Cull cow loading/arrival times

[Scholsey]

Am I alone in not wanting barren cows to overnight at a slaughter house? Got a 10 booked in and they want to pick them up at 2pm to kill the following morning. Only going 25-30 miles away but doesn’t sit right with me.

 

[Spudley]

No, I'm not keen on it either. When we were down with TB they would often collect the night before and I didn't feel I could argue it.

 

[M-J-G]

Won't they just spend the night in the lairage?
If they are there for more than 12 hours they must be fed and have water and bedding.

 

[Sid]

Milking cows shouldn't be lairaged overnight IMHO either.

Excuse for tb cows is they "attempt" to milk them. Some of these cows could be carrying alot of milk.

I wouldn't want a cow traveling too far either.

 

[DairyGrazing]

I only send to places that kill on the day. Last thing I want is them mixed with strangers and stressed all night.

 

[bar718]

It always surprises me how many farmers don’t realise that cull cows sold through the ring might not even leave the market until the following morning.

 

[betweenthelines]

Arrange transport yourself?

 

[M-J-G]

Milking cows shouldn't be lairaged overnight IMHO either.

Excuse for tb cows is they "attempt" to milk them. Some of these cows could be carrying alot of milk.

I wouldn't want a cow traveling too far either.

If cows are still milking surely it's the responsibility of the farmer to either make sure they are killed that day or dried off before they go.

 

[TheRanger]

It always surprises me how many farmers don’t realise that cull cows sold through the ring might not even leave the market until the following morning.

Just checked my last one sold at a mart in SW Scotland, slaughtered at an abattoir in Kent 2 days later.

 

[bigw]

Ours have an overnight ferry trip first so time to slaugher is normally 48 hours if sent direct but through a market could be several days more. I can see these kind of trips being clamped down on in the future which will make it difficult to keep livestock in more remote areas.

 

[cull cows]

The problem is they have forced all local abattoirs out of business and livestock have to travel further and further these days...the small abattoirs that are left don’t have the outlets for cull cows the big firms do so there’s a big difference in price.can sometimes be a few hundred pounds different..it’s wrong it’s all very wrong but this is the sad world we live in..

 

[jimmer]

Not really
So long as their killed within 24 hrs of last milking there's no welfare issue
Lairage pens should have access to water at a minimum

 

[Cows 'n grass]

Mine don't realize how lucky they are by the sounds of it. I'm almost always the last pickup at 9/10am, they have an hour on the lorry and I have the kill schedule by lunchtime.

 

[Av Gorritt]

The ones we send to Woodheads go on Sunday morning , but they go straight into the lairage there , and are provided with haylage bedding and water , and as as I'm aware go first "down the chute " Mon a.m. The "natives " that go Wed . a.m. go straight down the chute , as do the ones we send more locally .

 

[thorpe]

didnt think woodheads did cows.

 

[Cowabunga]

Abattoirs have independent and generally strict vets on duty that make sure animals are well treated.

 

[Headless chicken]

I’m happier sending a group if they have to go into the lairage. Really not keen on sending one on her own.

 

[Big_D]

Makes me glad to read this thread and see that others care what happens to their girls at the end of their working lives. I stopped selling mine through the ring long ago, when I realised how long it can be before they reach an abbatoir. Mine go away in the morning and are killed that day. For some people that won't be logistically possible, I don't think them spending the night in the abbatoirs lairage is something to be concerned about, as mentioned, they are overseen by a vet and will have a bedded pen and water.

 

[Headless chicken]

Makes me glad to read this thread and see that others care what happens to their girls at the end of their working lives. I stopped selling mine through the ring long ago, when I realised how long it can be before they reach an abbatoir. Mine go away in the morning and are killed that day. For some people that won't be logistically possible, I don't think them spending the night in the abbatoirs lairage is something to be concerned about, as mentioned, they are overseen by a vet and will have a bedded pen and water.

I’ve never sent them live, through fear of not knowing where they were headed too. I sold a fresh cow the other day as she was out of my block and felt a lump in my throat after driving away. Wasn’t that keen on here being washed with cold water there, didn’t know where she was headed etc.