Farmer Roy's Random Thoughts - I never said it was easy.

[Karliboy]

Absolute sh!te weather here at the moment into 4th day off this barley above freezing through the day with a damp bone chilling breeze. Couple of weaned calves coming down with runny noses but there all still eating Plenty will have to keep a close eye out for pneumonia in this weather

Sold the 3 bulls. They could have done a little better I think if I was in ring a little later but I ended up first in.
The middle one ended up being bought by my neighbour for a breeding bull to put over some heifers.
I could have walked him there as we border each other more or less and save the commission ?

 

[Crofter64]

Best of luck at market, we said hooray to some big boys this morning tooView attachment 846840
Always feel like a sh!t pansy sending animals on their way but we're not in the business of keeping them

I’m sending my beloved Brown Swiss- 11 years old , has brought up 13 calves for me ( will take 3 at a time including her own) and always gave the best milk when I needed some. But the weather is terrible , with cold, rain, snow and ice,and her legs a bit vulnerable. Her last two calves died from falling on the ice- the heifer fell at 71/2 months pregnant and went into premature labour and the bull ( my atavar ) tore out his shoulder last winter at 19 months and had to go earlier than planned. This business can really knock the stuffing out of you. When I called my neighbour to arrange things he agreed that I have trouble making the right decision when it comes to these things. Who doesn’t? She’s the one who always looks up expectantly whenever I drive up or approach on foot.

 

[CornishTone]

I’m sending my beloved Brown Swiss- 11 years old , has brought up 13 calves for me ( will take 3 at a time including her own) and always gave the best milk when I needed some. But the weather is terrible , with cold, rain, snow and ice,and her legs a bit vulnerable. Her last two calves died from falling on the ice- the heifer fell at 71/2 months pregnant and went into premature labour and the bull ( my atavar ) tore out his shoulder last winter at 19 months and had to go earlier than planned. This business can really knock the stuffing out of you. When I called my neighbour to arrange things he agreed that I have trouble making the right decision when it comes to these things. Who doesn’t? She’s the one who always looks up expectantly whenever I drive up or approach on foot.

You’re gonna have a tough day by the sounds of it.[emoji20]

 

[Bury the Trash]

 

[Blaithin]

I’m sending my beloved Brown Swiss- 11 years old , has brought up 13 calves for me ( will take 3 at a time including her own) and always gave the best milk when I needed some. But the weather is terrible , with cold, rain, snow and ice,and her legs a bit vulnerable. Her last two calves died from falling on the ice- the heifer fell at 71/2 months pregnant and went into premature labour and the bull ( my atavar ) tore out his shoulder last winter at 19 months and had to go earlier than planned. This business can really knock the stuffing out of you. When I called my neighbour to arrange things he agreed that I have trouble making the right decision when it comes to these things. Who doesn’t? She’s the one who always looks up expectantly whenever I drive up or approach on foot.

If at all possible I fight tooth and nail not to send animals to the auction. If I can’t sell them privately I want them butchered here.

Right now one of my feedlot cows is stiff as a board. She’ll be 7 in April. I brought her home in the backseat of my car after digging her out of the mud at work. She was a bottle calf first and then one of my first successful fosters on my new to me Holstein. When she was 3 she ended up going down for 19 days with calving paralysis which I think is catching up to her now. As a last ditch effort I’ve given her selenium in case she’s got a case of white muscle but realistically I’m going to start looking for people interested in hamburger. I won’t put her on a trailer. I won’t send her through an auction. I won’t let her make her way to one of the packers. If she’s going to be meat she’s going to be meat in my freezer that died as stress free as I can possibly manage.

As much as I’d love a large herd of cattle I’d always struggle with sending calves to auction

 

[cows sh#t me to tears]

Second person found alive in Northern Territory after two weeks missing in the outback

Phu Tran was found by a pastoralist on Tuesday morning south of Alice Springs, police say

www.google.com

2 out of 3 so far......bloody miracle...

 

[cows sh#t me to tears]

Vale Greedy Smith ?

 

[Kiwi Pete]

I’m sending my beloved Brown Swiss- 11 years old , has brought up 13 calves for me ( will take 3 at a time including her own) and always gave the best milk when I needed some. But the weather is terrible , with cold, rain, snow and ice,and her legs a bit vulnerable. Her last two calves died from falling on the ice- the heifer fell at 71/2 months pregnant and went into premature labour and the bull ( my atavar ) tore out his shoulder last winter at 19 months and had to go earlier than planned. This business can really knock the stuffing out of you. When I called my neighbour to arrange things he agreed that I have trouble making the right decision when it comes to these things. Who doesn’t? She’s the one who always looks up expectantly whenever I drive up or approach on foot.

That really sucks.

Sorry to hear that, there's something really endearing about the Brown Swiss .
Mine has taken to just walking over the fence to greet me and then walking back with the mob when we've said hello .
Anyone else and I'd be cross, but big Flumpsy is not going to let a measly wire prevent a proper greeting. It's only just below his knee (the wire) at the moment because of the sheep.

I can see how they'd really grow on you after a further 10 years

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Vale Greedy Smith ?

For some odd reason I can't do sad face at the moment, but that was a shock
I suppose a heart attack is a nice and quick way to go

 

[Steel]

bloody cold considering it was 38 C two months ago, just coming out of winter . . .

We camped in Canberra out the front of parliament house last night. Bloody freezing and gale force winds. Was not bad in the swags until the sprinklers came on in the middle of the night.

 

[Steel]

Probably over 3,000 irrigation farmers at the protest yesterday. Hopefully we achieved something.

 

[Steel]

@cows sh#t me to tears @Steel

in Canberra today ?

Just got home. Drove there in the huge convoy from Yass. Had a few thousand farmers and got our message across. Not sure if we will achieve much though. Camped there last night. Sprinklers came on for the first time at 12:15. We got a bit wet and moved to a dry spot. Cops came and told us we would get the wet there again at 3:15, so we moved to a dry area they recommended. Unfortunately Hayden messed the message and he got watered again at 3:15. The rest of us just got sandblasted by the gale force winds all night.

 

[Yale]

The urge to buy some shiny equipment got the better of me today.

For a few years now our pre lambing ewe feed has been bought in bags as the price was not much different to bulk to get a truck load but now it’s a difference of £27/tonne.

So back to bulk and have bought a feeder to go in the back of the UTV.

Trailed ones are a good idea in principle however if you load them up with nothing on the bed you get stuck so I’ve ordered one of these.

 

[TelesnaAg]

The urge to buy some shiny equipment got the better of me today.

For a few years now our pre lambing ewe feed has been bought in bags as the price was not much different to bulk to get a truck load but now it’s a difference of £27/tonne.

So back to bulk and have bought a feeder to go in the back of the UTV.

Trailed ones are a good idea in principle however if you load them up with nothing on the bed you get stuck so I’ve ordered one of these.

How many kg it hold....?

Ant...

 

[Yale]

How many kg it hold....?

Ant...

300kg.

MF350 UTV Mounted Feeder - Chapman Machinery

MF350 UTV Mounted Livestock Feeder / Sheep Snacker is the perfect tool for feeding sheep, cattle and other livestock in a easy and effective manner.

chapman.co.uk

 

[TelesnaAg]

300kg.

MF350 UTV Mounted Feeder - Chapman Machinery

MF350 UTV Mounted Livestock Feeder / Sheep Snacker is the perfect tool for feeding sheep, cattle and other livestock in a easy and effective manner.

chapman.co.uk

Why is it called a snacker?

Do you drive alongside trough and drop in or drop on ground?

Do you guys use lick feeders there?

Cheers, Ant

 

[hendrebc]

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=6223652351015236&id=199098633470668

Don't know if this will work but I saw this video and thought of @Farmer Roy and those birds that ate the wiring in his tractor. They might be more useful than just breaking tractors after all

 

[Yale]

Why is it called a snacker?

Do you drive alongside trough and drop in or drop on ground?

Do you guys use lick feeders there?

Cheers, Ant

I think ‘snacker‘ was coined by Logic who make ATV equipment.

Logic Snacker - questions

Hi looking for some advice on the logic multi snacker. Decided I need one of these, It will be pulled by the jeep. Main reason is after trying numerous ways of feeding the ewes whin inlamb over past few years decided its hard to beat some form of concentrates in late pregnancy. Picked the logic...

thefarmingforum.co.uk

Logic snacker Multi-Feeder LMF 570K – Attlefield Farm Machinery

www.afmachinery.co.uk

We always feed ewe rolls on the field,find a dryish spot on the field and then drop them out,1/2 kg per day,up to a Kg for triplets in the run up to lambing.

Problem with the UK climate is because of our latitude and altitude grass growth is generally very good over the summer however minimal most of the winter.

Getting the ewes delivered at lambing with some body condition but not over fed is the trick and get the lambs on the ground ready to make the most of the late spring/early summer grass growth.

Some folk use liquid feed,maybe high hill to supplement poorer quality roughage grazed over the winter by hill breeds.

Liquid supplements for sheep from Dallas Keith in the UK

One of the first companies involved in the development and production of liquid feed supplements for ruminants.

dallaskeith.co.uk

 

[cows sh#t me to tears]

Just got home. Drove there in the huge convoy from Yass. Had a few thousand farmers and got our message across. Not sure if we will achieve much though. Camped there last night. Sprinklers came on for the first time at 12:15. We got a bit wet and moved to a dry spot. Cops came and told us we would get the wet there again at 3:15, so we moved to a dry area they recommended. Unfortunately Hayden messed the message and he got watered again at 3:15. The rest of us just got sandblasted by the gale force winds all night.View attachment 847007

Watched sky last night. I must say reading between the lines what littleproud said was pathetic. "We are going to get someone independent to undertake a transparent process to ensure there is confidence in the basin plan and how it is implemented " end quote.....what he told Chris Brooks and Darcy Hare behind closed doors may have been different. But listening to that and reading that they have to get the states to agree to give Keelty the power to look into it in the first place.......I see it as the greatest handball of all time.....I hope I'm wrong, but somehow I highly doubt it....... @Steel , the 50 megs pr farm on offer.......did you realize it is ONLY 800 parcels of 50 megs. There is 1200 farm businesses in Murray irrigations area of operation alone. With 2400 farms. Even if only Murray irrigation customers were allowed to apply, that's an over subscription of 300%. Does this sound familiar.....

 

[bitwrx]

We camped in Canberra out the front of parliament house last night. Bloody freezing and gale force winds. Was not bad in the swags until the sprinklers came on in the middle of the night.View attachment 847004

Guess you were there to protest about lack of irrigation water. If so, being sprinkled is some cruel irony.

ETA: have now caught up on the thread. That was cruel irony.