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Milking cows for two years without calving

Llmmm

Member
Im strictly spring calving but this year i have 20 high yielding pure jersey cows and xs not in calf giving 15 to 20 litres .some are first calvers some 6th.Will they milk for two years i usually just cull but am abit short of replacement this year and keeping them would be a cheap alternative.
 

Sharpy

Member
Livestock Farmer
Im strictly spring calving but this year i have 20 high yielding pure jersey cows and xs not in calf giving 15 to 20 litres .some are first calvers some 6th.Will they milk for two years i usually just cull but am abit short of replacement this year and keeping them would be a cheap alternative.
They might well keep milking, surely if they do they will be profitable as no dry period, no diet changes etc, no chance of calving problems etc
 

Stinker

Member
So long as they're milking at that level and SCC and you're happy to milk them then carry on.

Lactation persistency - that is the ability of a cow to continue milking regardless of calving - is an area I don't think is researched enough.
I guess the semen companies would make a lot less money if we only needed a calf every 2 years.

Personally I believe a cow that calves every 2 years would be the holy grail. They would live longer i'm sure. How often do cows get sick after 60 days post calving? Hardly ever. There would be less calves around also, which can only be a good thing for their value and save a load of labour rearing them.
 

Dead Rabbits

Member
Location
'Merica
Not an unheard of practice in NZ, I know a guy who runs 9 farms and one of them is stocked entirely with carryover cows. I don’t remember if they are milked through or not. He won’t keep one that has done more than 3 lactations.

We will carryover cows between autumn and spring calving herds and milk them through. Not ideal but cheaper than a heifer.
 

Llmmm

Member
6th calvers not too saleable, we find autumn calvers prefer the more B&W cows as opposed to the more jersey ones, I guess there thinking of cubicle spaces.
The majority of the batch is 5th 6th my only expeience of recycleing these a small batch before was i dried them off but when they calved the following year they were as fat as pigs yes they were jerseys they got ketosis milk fever and those which made it to milk didnt milk well the younger cows fared much better if im to keep these il just milk them trough
 

jerseycowsman

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
cornwall
Im strictly spring calving but this year i have 20 high yielding pure jersey cows and xs not in calf giving 15 to 20 litres .some are first calvers some 6th.Will they milk for two years i usually just cull but am abit short of replacement this year and keeping them would be a cheap alternative.
We do it every year now. Got one cow who has done 900 days, still doing 12 a day at 7% fat earning us over £5 a day! In her lifetime she has done over 5000 litres more than anyone else her age.
about half our carry over cows will do as much as or more in 2 years with one calf than those that have had 2. But about a quarter of them dry themselves off 6 or 8 months early, basically as soon as they get back in calf.
I’m seriously tempted to do more of it, especially with jersey bull calves being worthless and the fact that there will be 18 to 20 months of no problem cows!
 

Llmmm

Member
We do it every year now. Got one cow who has done 900 days, still doing 12 a day at 7% fat earning us over £5 a day! In her lifetime she has done over 5000 litres more than anyone else her age.
about half our carry over cows will do as much as or more in 2 years with one calf than those that have had 2. But about a quarter of them dry themselves off 6 or 8 months early, basically as soon as they get back in calf.
I’m seriously tempted to do more of it, especially with jersey bull calves being worthless and the fact that there will be 18 to 20 months of no problem cows!
Would you have any problem doing this with 5th 6th calvers
 

farmerdan7618

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Somerset
Not quite at 7 years, but shifted a barrener in the spring (2020) who last calved in October 2016.

Persistent milker right up to the end and covered her marginal daily costs all the way through. Potentially a different story if it wasn't a closed herd or the space was needed for a heifer.
 

Llmmm

Member
Aren’t in calf xbred heifers about £800 at the moment could you buy heifers and cull these cows in February? Or sell them as slips now
Thats what i was thinking off but when you look at kind of stock for sale it really makes one appreciate there own breeding.Disease is a big issue for me.I bought some irish holstein jerseys few years back slow milkers kickers half very gd milkers half poor never again and the worst of these type of animals they will last for years.
 

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Webinar: Expanded Sustainable Farming Incentive offer 2024 -26th Sept

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On Thursday 26th September, we’re holding a webinar for farmers to go through the guidance, actions and detail for the expanded Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer. This was planned for end of May, but had to be delayed due to the general election. We apologise about that.

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