I thats it
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would a OAD system work on old permanent pasture?
would a OAD system work on old permanent pasture?
Plenty of ground to go at so they would have plenty to eat but it certainly won't be rye grasses. Just thinking about alternative options to sheep and store cattle on the further rented ground.Depends on the stocking rate and how much grass the permanent pasture can grow through the grazing season.
Who do you sell your milk to?I've now completed my first full year of oad milking.
We went oad on 1st nov 2019, dried off mid dec 2019 and calved in 1st feb 2020 and milk oad for the full season.
To date we have averaged 4199 litres at 4.83 bf and 3.77 pro so 361kg solids per cow. I've fed just over 500kg conc which has cost me just over 3ppl. I think there is scope to cut conc use but I do use it as a comfort blanket!
Scc has been much lower than expected, well below 100 in early lactation and even now around 170 but dry of is only weeks aways. Had a few cases of mastitis early lactation but nothing all summer and autumn. Cow health is incredible and feet noticeably better.
6 week in calf rate is higher, tighter block overall and more incalf to the point I now have cows to sell.
Obviously feed costs were the biggest saving but I've seen small savings across all variable cost even though we are carrying 20% more cows. Made a similar cash surplus to previous years on tad.
Did 24hr grazing allocations so that cut a huge amount of fencer moving out and made the platform much easier to manage.
2 cows got culled out of 200. One with chronic mastitis and the other went fat and dried herself of in october, she made £1045 as a cull so not all bad!
So in summary it's gone bloody well for my first year oad with a bunch of british fr's!
Who do you sell your milk to?
Sounds like a good result for you. What's not to like?I've now completed my first full year of oad milking.
We went oad on 1st nov 2019, dried off mid dec 2019 and calved in 1st feb 2020 and milk oad for the full season.
To date we have averaged 4199 litres at 4.83 bf and 3.77 pro so 361kg solids per cow. I've fed just over 500kg conc which has cost me just over 3ppl. I think there is scope to cut conc use but I do use it as a comfort blanket!
Scc has been much lower than expected, well below 100 in early lactation and even now around 170 but dry of is only weeks aways. Had a few cases of mastitis early lactation but nothing all summer and autumn. Cow health is incredible and feet noticeably better.
6 week in calf rate is higher, tighter block overall and more incalf to the point I now have cows to sell.
Obviously feed costs were the biggest saving but I've seen small savings across all variable cost even though we are carrying 20% more cows. Made a similar cash surplus to previous years on tad.
Did 24hr grazing allocations so that cut a huge amount of fencer moving out and made the platform much easier to manage.
2 cows got culled out of 200. One with chronic mastitis and the other went fat and dried herself of in october, she made £1045 as a cull so not all bad!
So in summary it's gone bloody well for my first year oad with a bunch of british fr's!
Sounds like a good result for you. What's not to like?
Sounds as if it went like a dream. Well done. At least you have a year under your belt for when problems do arise.I've now completed my first full year of oad milking.
We went oad on 1st nov 2019, dried off mid dec 2019 and calved in 1st feb 2020 and milk oad for the full season.
To date we have averaged 4199 litres at 4.83 bf and 3.77 pro so 361kg solids per cow. I've fed just over 500kg conc which has cost me just over 3ppl. I think there is scope to cut conc use but I do use it as a comfort blanket!
Scc has been much lower than expected, well below 100 in early lactation and even now around 170 but dry of is only weeks aways. Had a few cases of mastitis early lactation but nothing all summer and autumn. Cow health is incredible and feet noticeably better.
6 week in calf rate is higher, tighter block overall and more incalf to the point I now have cows to sell.
Obviously feed costs were the biggest saving but I've seen small savings across all variable cost even though we are carrying 20% more cows. Made a similar cash surplus to previous years on tad.
Did 24hr grazing allocations so that cut a huge amount of fencer moving out and made the platform much easier to manage.
2 cows got culled out of 200. One with chronic mastitis and the other went fat and dried herself of in october, she made £1045 as a cull so not all bad!
So in summary it's gone bloody well for my first year oad with a bunch of british fr's!
What did SCC do?I've now completed my first full year of oad milking.
We went oad on 1st nov 2019, dried off mid dec 2019 and calved in 1st feb 2020 and milk oad for the full season.
To date we have averaged 4199 litres at 4.83 bf and 3.77 pro so 361kg solids per cow. I've fed just over 500kg conc which has cost me just over 3ppl. I think there is scope to cut conc use but I do use it as a comfort blanket!
Scc has been much lower than expected, well below 100 in early lactation and even now around 170 but dry of is only weeks aways. Had a few cases of mastitis early lactation but nothing all summer and autumn. Cow health is incredible and feet noticeably better.
6 week in calf rate is higher, tighter block overall and more incalf to the point I now have cows to sell.
Obviously feed costs were the biggest saving but I've seen small savings across all variable cost even though we are carrying 20% more cows. Made a similar cash surplus to previous years on tad.
Did 24hr grazing allocations so that cut a huge amount of fencer moving out and made the platform much easier to manage.
2 cows got culled out of 200. One with chronic mastitis and the other went fat and dried herself of in october, she made £1045 as a cull so not all bad!
So in summary it's gone bloody well for my first year oad with a bunch of british fr's!
What time do you milk?Read 4th paragraph
What time do you milk?
What type of cow was that with?I should add that we are 9 years OAD, 1st year did around 330 most years since 350-360 plus.
1st year culled 8% of herd as unsuitable i.e. dried themselves off and went fat or were too slow milking.
The older british fr cows have put on more weight than I'd like but have milked ok. Younger fr cows have done ok and are looking good. The jersey crosses that I have have milked really well but I think the stars are the handful of jerseys that I have that look the best they've ever looked and have milked well.
I did put all my fr hefs to irish fr this year rightly or wrongly. Might look at a kiwi cross for them in the future. The jerseys and jrx work great on oad but cull and calf value is poor. I'm still very much weighing it all up tbh.
Sorry was looking on my phone and must have scrolled past itRead 4th paragraph
Suppose I think what are they like fresh calved milked once a day ? Is there less of a flush because they are only milked once ?The older british fr cows have put on more weight than I'd like but have milked ok. Younger fr cows have done ok and are looking good. The jersey crosses that I have have milked really well but I think the stars are the handful of jerseys that I have that look the best they've ever looked and have milked well.
I did put all my fr hefs to irish fr this year rightly or wrongly. Might look at a kiwi cross for them in the future. The jerseys and jrx work great on oad but cull and calf value is poor. I'm still very much weighing it all up tbh.