All things Dairy

[Cowabunga]

how do you go on when the agitator kicks in on the bulk tank....looks a tad full.

They were like that through April and May. More by luck than judgement that it all fitted in every day. The milk lorry arrives at about 5am and once the milk was down to temperature in the evening, I sometimes had to switch the agitator off to stop milk spilling over the sides. As of this wet last week there is up to 250litres of space spare between them.

 

[rc mx110]

A few more of the red cows and a blue one
Blue one is a bb cross
Last cow is a norwegian red out of bb cross cow

 

[Cows 'n grass]

My cows are boringly uniform nowadays. Back in the dark days of being organic our contract was moving away from solids payment's and towards liquid so we started crossing with various bulls/breeds. Then we had a change of heart and came out of organic and back onto a CI contract and had to sell the crossbreds. I kept my 2 favourites though, one is a BF (winnoch officer) cross jersey and the other is a kiwi Ayrshire which I think is actually Swedish/ Norwegian red.. They're both good milkers and both very friendly. I'll get a couple of picks in the parlour in the morning.

I'm starting to seriously consider going back down the crossbreeding route.

 

[Cows 'n grass]

We also milked an Angus cross for about 5 years. I don't miss anything about her.

 

[rc mx110]

Also got 3ays crossers, a shorthorn cross, 3 or 4 fecking kicking jerseys, and a few pedigree holstiens. Most are dumpy British frisian types

 

[jimmer]

she is always the cow furthest away when time to bring them in

spot the bodge for today

calf feeding made easy

 

[rc mx110]

View attachment 50704
she is always the cow furthest away when time to bring them in View attachment 50705
View attachment 50706
spot the bodge for today View attachment 50708
calf feeding made easy

I was always learned that a calf should suck as its got to produce saliva to help its gut ???

 

[Blue.]

View attachment 50704
she is always the cow furthest away when time to bring them in View attachment 50705
View attachment 50706
spot the bodge for today View attachment 50708
calf feeding made easy

What's up seal in acr ram gone?

 

[Cows 'n grass]

It always seems to be people who just have a few jerseys who find think they kick. As a breed I certainly wouldn't say they're overly kicky. We're milking just over 300 and don't own a kick bar.

I will say that those that do kick, kick fast like kung foo fast!

 

[rc mx110]

It always seems to be people who just have a few jerseys who find think they kick. As a breed I certainly wouldn't say they're overly kicky. We're milking just over 300 and don't own a kick bar.

I will say that those that do kick, kick fast like kung foo fast!

Ours give a nasty kick when wiping b4 milking even if i tap their leg first to let them know I'm there. Stand fine to milk

 

[Baling Hay]

My cows are boringly uniform nowadays. Back in the dark days of being organic our contract was moving away from solids payment's and towards liquid so we started crossing with various bulls/breeds. Then we had a change of heart and came out of organic and back onto a CI contract and had to sell the crossbreds. I kept my 2 favourites though, one is a BF (winnoch officer) cross jersey and the other is a kiwi Ayrshire which I think is actually Swedish/ Norwegian red.. They're both good milkers and both very friendly. I'll get a couple of picks in the parlour in the morning.

I'm starting to seriously consider going back down the crossbreeding route.

Why did you sell crossbreeds if you went back to components contract??

 

[jimmer]

It always seems to be people who just have a few jerseys who find think they kick. As a breed I certainly wouldn't say they're overly kicky. We're milking just over 300 and don't own a kick bar.

I will say that those that do kick, kick fast like kung foo fast!

spot on

 

[jimmer]

What's up seal in acr ram gone?

cow got the acr cord caught between her toes and ripped the end of the acr tube out ,snapped the wheel and plastic holder on plunger too , wouldnt be so bad if i hadnt forgot about fixing it till i pressed the green buttons tonight , the long stems are from the previous parlour and have been sat in the corner of a shed gathering dust only ocassionally being looked at to rob parts off ,
th.white sending new parts in the post tomorrow

 

[Monty]

Nice to see we are not the only farmers still milking through an abreast. How many are you milking and how many standings?
We fitted parlour matting to ours a couple of years ago to reduce wear and tear on feet (lots of turning)View attachment 50674

10 abreast and just under 70 cows at the moment. We have a few Spooky heifers and cows here too. They certainly named the bull well. How are you finding yours?

 

[Monty]

we milked through an abreast untill about 2 years ago, 4 stalls, manual feeding with a bucket in the feeder, 60 odd cows, moved up in the world with a 8/16 herringbone with all the beells and whistles, although even thats 20/ 30 yrs old, shall get some pics sometime soon

That must have taken a while to milk 15 rows of cows. Are you expanding the herd now with the bigger parlour?

 

[RobFZS]

That must have taken a while to milk 15 rows of cows. Are you expanding the herd now with the bigger parlour?

about 2 hours start to finish, takes about the same time now to milk 80 cows, might go up to 100 eventually, about as much space as we have for winter before having to build another cubical shed etc

 

[jimmer]

I was always learned that a calf should suck as its got to produce saliva to help its gut ???

they are on teats for about a fortnight then i train them onto a trough

 

[Cows 'n grass]

A quick question for those milking in abreast parlours. I have only ever seen 1 abrest so please excuse my ignorance. When a cow has finished milking I understand you can let out 1 at a time, but in the parlour I saw he was waiting until all 8 cows had finished and then let another 8 in. Is this normal? I always imagined you let in 1 at a time as well so slow milkers wouldn't really hold you up too much.

 

[Cows 'n grass]

Why did you sell crossbreeds if you went back to components contract??

My contract is supposed to be channel island specific so I'm not really supposed to even have 2 cows that are only 50% jersey. The CI contract and the manufacturing contracts from AML are now the same so I don't think it would be too hard to move between contracts if I decide to breed a more colourful herd.

 

[Monty]

A quick question for those milking in abreast parlours. I have only ever seen 1 abrest so please excuse my ignorance. When a cow has finished milking I understand you can let out 1 at a time, but in the parlour I saw he was waiting until all 8 cows had finished and then let another 8 in. Is this normal? I always imagined you let in 1 at a time as well so slow milkers wouldn't really hold you up too much.

We do ours in rows too. Let 10 in, chain them up, feed and units on, twiddle your thumbs for 5-10 minutes while they're milking, units off dip and open the gate to let them wander out at their own pace. While the units are on it gives you plenty of time to fetch the stragglers up out of the cubicles, feed calves and replace the teat dip.