Dairy Chitchat 4, an udder new thread.

What a belter of a post. Similar to siamsa and grueller experiences if I experience another initiative being implemented by someone climbing the greasy pole I will lose it. I have no aspirations to climb it as you can tell

We are blessed that we have an outlet from the day job. For many they are stuck in this and find it hard to switch off from it, similar to us and our farms. The large the organisation and the more middle management layers the worse it becomes. This suits the companies as they have a bit of a rat race driving things on among staff. We are don't fit the mould and they can find it hard to make us out, much to our advantage

I can see Mahoney now. Picking up the pension in the morning and coming back to feed the 40 heifer weanlings he's contract rearing. Just watch out lad cos they're fair hardy bitches to fire you back on you're arse or into the trough.

No need to be stuck in a sh1t job now really. There is plenty choice out there although I guess the money might be small if you switch careers.

I miss the colleagues myself. Although you might have plenty disagreements the camaraderie was great.

@IFarmWeFarm7615 is around the same size herd I think and in one of his videos went through a lot of the history of his setup. Maybe a good man to talk to about it

You just need to get milk in the tank, people are being bulled by salesmen to put in bells and whistles and everything around the parlour. Concentrate on having enough slurry storage and space in the winter housing, plenty of very functional basic second hand parlours out there for 60 cows 8 to 10 unit nice and simple. Site it in the right place make the pit long enough and ensure that collecting yard and exit race aren't restricted in future..fancy parlour and drafting etc can all come in time. Service man was here on bulk tank and was saying loads of good second hand bulk tanks out there around 5-6000 litres available for a euro a litre.

We milk with 5 unit 40 year old problem, never misses a beat, easy service no issues with tbc or cell count..of course I'd like a new parlour but get the milk in the tank first.

Make sure you look at a system of buying in replacements at or after calving.

You have an opportunity to set up a right profitable simple system that can turn you 80k+ profit.

Keep it really simple, 70 cows max. Anything more and you will be chasing ground. You will then end keeping young stock to utilise the ground, building facilities for calves and drawing on a ferocious ampunt of hardship in the sringtime.

Buy 10 replacements (calved) from the same source every year. Pay a small premium for them and it will reurn you the best of quality.

Calve your 60 to beef and let the calves up the ramp as soon as the card is back. Milk the 70 through to October and move yourempties..Winter 60.

Even paying 17/18k for your replacements, the simplicity, reduction in facilities and storage will easily pay for itself.

There's an income of 80k to be pulled here.

Go for a hereford instead of an angus, its getting very hard to move angus calves at the moment as buyers think they are jersey crosses.

Keep nitrates in mind. For every 3 days a calf is on the farm, it displaces 1 cow from the farm that day.

If you hold onto 30 calves to sell in October, you will have to reduce your cow numbers by 7..☆☆☆

The profit from the 30 calves won't pay for the loss of 1 cow, and the work involved in that bunch of calves v's milking the cow wpuld be just inomparable..

so if you have a cow rearing four calves, after a while you’d take one and replace it with another, and so on?

We do that system here - buy in hcc/three spins cows and multi suckle them. A good dairy cow with easily rear 4 calves (others will rear 3) but as her milk yield reduces you take a calf off and leave her with 3 or 2 depending on how many she started with. In September wean whatever calves are left, dry the cow and kill her in Dec or the new year.

We get them started in a pen in the shed and if the cow is quiet we will leave the calves with her for a few days to bond. Then we let them into a paddock by themselves for another few days until you are sure they are working well and all getting a suck, them off they go out to the main herd. If the cow isn't quiet we keep the calves behind a gate and let them out to the cow twice a day while she eats a few nuts. The cows normally settle after a day or two and take to the calves. You get the odd cow that just won't work or the odd calf that's too stupid to suck a cow but no issue sucking a teat feeder. It really is all about patience and perseverance.

ha, you always the 3 spinners and slow milkers always, and i mean ALWAYS go in calf

if you get a quiet dairy cow, she would take to any calf