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crofter
Joined: 11 Feb 2007 Posts: 2252
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Rob R
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 31902 Location: York
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Ty Gwyn
Joined: 22 Sep 2010 Posts: 4562 Location: Lampeter
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Ty Gwyn
Joined: 22 Sep 2010 Posts: 4562 Location: Lampeter
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Posted: Sat Jun 09, 12 11:55 pm Post subject: |
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One point to remember is,most byres/cowsheds were up dated,when the MMB came to fruition,no low lofts ,walls had to be plastered 5ft upwards,and vents in walls,i have 3 here,one from the 1700s,used to be the stable cart house,converted to milking,still with loft,2 doors,one from the 1890s,loft removed,wall vents where loft rafters were,2 doors,and a concrete block one built in the 60/70s,light and airy,no problem with virus pneumonia,some calving pens ,i had to ventilate due to a virus problem,other sheds are open fronted.
Personally i like the old cowshed system,yes ,its labour intensive ,in that you have to clean out daily,and take feed into the feed passages,but cattle that are tied in a cowshed are a dodle to handle,even Lims.
Where are you Dolmen? |
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Rob R
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 31902 Location: York
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dolmen
Joined: 07 Oct 2011 Posts: 108
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dolmen
Joined: 07 Oct 2011 Posts: 108
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Rob R
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 31902 Location: York
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Rob R
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 31902 Location: York
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Posted: Sun Jun 10, 12 12:04 pm Post subject: |
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dolmen wrote: |
Ty Gwyn I agree about cows tied in the byre, but always feel I'm leaving myself open to attack by saying so ... the problem being that it is open to abuse, in that some folks might not let the animals have enough free time to move around and keep natural herd instincts intact, but from my research cows always seemed to be very healthy and content under those conditions. I'm in Northern Ireland. |
It tends to be a matter of personal attention - you can easily attend to all the needs of half a dozen cows, as three hours spent caring for them daily is 30 minutes per animal, the same for 80 is only 2.25 minutes per cow, so then you need the labour saving designs. They also need less cubic metres of air exchange. As soon as you start spending less time on them or the fresh air demand exceeds supply, the problems start to show up.
Building work is expensive though, so you need to consider future-proofing it. You may be happy with the workload but make considerations of what happns as you get older, have to spend a spell in hospital or just a period of illness. If you consider that from the start it may make the difference between having to sell & keep the herd at some point in the future. |
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crofter
Joined: 11 Feb 2007 Posts: 2252
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Posted: Sun Jun 10, 12 12:09 pm Post subject: |
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dolmen wrote: |
I'd seen that video before Crofter, I felt the system needed a little tweeking to have it working better ... at the very least a yard to run the cattle into while room for a tractor along the back would have left it easy to scrape each day.
Ty Gwyn I agree about cows tied in the byre, but always feel I'm leaving myself open to attack by saying so ... the problem being that it is open to abuse, in that some folks might not let the animals have enough free time to move around and keep natural herd instincts intact, but from my research cows always seemed to be very healthy and content under those conditions. I'm in Northern Ireland. |
If there was a barrier & drop at the bottom of the slope into a pit, it would be easy to scrape every day, even by hand. Might be draughty though? All my cows are tied in the winter, let out into yards through the day while I muck out and barrow in silage. Very labour intensive, but it is enjoyable work. If you are only planning on keeping a few cows, it would not take long. |
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dolmen
Joined: 07 Oct 2011 Posts: 108
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Posted: Sun Jun 10, 12 12:20 pm Post subject: |
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I'd like to follow a system were they are on fresh grazing everday, but I've seen my ground so wet that it wouldn't hold me up, so would hate to tramp it as I want a low input system, which in turn means the outputs will also be lower.
If I'm reading this right, you have Dexters Rob? have you tried other breeds? or do you mind sharing your reasoning/ insights on the Dexter, same goes for other Dexter owners TIA.
If anyone has any other cattle, would you care to share your resaons for keeping them over another?
Knowing nothing really about cattle I did fancy a shorthorn cow with a Hereford daddy to my beef, anyone tried this or have an opinion.
Oh and another thing, are many folks making hay for their cattle, is it really a thing of the past in the UK. Silage is much easier weather wise, but I'd like to work with higher dry matter, perhaps haylage is the answer?
Cheers
Last edited by dolmen on Sun Jun 10, 12 10:06 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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dolmen
Joined: 07 Oct 2011 Posts: 108
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Rob R
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 31902 Location: York
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Posted: Sun Jun 10, 12 12:41 pm Post subject: |
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dolmen wrote: |
If I'm reading this right, you have Dexters Rob? have you tried other breeds? or do you mind sharing your reasoning/ insights on the Dexter, same goes for other Dexter owners TIA. |
Dexters are the main herd but we also have/have had Jerseys, Simmental x, Ayrshire, Kerry, Highland, Limousin x, Belted Galloway x, BB x, AA x, Hereford x.
I prefer the smaller breeds because they're easier to manage on a grass based system, more self-catering & easier to butcher & cook for small families/couples. Dexters & Jersey are consistently high in the taste tests too, so people like it. They (Dexters) do bully others breeds though, so not ideal in a mixed herd...
They're also alert & lively, which is good if you want them to take care of themselves, less good if you want to turn them out into a field & handle them occasionally.
Last edited by Rob R on Sun Jun 10, 12 12:44 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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NorthernMonkeyGirl
Joined: 10 Apr 2011 Posts: 4584 Location: Peeping over your shoulder
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Posted: Sun Jun 10, 12 12:42 pm Post subject: |
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I have some experience with a herd of dexters used for conservation grazing (i.e. on nature reserves).
They are little monsters!
More intelligent than necessary
In small groups they are tame, friendly, obliging, and not intimidating physically.
They thrive on rough grazing.
In large groups they can go feral and we had nightmares.
They can jump happily over, under, and through fences and gates.
If left with horns, they look perfect for spearing you in the bum
We had them on wet to very wet sites and actually, as their legs only go so far down, then they "float" on their ample bellies...this actually did less damage to the ground than a longer legged animal would. Mind you, this is a matter of degrees - they churned up to 1 foot depth as opposed to 2 feet...This was of course not our intention, but a factor of an unpredictable site/drainage issues. It's also easier for the animal to wade with short legs - less suction.
The short legged type is a form of dwarfism. A Dexter without the allele is "non short-legged". A Dexter with one allele is short legged. A Dexter with two alleles is DEAD - look up "bulldog calves". I am not personally convinced of the benefits of keeping a potentially lethal gene in the population. |
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VSS
Joined: 14 Jan 2007 Posts: 2845 Location: Llyn Peninsula, North Wales
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