Dairy Chitchat 4, an udder new thread.

cosatron

trg wrote: »

What type of nut do ye feed maiden heifers?

Dan O'Connor has a 20% nut marketed at heifers but is there any reason an 18% calf nut be better I wonder?

we use dan o connor heifer max for maidens for years. We find it very good, they develop nice power and thrive well on grass. heifer's calf down at 2 year old at nearly mature weight.

jd_12345

Mooooo wrote: »

Bandon were better priced than dairygold for ration until the recent grain price increases. At the same level now. Agree re fert. Also find bandon store is better or the same for consumables. Since dairygold closed the local store get a lot more from either bandon or barrett agri.

Yeah Muskerry shutting was madness imo. I know they’ve probably made a packet for housing but it’ll have to lose business for them. Bandon ration is excellent quality too tbf

dmakc

Any tips when using a hip clamp? It's been used here three times and never had a cow regain power in her back legs. The current damage seems to be from bulling gone wrong (the bull is now gone). I don't know whether she should be left up long to get circulation going or in short bursts, but then the time on the ground could hamper recovery?

whelan2

Are they on concrete or a field when you're lifting them? Normally would lift them a few times a day and leave standing for 10 minutes or so. If their knees get cut it's curtains. You'll know after a day or 2 if thry are going to make it or not

Gillespy

Success with the hip lifter depends on the injury. Dry cow here a month ago down by the door, lying pretty normally with no signs of any struggling and she couldn't have been there long. She was sitting up like a dog a few days later no good. Last year we had a cow whose back legs kept going back behind her, picked her up maybe ten times. She is perfect now.

I hate having to use it, very stressful time when a cow can't get up, knowing how tight to tighten it, don't want it too tight and defiantly don't want her to slip out of it. Need to try and be very careful with the loader and have someone to help her head up and hold her. Time is critical, nerve damage occurs in hours lying in the one position.

GrasstoMilk

Gillespy wrote: »

Success with the hip lifter depends on the injury. Dry cow here a month ago down by the door, lying pretty normally with no signs of any struggling and she couldn't have been there long. She was sitting up like a dog a few days later no good. Last year we had a cow whose back legs kept going back behind her, picked her up maybe ten times. She is perfect now.

I hate having to use it, very stressful time when a cow can't get up, knowing how tight to tighten it, don't want it too tight and defiantly don't want her to slip out of it. Need to try and be very careful with the loader and have someone to help her head up and hold her. Time is critical, nerve damage occurs in hours lying in the one position.

Last point is NB
Lifting ASAP is very important, the ones we lift straight away we have more success with

kevthegaff

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

Last point is NB
Lifting ASAP is very important, the ones we lift straight away we have more success with

I think cows have to get up every 4 to 5 hours or something like

raindodger

my nick name for lifter is the kiss of death

Sacrolyte

I love my cow lifter

Sacrolyte

I hate my cow lifter

The Rabbi

I've nothing against the cow lifter,its having to use it I hate.

cosatron

kevthegaff wrote: »

I think cows have to get up every 4 to 5 hours or something like

we had a cow down for a whole week out in a paddock, we couldn't believe one morning she was up. I think the only reason she survive was that she was full of bad mind.

Gillespy

Reading up on down cows a while back when our one was down, I came across reference to an experiment, a cruel barbaric one, where cows were anesthetized for various lenghts of time to see how long they could be in one position before nerve damage. Can't remember the details exactly but it wasn't long and some were put down.

K.G.

On cow lifters i think it has more to do with people's head than benefit to the cow.9 times out of 10 its down to the injuries/health and age of the cow.people are anxious to try and help her but the stress of the lifting episode can do as much harm as good .keep the cow in good health and if they are able they will stand themselves.thats only my opinion

Morris Moss

Feeding a small bit of silage and straw before milking as I'm fairly tight with grass, butterfat went from 3.76 to 4.23 in one collection, lesson learned for second round next year.

Acquiescence

K.G. wrote: »

On cow lifters i think it has more to do with people's head than benefit to the cow.9 times out of 10 its down to the injuries/health and age of the cow.people are anxious to try and help her but the stress of the lifting episode can do as much harm as good .keep the cow in good health and if they are able they will stand themselves.thats only my opinion

Half of what vets do is treating the farmer. Drives me cracked.

Mooooo

Morris Moss wrote: »

Feeding a small bit of silage and straw before milking as I'm fairly tight with grass, butterfat went from 3.76 to 4.23 in one collection, lesson learned for second round next year.

How did protein and litres do, hold?

straight

Trying to stick to once a day AI here this year again. Closing the wire in the cows this morning there was on just in standing heat. She'll have to wait 23 hrs now but I'd say she should still keep. Fairly hard frost at night here, rain can't come soon enough.

Morris Moss

Mooooo wrote: »

How did protein and litres do, hold?

Protein went from 3.63 to 3.57, litres have held, only feeding since Monday so will get a better picture in the next few collections.

Gillespy

Never done anything but once a day breeding. He will come early or late if asked so would come early for a cow like yours. Could be midday for a cow bulling that morning. Would never ask him to come twice a day even though he does it for some.

Rain aplenty next week and a lot milder with no more frost. Ideal really. Just need a spell for silage afterwards.

Acquiescence

Morris Moss wrote: »

Protein went from 3.63 to 3.57, litres have held, only feeding since Monday so will get a better picture in the next few collections.

If production and protein have held could it be increase in total intake upping the BF.

Morris Moss

Acquiescence wrote: »

If production and protein have held could it be increase in total intake upping the BF.

Could be a possibility alright, I'm splitting the paddocks here, so they don't have a massive amount of grass at grazing.

Mf310

straight wrote: »

Trying to stick to once a day AI here this year again. Closing the wire in the cows this morning there was on just in standing heat. She'll have to wait 23 hrs now but I'd say she should still keep. Fairly hard frost at night here, rain can't come soon enough.

Doing own ai this year and using sexed semen so have to do twice a day ai on some cows but finding on the ordinary semen cows ai them in the morning and the paint is gone again that evening still in a standing heat , chancing a couple of them but putting a beef straw in a few that are bulling hard , hard to know what to do was probably just too early on a few

Mooooo

Once a day DIY here as well. Ai cows after parlour is washed and calves fed. Not using sexed as still have work to tighten calving spread. Before I would have gone again if I thought one was still bulling but don't really anymore. Have served a couple of carry overs that are still milking with beef straws and used a few test bulls on cows on their first heat

mahoney_j

Morris Moss wrote: »

Feeding a small bit of silage and straw before milking as I'm fairly tight with grass, butterfat went from 3.76 to 4.23 in one collection, lesson learned for second round next year.

And I’ll bet your protein to pretty good despite a lad in the journal telling us it’ll kill protein% .still buffering here and will be for a while yet 34.45 ltrs 3.79 fat 3.58 p ,just over 6 kg meal and 1.5/2 kg dm Maize silage

Morris Moss

mahoney_j wrote: »

And I’ll bet your protein to pretty good despite a lad in the journal telling us it’ll kill protein% .still buffering here and will be for a while yet 34.45 ltrs 3.79 fat 3.58 p ,just over 6 kg meal and 1.5/2 kg dm Maize silage

Some figures there, yep protein is holding steady so far, I should have went in a month ago with the silage, I had a bale of straw out and it made no difference.

Grueller

26.5 litres here last collection at 3.51 protein and 4.01 fat. As said before, 60% second calvers, 40% heifers.
Feeding grass and 5kgs of 14% spring grazer in the parlour. Grass is zero grazed in from an outside block atm and then a bareish paddock when out to try rebuild covers now that we have got some rain.

Mooooo

Grueller wrote: »

26.5 litres here last collection at 3.51 protein and 4.01 fat. As said before, 60% second calvers, 40% heifers.
Feeding grass and 5kgs of 14% spring grazer in the parlour. Grass is zero grazed in from an outside block atm and then a bareish paddock when out to try rebuild covers now that we have got some rain.

Were you able to keep a rotation going on the milking block? What is it stocked at. Ideally if buffering try to keep a rotation going as opposed to going into very low covers as they will be slow to recover. Allocate what's needed beyond the buffer

orm0nd

milking 38% first calvers this year, according to herdapp.. herd doing 2.23 kg/ms on 4 kgs of 15% nut and grass.


67% served in 17 days.

Grueller

Mooooo wrote: »

Were you able to keep a rotation going on the milking block? What is it stocked at. Ideally if buffering try to keep a rotation going as opposed to going into very low covers as they will be slow to recover. Allocate what's needed beyond the buffer

I wasn't Mooooo. I have an 8 acre patch that is marked for reseeding so I am giving the rough treatment to that. I don't think that it will be hard to set up a rotation on what grass I have in front of me now.