Routinely weighing dairy cows

[Headless chicken]

is anyone doing the above? I’m recently involved in a discussion group and one thing being pushed is basic maths to work out what the cow actually needs and Im really finding it very interesting.
One of the things that came from this was how can you ration for a cow if you don’t know her weight. A lot of us our milk recording and we will be shortly forced too atleast 4 times a year for johnes. There are plenty of us who have auto ID feeders and feed to yield so it could all be linked up.

Am I reading too much into this or would it be worth looking to see how much a proper set of automatic scales would be?

 

[sidjon]

Yes have done it for 6 years now, every 60 normally (thank f**k tb testing has it's only good point ).

 

[Beef farmer]

KISS

 

[In the pit]

Weighed 50 cows last year to get the herd average
Last herd I was on we weighed every cow at drying off and again just before calving and condition scored
In one of the dairy mags I read that the gold cup winner weighs his herd yearly

 

[Headless chicken]

KISS

Agreed but I don’t like the thought of Wynnstay munching into my profits if for the sake of say a few grand I could have a weigh scales set up outside the parlour with it all linked back to the comp etc so very little extra effort required for potentially huge benefits

 

[Beef farmer]

Agreed but I don’t like the thought of Wynnstay munching into my profits if for the sake of say a few grand I could have a weigh scales set up outside the parlour with it all linked back to the comp etc so very little extra effort required for potentially huge benefits

Gimmick. Bigger priorities i would imagine

 

[Headless chicken]

Gimmick. Bigger priorities i would imagine

Quite possibly.

 

[Beef farmer]

Over feed them till xmas, get them in calve then keep them tight till dry off. From feb on feed a cheap straight. Weights will be of intrest 1st time then will gather dust

 

[In the pit]

Calves are what you need to be weighing

 

[Headless chicken]

Over feed them till xmas, get them in calve then keep them tight till dry off. From feb on feed a cheap straight. Weights will be of intrest 1st time then will gather dust

That’s my policy currently but just wondering if someone is seeing a difference with routine weighing. But think your probably right

 

[Cows 'n grass]

I have a set of walkover scales next to the drafting gate that I got on a grant scheme. They've been there four years and I've never weighed a cow.

I do drag them out into a field and weigh some youngstock now and then.

 

[Headless chicken]

I have a set of walkover scales next to the drafting gate that I got on a grant scheme. They've been there four years and I've never weighed a cow.

I do drag them out into a field and weigh some youngstock now and then.

Tru test ones? Don’t want to sell them do you?

 

[pappuller]

is anyone doing the above? I’m recently involved in a discussion group and one thing being pushed is basic maths to work out what the cow actually needs and Im really finding it very interesting.
One of the things that came from this was how can you ration for a cow if you don’t know her weight. A lot of us our milk recording and we will be shortly forced too atleast 4 times a year for johnes. There are plenty of us who have auto ID feeders and feed to yield so it could all be linked up.

Am I reading too much into this or would it be worth looking to see how much a proper set of automatic scales would be?

Mine are weighed 3.2 times a day every day through the robots, I never bother looking at the weights except when they're due to go as culls, surely now probably isn't the year for you to start thinking about weighing your cows ?

 

[Harry Davies]

Milk with robots so cows weighed on average 3.2 times a day. A fantastic tool for nutrition but also monitoring johnes.

 

[Cows 'n grass]

Tru test ones? Don’t want to sell them do you?

They are tru test ones but I do like to be able to weigh a handful of youngstock before we start dosing them with anything expensive to make sure I'm not over/under dosing.

 

[buffalo_soldier]

Robots will do it every milking.
Which is about the correct amount for it to be useful. They lose weight before bcs so can be an early warning system.

Don't see any benefit to an annual weighing?

 

[sidjon]

Shearwell do these, bit cheaper than tru test
https://www.shearwell.co.uk/weigh-platform-t10-weigh-head-combo

 

[dinderleat]

is anyone doing the above? I’m recently involved in a discussion group and one thing being pushed is basic maths to work out what the cow actually needs and Im really finding it very interesting.
One of the things that came from this was how can you ration for a cow if you don’t know her weight. A lot of us our milk recording and we will be shortly forced too atleast 4 times a year for johnes. There are plenty of us who have auto ID feeders and feed to yield so it could all be linked up.

Am I reading too much into this or would it be worth looking to see how much a proper set of automatic scales would be?

I don’t think you have enough yield to make any difference for you as you probably don’t feed high enough levels of cake? You would see more return concentrating on getting them in-calf.

 

[Headless chicken]

I don’t think you have enough yield to make any difference for you as you probably don’t feed high enough levels of cake? You would see more return concentrating on getting them in-calf.

Agreed getting them in calf is vital and why I never worried about how much cake they were having before.

 

[upnortheast]

For the guys who want to produce an accurate Kg solids / Kgs liveweight they need to be weighed .
So at what point in the lactation should they be weighed, They will be heaviest the day before they calve, & lightest maybe 60 days in, Could be 100 kg difference ( I`m guessing ) which would make a difference to the calculation