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.
Milking cows for two years without calving
- Thread starter Llmmm
- Start date
- Location
- Ardrossan Ayrshire
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
AGN76
Member
- Location
- north Wales
Not a Jersey, but I know of a cow that never dropped much below 30 litres in over 1100 days!
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.
We will carryover cows between autumn and spring calving herds and milk them through. Not ideal but cheaper than a heifer.
Kiss
Member
- Location
- North west
Surely you’d be better trying to get them back
In calf for an autumn block?
In calf for an autumn block?
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.
- Location
- Northern Ireland
There was a story on here of someone milking a cow for 7 years after she had her last calf(on robots)
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
- Location
- cornwall
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
- Location
- cornwall
We do it with all ages
- 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.
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.
Am i right in thinking the key is to not dry them.off
More to life
Member
- Location
- Somerset
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
mixed farm
Member
Milk on and feed on. If they keep milking you're winning, if they dry up they get fat and you're winning too!
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.
- Location
- Co antrim
I could do with a whole herd of them know where they are sold?
