1st off you can not cut corners on a dairy.i dont care how big or small you are.if you start cutting the cows feed an hay then your production will suffer.an if you quit teat dipping an drying cows off with a single clothe ragg your sccs will go up.
Buying a certain breed
- Thread starter mjdtexan
- Start date
While I agree that you generally can't cut corners. I have seen a number try it along the way and pay the price.wynedot55 said:
I watched a dairy in alberta cut back on the dairy parlor and yard cleaning schedule to save money. It worked for about 4 months before everything blew up in their face.
Thewife
Likes frogs
Those words should be cast in stone!wynedot55 said:
If we didn't HAVE to spend so much time fixing the cut corners of others around here, the list of things we WANT to do, would be a lot shorter!
That it does. But it still doesn't stop people from doing it. Some are even dumb enough to try twice just to make sure.wynedot55 said:
Imissmygirls
Lonley for cows
I have heard of superdairies in the midwest where the system is to calve the first calf heifers and just milk them out a long lactation or two and then send them to slaughter. I can't believe they actually do that because 1. you can't get enough replacements to afford that quick a turnover; and 2. I was always told that a farmer didn't really begin to make $ off a cow until her third lactation. Before that, he was mostly just recouping the $ to raise her.
Kitty, or wyne, ever hear such stuff? I think it's with the dairies with thousands of cows.
Kitty, or wyne, ever hear such stuff? I think it's with the dairies with thousands of cows.
Farmer Kitty
True BYH Addict
Unfortunately, yes. The average life span of a cow in those big dairy farms is 2 lactations. Some of it is poor management and cattle getting sick. Some of it is burnout--they really push those cows. Some are the same as any farm, poor producer, breed back problems, cronic mastitis. I'm sure there are other issues too. Basically, I think it comes down to they are so big they don't have the time to take care of an older cow or recognize in the early stages that something is wrong. Not that all big dairy farms are that way. I know of one that is and one that isn't but, the average life span is 2 lactations. 
It's sad to think the average is so short when it doesn't have to be. We just shipped a 10 year old cow that we didn't breed back due to arthritis. If she hadn't been having trouble with it we would have bred her back. We have others in the barn that are older cows too. At least one other that is 10 years old.
It's sad to think the average is so short when it doesn't have to be. We just shipped a 10 year old cow that we didn't breed back due to arthritis. If she hadn't been having trouble with it we would have bred her back. We have others in the barn that are older cows too. At least one other that is 10 years old.
those facts are correct.the ave dairy cow lastas 2 lactations.an then she is culled for 1 reason or another.the big dairies have a high turnover because of all the things that can go wrong with a big herd.a cow never really pays for herself before she is culled.even some tiestall dairies have a high cull rates.
jhm47
True BYH Addict
We have a 4500 cow dairy about 30 miles away from here. They have switched over to Jersey/Finnish Red/Norwegian Red crosses. These cows are much smaller and give a very rich milk. They seem to live a lot longer than the huge Holsteins that most dairies now have. In my opinion, the sheer size of some of these Holsteins contributes to their feet and leg problems. Also, the fact that they milk such a tremendous amount makes them hard to breed back.
Some dairies are using CIDR's to synchronize their cows. 3 days after insemination they are reinserting the CIDR. They leave them in for about 3 weeks, and then remove them. CIDR's are an insert that is put into the cows vagina. They contain a hormone called progesterone. This hormone promotes (hence the "pro) gestation (hence the "gesterone"). It seems that these extremely high producing cows are unable to produce enough progesterone to support their pregnancies. The CIDR's provide a high level of progesterone, and in 3 weeks, the developing placenta takes over and keeps the pregnancy viable.
Some dairies are using CIDR's to synchronize their cows. 3 days after insemination they are reinserting the CIDR. They leave them in for about 3 weeks, and then remove them. CIDR's are an insert that is put into the cows vagina. They contain a hormone called progesterone. This hormone promotes (hence the "pro) gestation (hence the "gesterone"). It seems that these extremely high producing cows are unable to produce enough progesterone to support their pregnancies. The CIDR's provide a high level of progesterone, and in 3 weeks, the developing placenta takes over and keeps the pregnancy viable.
