Jdunn55
Member
- Location
- Helston, cornwall
There's always something to panic about when it involves meI’m panicking now reading through this morning’s updates
Anything specific of particular concern?
10 in 7 milking + summer diet
- Thread starter Jdunn55
- Start date
Anything specific of particular concern?
betweenthelines
Member
- Location
- southwest
How much time does it take you to milk a new calver and feed the calf? Do you do this with every calf or just the ones that haven't sucked within a few hours?
This could well be something you don't need to do, or just do for the odd calf that doesn't feed itself.
Jdunn55
Member
- Location
- Helston, cornwall
Over 15 minutes but under half an hour I would think
Every black and white calf but will probably leave the beef calves to suck from the dam for the first time
Johnes risk is too big to leave dairy calves on cows imo
betweenthelines
Member
- Location
- southwest
I hope so, I'm wondering if I've made a massive mistakeI didn't dare turn the parlour on to milk the heifer, left them all quiet and gave the calf some frozen colostrum
Just in case anyone was wondering colostrum does not taste good...
Please tell me you don't put anything through the parlour just to get a couple of litres of colostrum to feed a calf (that might well feed it'self anyway)
Jdunn55
Member
- Location
- Helston, cornwall
Effect won't show till you get an average and even when the drop looks big they should adjust and recover. Don't think the cake feeding level has had a chance to work through either myself. All encouraging though and agree an easy Sunday every week at the very least
When and if you do get a significant drop in yield, don't panic. If you get a spike in cell count/mastitis, give them time to adjust. Panic slowly or not at all and keep calm and enjoy farming
Definitely not drawing any conclusions yet but I was expecting a much bigger drop than what I've had? Was expecting 3-4litres a cow. It will be next collection thats more important
I would have thought cake should work through them fairly quickly though
Jdunn55
Member
- Location
- Helston, cornwall
How else am I meant to get colostrum for the calf?? Quicker to do that than wait for frozen colostrum to thaw and powdered stuff is £30 a sachet!
She may well suck herself but she may well get johnes too and my mikk buyer is pushing us to slaughter all cows who test positive for johnes
betweenthelines
Member
- Location
- southwest
But if you're taking colostrum from the mother doesn't that cancel out all the guff about not spreading johnes?
And do you not know how to/are unable to strip a couple of litres out of a cow in the calving pen?
And do you not know how to/are unable to strip a couple of litres out of a cow in the calving pen?
- Location
- somerset
is any extra profit, going to be gained, from paying that price, if any profit at all.
Certain many farmers just take it on, because its the 'right' thing to do, and, dare l say it, to look good in your neighbours eyes. Even if you break even on it, you will have landed yourself, a heap of extra work, for b-all.
We do count ourselves lucky, the owner contrived to see us, quicker than l could get to see him, basically, do you want it, come and see me monday night, and we will sort it out, that was sat afternoon. This is the rent, no electric fences - foot paths everywhere, and no ploughing, 50% of the hedge trimmer.
We didn't say much about the deal, but found it interesting to 'hear' about high rents, and who had 'got' it, one chap got quite upset, that he hadn't 'got' it. Our neighbour had to listen to all that chaps plans, what he had spent already, and what he needed to spend, knowing we already had signed the dotted line.
Jdunn55
Member
- Location
- Helston, cornwall
No because I only take colostrum off negative dams BUT it's when that dam tests positive several years down the line and then you've let all her calves suck and now you have 6 potential positive cows on farm instead of 1 maybe 2 if you're unlucky
I do and have done that as well but it's just as quick sometimes to shove them in the parlour, I've got calving gates coming so will be easier than as well as I can stick them in a head yoke and strip them without having to chase them around the calving pen with a bucket
More to life
Member
- Location
- Somerset
your snatching all your calves I take it ?
- Location
- somerset
we tubed zero calves with colostrum, or milk, every calf fed off its mother, or another cow calved the same time, we have a lot of fr 'influence' in the herd, and calves suck quite happily, l think you can make a lot of unnecessary work for yourself, by doing things, by the 'book'
Admittedly we feed all colostrum, and calves are off their dams, by the next milking. I don't actually know, if the acidification of the colostrum, reduces its benefits, the question simply hasn't arisen. On the johnes front, we test the herd x2 a year, to work with TB testing, so we would know any +ve, that milk is not kept/fed, and acid is meant/claimed to kill off johnes in 3 days, as a lot fed, is well over that, min risk ?
Jdunn55
Member
- Location
- Helston, cornwall
Yes just in case they go positive down the line
- Location
- somerset
bloody hell, calving gates are expensive, plural ?
all we have, is gate, whose hinges are set out from the wall, 60 cm out, swing the gate around, got your cow. Always halter her if needed. Learnt that 1974, as a student, and done it ever since.
jimmer
Member
- Location
- East Devon
Yes 200 through a 16/16 but not after May
You have to be a certain type of person to manage a certain type of cow, i tried it with hiho and enjoyed it untill it became too complicated and too full on
- Location
- somerset
son wanted to go down the spr calving route, 270 xbreds, 3 dry summers buggered that up, but l am positive he's happier milking 125 more hol type, for not that much less milk. But would love to get the milk cheque, for them, at todays price !
I've always said, he's got to do it, l certainly can't, so its up to him, how he does it, we all make mistakes, and so will he, usually asks the 'what if' questions, though, which l appreciate, and very often, l see a suggestion poo hooed, quietly appear later down the line.
I've always said, he's got to do it, l certainly can't, so its up to him, how he does it, we all make mistakes, and so will he, usually asks the 'what if' questions, though, which l appreciate, and very often, l see a suggestion poo hooed, quietly appear later down the line.
BELOWAVERAGE
Member
Stupid question, but how do you know the cow who's colostrum your using isn't going to test positive in years to come?
Jdunn55
Member
- Location
- Helston, cornwall
I don't but there's no way to know, it's about managing risk, the biggest way for a calf to get johnes is through sucking her dam
From what I know about johnes it's not the milk that infects the calf but rather dung from the cow so in theory even a positive dams milk could be used to feed a calf as long as you were 100% sure that no dung had contaminated the colostrum but that's too big a risk for me. I only have 2 positive cows on farm and want that number to go down not up!
Jdunn55
Member
- Location
- Helston, cornwall
Guess who's relief turned up milked 2 rows and then decided they were far too ill to milk the rest of them
How I didn't tell him to f**k off I don't know
Is it any wonder I'm looking at 10 in 7
How I didn't tell him to f**k off I don't know
Is it any wonder I'm looking at 10 in 7
gone up the hill
Member
- Location
- Devon
You need to sack them NOW even if that means you are milking 14 times a week for a few weeks.Guess who's relief turned up milked 2 rows and then decided they were far too ill to milk the rest of them
How I didn't tell him to f**k off I don't know
Is it any wonder I'm looking at 10 in 7
This milker is distracting you from deciding what is the best way forward.
Better off no relief milker than one that is a total waste of space like the current one you have.
- Location
- M6 Hard shoulder
if you didnt tell him to f off you need a kick in the pants because you didnt, cut the cord and move onGuess who's relief turned up milked 2 rows and then decided they were far too ill to milk the rest of them
How I didn't tell him to f**k off I don't know
Is it any wonder I'm looking at 10 in 7