All things Dairy

som farmer

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
somerset
The problem is its a 4 day old calf that's never had human contact and now has some strange man running after it, the breed is irrelevant!

50% + of dad's sucklers come from limo x friesians, they're quiet as mice! I've got photos of me sat on the back of my pure limo, as they calved in I used to milk them and check their quarters were OK, and didn't calve in with mastitis etc

I've certainly never had to shoot a mad one!
and l sincerely hope we never have to again. But all the major hassles, chasing cattle, seem to have a 'limmy' base, but that's with neighbours cattle, we don't have lims now.
The only other time we have shot a spooked animal, was a pure sim heifer, that we couldn't move with the bunch, from an orchard, she got well spooked. The owner was getting a bit 'anxious', as a few apples came down, cider apples, beginning of sept. We organised a dart gun from cricket-st-thomas wild life park, shot it, it jumped stockfence +2 barbs, ditch and hedge, and my neighbour returned it next day, as quiet as a mouse, and stayed that way.
 

sidjon

Member
Location
EXMOOR
and l sincerely hope we never have to again. But all the major hassles, chasing cattle, seem to have a 'limmy' base, but that's with neighbours cattle, we don't have lims now.
The only other time we have shot a spooked animal, was a pure sim heifer, that we couldn't move with the bunch, from an orchard, she got well spooked. The owner was getting a bit 'anxious', as a few apples came down, cider apples, beginning of sept. We organised a dart gun from cricket-st-thomas wild life park, shot it, it jumped stockfence +2 barbs, ditch and hedge, and my neighbour returned it next day, as quiet as a mouse, and stayed that way.

Nearly been killed by a sim cow, use to run a landrover with canvas back and picked up new born, boss would drive on and I would tag and ring, then drop calf out, this cow jumped in the back as well and pushed me through the canvas over the roof and landed on the ground, how I never got run over 😱
 

Wesley

Member
Unfortunately the quad is very poorly atm 😞
Should have it back this week though, and a trailer is on the list of things I would like, along with a milk cart + pump

Bring calves in like this is nothing short of a nightmare 🤣 makes me cry every time there's a new calf 🤣
What you need is some staff. Just turned 3 & he helped me shift the fence this morning & then got this calf & its mother in. He’d live outside if he was given the chance.
15BEC06C-80CE-455A-B685-7DF919A9E4AB.jpeg
 

som farmer

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
somerset
Feeding in a drought just got easier hopfully. View attachment 1042492
get some herbs in, places here, now, only herbs and clover
IMG_0732[1].JPG

and the cows like them, a lot of our prg is now 'stressed' and sending up seed heads, instead of leaf's, and its only half way through june !
The leys where we have put more c/foot, fesques, festuloliums etc, are still growing, but grass is getting short. And, plantains and chicory, are growing well, as grass slows down.
These dry spells seem to be getting more frequent, and rye grasses seem to be less tolerant, of them, sometimes wonder, if the new varieties, are great in test plots, and when conditions are right, and useless when they are not.
Use a stream through the farm, as a 'barometer', its dry, and hasn't really flowed normally, for 4/5 years, lot of springs stopped as well. We shall have to get used to it.
 
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get some herbs in, places here, now, only herbs and cloverView attachment 1042493
and the cows like them, a lot of our prg is now 'stressed' and sending up seed heads, instead of leaf's, and its only half way through june !
The leys where we have put more c/foot, fesques, festuloliums etc, are still growing, but grass is getting short. And, plantains and chicory, are growing well, as grass slows down.
What am I looking at in that picture?
We have clover and plantain, but its probably easier to buffer some silage for 6 weeks than have a slow start like you do. All this talk of clover fixing N is fine, but I want the N before July
20220612_070641.jpg
 

som farmer

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
somerset
What am I looking at in that picture?
We have clover and plantain, but its probably easier to buffer some silage for 6 weeks than have a slow start like you do. All this talk of clover fixing N is fine, but I want the N before July View attachment 1042495
got some like that, its just very slow coming back, N wouldn't make difference now, moisture is what we need, and its all had N, just not quite so much. First round silage, has pretty well given us enough grass silage, for the winter, 1st and 2nd round grazing was fine, just drying out now. The lesson is, max early growth, and leave enough extra acres to graze, if it comes in dry, and top silage up, in the autumn.
and there isn't much grass, in the pic, and what there is, is mainly AMG, new ley aut 20, and did well last year.
 
got some like that, its just very slow coming back, N wouldn't make difference now, moisture is what we need, and its all had N, just not quite so much. First round silage, has pretty well given us enough grass silage, for the winter, 1st and 2nd round grazing was fine, just drying out now. The lesson is, max early growth, and leave enough extra acres to graze, if it comes in dry, and top silage up, in the autumn.
So what was your picture? Extra acres In June are a waste of time, grass heads too quickly.
 

Jdunn55

Member
What am I looking at in that picture?
We have clover and plantain, but its probably easier to buffer some silage for 6 weeks than have a slow start like you do. All this talk of clover fixing N is fine, but I want the N before July View attachment 1042495
I think a full herbal ley would pleasantly surprise you, but it would require slightly different looking after to prg, a dash of white clover and some plantain if youre feeling adventurous!

The legumes will only fix nitrogen over the summer BUT
they will leave that nitrogen in the ground for in the spring
So whilst they are not growing in the spring (and certainly not fixing nitrogen)
The grasses can make use of the residual nitrogen from the previous summer
It's why a herbal mix with grass is good, in my mixes, the plant with the highest percentage of seeds is perennial ryegrass (40%), followed by red clover (10%), birdsfoot trefoil (10%), then other species of grass like festulolium and timothy (20%) leaving 20% for other herbs and legumes.
 
I think a full herbal ley would pleasantly surprise you, but it would require slightly different looking after to prg, a dash of white clover and some plantain if youre feeling adventurous!

The legumes will only fix nitrogen over the summer BUT
they will leave that nitrogen in the ground for in the spring
So whilst they are not growing in the spring (and certainly not fixing nitrogen)
The grasses can make use of the residual nitrogen from the previous summer
It's why a herbal mix with grass is good, in my mixes, the plant with the highest percentage of seeds is perennial ryegrass (40%), followed by red clover (10%), birdsfoot trefoil (10%), then other species of grass like festulolium and timothy (20%) leaving 20% for other herbs and legumes.
We stock a farm to tight for all this regeneration stuff. It wouldn't like our approach. You and som both had cows in still very late, that's unacceptable here
 
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Jdunn55

Member
Sure you had them eating silage not silly long ago.
That was in late April/early may when it was very dry here and I messed the rotation up (after advice on here I should have grazed higher covers through early-mid April instead of 2800-3000's) if I had more herbs and clovers I might not have had too! 😉

Edit: My first grazing of the gs4 was late February and they were good to go again by early April without fertiliser
With your slurry system you would be absolutely flying with them.
 

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