moment, they are all in calf to an angus bull. Feet are white and legs are white. This could be interesting...

A whitehead bull

Buford T. Justice XIX

A whitehead Angus?:P

whelan2

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

A whitehead Angus?:P

The Holy spirit is alive and well.... I'd say it was a whitehead weanling with one ball that we couldn't squeeze is the daddy

GrasstoMilk

cute geoge wrote: »

what is wrong with a price of 150 after a months feeding ,it is not that a calf can consume a massive amount of milk in the first month .Last year was it about €60/70 for 10 day old good fr bull calf out of yard .What is that price this year anyone know

Costs 3€ a day I'm told to rear a calf. That's 90€ gone into them over 30 days. I'd happily take 50 for a 10 day old calf.

Reggie.

whelan2 wrote: »

The Holy spirit is alive and well.... I'd say it was a whitehead weanling with one ball that we couldn't squeeze is the daddy

He'll deny it

atlantic mist

neighbor had twins the other day, one friesian and one angus

gozunda

Posted this on the other chat thread. May be relevant here tbh.

What they are calling 'Project Calf' pulled together the exact locations of more than 9,000 dairy farms on Google maps, advising its followers to ‘expose the atrocities of the dairy industry through citizen journalism, peaceful protesting and outreach’(sic).

The (UK) Government’s data protection watchdog is investigating after the details of every dairy farm in England and Wales were exposed by a vegan group .

See:
https://www.fginsight.com/news/news/farmer-fury-as-vegan-group-project-calf-publishes-map-of-uk-dairy-farms-78652

Their activists are calling on those with nothing better to do than take their cameras and record what dairy farmers get up to etc!

I'm sure there's serious issues here with GDPR and data privacy. These cnuts are taking intimidation and harassment just one step to far over the line ...

Mooooo

Bull pens filling up, back to 50 50 now. 3 aa heifers as well. Still my 3 jerseys are all heifers so at least that

jaymla627

Newest staff member seems to be getting the hang of it

patsy_mccabe

If vegans ate more meat, there would be no need to shoot baby calves. Vegans should be told this.

The Rabbi

visatorro wrote: »

Can you do a check for SCC with fairy liguid? Just wanted a rough idea

Start with the proper CMT kit from the local agristore.The amount of sodium laureth sulfate in the washing up liquid can vary a lot between brands making the results vary also.

freedominacup

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

If vegans ate more meat, there would be no need to shoot baby calves. Vegans should be told this.

A version of the Ali G argument.

Dakota Dan

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

If vegans ate more meat, there would be no need to shoot baby calves. Vegans should be told this.

Only about 0.5% if the world is vegan, they’ll hardly make a difference. They are well able to shout about it though.

Keepgrowing

Calves coming thick and fast. Was tagging a calf this afternoon, noticed a cow lying down calving. I said I’ll be with you in 5 minutes, fecking born backwards and smothered. Had I intervened 3 mins sooner the heifer would be alive. Fecking kicking myself as we hadn’t lost a calf till today.

Buford T. Justice XIX

Keepgrowing wrote: »

Calves coming thick and fast. Was tagging a calf this afternoon, noticed a cow lying down calving. I said I’ll be with you in 5 minutes, fecking born backwards and smothered. Had I intervened 3 mins sooner the heifer would be alive. Fecking kicking myself as we hadn’t lost a calf till today.

Is the new housing finished?

Muddy76

Have had a few cases of milk fever this year.Vet recommended I put some cal mag on the silage.The problem is they are not keen on it.Would I be better off bringing them in through the parlour and feeding them cow nuts which have cal mag mixed at 2oz in 4kgs.Maybe feed them 2kgs a day for a week up to calving.any suggestions appreciated