Fertility figures comparison

More to life

Member
Location
Somerset
No, I buy them in. They earn their keep. The issue is, you've tried to pick holes in my system time and time again and can't. Keeping a heifer isn't free. We don't take up a cow space with slips, they get milked oad from a separate yard and only eat surplus grub.
Be more like Mr Bezos Beefy keep them vans moving 😂
 

In the pit

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Pembrokeshire
I very much agree with the above. From my own time managing cows if a cow had a bad calving, twins, milk fever or any other way for metritis to happen they often make their way onto to the empty list because they either don't conceive or don't express oestrus. In the end I let them get on with it and sort themselves out and it made no difference to when I threw a load of drugs and vet time at it.
I slip a iodine cleansing pressarie into them if they have had a struggle calving. Sorts them out pretty quick and cheaply
 

Jdunn55

Member
Don't make the mistake I made of keeping the good cows, and giving them another chance. I was guilty of this, and they would often end up becoming 7months in calf (because they get in calf in the end), lame and just a pain in the arse until they calve and you molly coddle them until they look half good and milk for another year🤦. Seriously if you have nice heifers coming through, and sell the good cows as barreners a year or 2 earlier you will be happier. You soon forget about the cows once sold. This however takes a few years to master, but I feel i now know when a cows time in the herd is up. Good luck.
Thanks, I have a group of 20 heifers to serve next summer to calve spring 2023 and another 10 for in the autumn so should be able to select atleast a few to get rid of that have caused me problems, have 60 heifer calves being born spring 2022 and should have a good 20 in the autumn I would have thought so will easily get to 150 cows by 2024 as long as tb doesn't cock things up, by that point I can very easily cull whoever I feel needs to go

The other problem is how do you decide who gets culled, the list of reasons is endless
Johnes
Mastitis
High cell count
Poor legs and feet/lameness
Poor quality udder (dragging on the floor)
Low yielder
Poor butterfat or protein
Infertility
Poor conformation
Bad temperament
Problems at calving
Old age
Aborted
3 quartered

I could quite easily cull 22 of my cows for any of those reasons if I really wanted to and eventually I hope that I can get rid of any like that without even thinking about it, but right now I just don't think I should 🤔
 

jimmer

Member
Location
East Devon
Thanks, I have a group of 20 heifers to serve next summer to calve spring 2023 and another 10 for in the autumn so should be able to select atleast a few to get rid of that have caused me problems, have 60 heifer calves being born spring 2022 and should have a good 20 in the autumn I would have thought so will easily get to 150 cows by 2024 as long as tb doesn't cock things up, by that point I can very easily cull whoever I feel needs to go

The other problem is how do you decide who gets culled, the list of reasons is endless
Johnes
Mastitis
High cell count
Poor legs and feet/lameness
Poor quality udder (dragging on the floor)
Low yielder
Poor butterfat or protein
Infertility
Poor conformation
Bad temperament
Problems at calving
Old age
Aborted
3 quartered

I could quite easily cull 22 of my cows for any of those reasons if I really wanted to and eventually I hope that I can get rid of any like that without even thinking about it, but right now I just don't think I should 🤔
Only 22, thought you were milking British friesans
 

Jdunn55

Member
Treat it as a business.
Amazon wouldn't pay 20% of their drivers to sit in a van in the car park.
No but they also wouldn't load the workers onto a lorry and shoot them, or I hope, never know with the wealthy elite 😂 that's my problem, because I'm soft and am attacked to the cows I detest getting rid of them, especially if I haven't given them a second chance 😬
 

Real cool

Member
Have been interested in this feed,I will admit that I sell heat detection / rumination package.
So what are the reasons against collars for heat detection / rumination, it’s good to hear different opinions
 

frederick

Member
Location
south west
Have been interested in this feed,I will admit that I sell heat detection / rumination package.
So what are the reasons against collars for heat detection / rumination, it’s good to hear different opinions
In my opinion as a second year user. Money and in this thread jdunn has none.

This year we have automatic drafting sorted so the only time input we know have for ai is the actual serving itself. So once calving is over there is no longer another increased labour demand period on staff.
With rumination combined with activity a person even if they watched the shed 24hours could not be as accurate.

System choice I think has to be far more carefully considered if you are serving at grass rather than from a shed.

This is a block Calvers view when I only watched for bulling for 4 weeks a year anyhow. If your Ayr calving it has to be an even greater benefit.
 

Real cool

Member
We have collar rentals at £3.70 per month plus vat after an initial outlay for antena and box is that too much £3.70 doesn’t seem a lot for 24 hour surveillance on cows. Or am I wrong.
I can see your point on block calving
 

Rossymons

Member
Location
Cornwall
We have collar rentals at £3.70 per month plus vat after an initial outlay for antena and box is that too much £3.70 doesn’t seem a lot for 24 hour surveillance on cows. Or am I wrong.
I can see your point on block calving

You would be along the same money against buying them and spreading them over 3 years. For someone to try it before buying it or a block calver who has it for 3 months and sends it back it's an option.
 

Real cool

Member
The option against buying is if you have an issue with the battery or collars they just get replaced f o c
I think it’s a better deal,I remember heating selling a lot of systems then there was an issue with batteries
 

Rossymons

Member
Location
Cornwall
But at the end of year 3 my payments stop and the collars are mine. By carrying on into years 4 and 5 I'm effectively paying my maintenance money up front for every collar.
 

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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