Low Milk Yields

As the title says , we are experiencing very low milk yields at the moment .
We are at a loss as to the reason , but it is right across the board , from the highest yielders down to the lows and nearly dry's.
I will be returning to work in 2 days , so we will see if it has been purely down to a different milking team or is it something more worse.

The weather has been superb over the last few days, probably some of the best weather we have seen in months , combines are now going full speed and are fairly chopping down the acrages.

We will have several hundred round bales of both wheat and barley straw to bring in as and when it is baled .

So , here's hoping for more cheery news , yields etc , next post

Strength to Strength

Well , it's been a long time coming , but here's an update on Chloanne Holsteins.

Well , Chloanne Gallagher is still here but i now have the provisional contract for him to go to Cogent Breeding . It was provisional on his Dam's PLI figure staying the same or going higher in the August proof run that has just come out .

Well her PLI was £147 before the proof run, and it now stands at a whopping £198 after the run , so it is looking good for him .
This figure also places the dam, Chloanne Goldwyn Gracious , 542nd top genetic cow in the country.
Also in the top 1000 is Chloanne Spooky Gracious, who is placed 730th.
Not too bad at all.

Also , since i last posted, Frankham Sept Storm Ethel had a bull calf , which i named Chloanne Hannover, after the town in which my girlfriend, has lived for the past 17 years .
He must be an amazing bull , as she has decided to come across, see him and live here forever, ! ! ! !
Seriously, i have kept him as he is a large calf , all black and a fantastic pedigree.

The cows have had a real lousy summer , mainly due to the terrible weather. They have had to negotiate muddy roads and gateways and grass of dubious quality.

They are now sporting very fetching blue activity collars, which download info to the office computer , telling me of their activity through out the day and night.

Winter will come early for them this year , because of the weather etc .Probably next week, they will come in and start on their winter rations , in the cubicles.

We have just had the annual herd competition again, so as usual i entered the Gracious family, who were looking just amazing , as usual !
We will have to wait until January to see how they have have done.

Back To Work Tomorrow

Well , that went fast , 7 days off , felt like 2, first time that i can honestly say that 2 weeks off would have been better .

Ethel still hasn't calved yet , getting nearer to her due date now , so won't be long.

I have ordered the semen that i intend to flush Chloanne Goldwyn Gracious to , he is Dalbytop Phil from Cogent, that was one of their recommendations , so , we'll see.

The milk yields have fallen dramatically this week , so if they don't increase by Monday , we will need to investigate and see just what the problem is.

will post a better update of herd later when i get back to work and see whats what !!!

I'm Back ! ! ! !

Been a while , i know , but been more busy than usual and also been busy on Facebook (ha ha ha)
The cows at Chloanne are doing fine and i am eagerly awaiting the next arrival.
Frankham Sept Stotm Ethel is due to calve on the 10th of June . She is in calf to Heather Holme Velvet and by the look of her , hopefully she will calf on time , or even a bit early.
Chloanne Goldwyn Gracious 2 is also due , anytime from the 10th of June too , as she was running with a bull , so it is just a waiting game for her, she doesn't look like she is goig to calve this month.

I am hopefully about to embark on a flushing programme for Chloanne Goldwyn Gracious , the dam of Chloanne Gallagher.
Hopefully this would result in another bull , which would be of interest to Cogent Breeding Ltd.

I will list the next calving dates soon .

Another advert appeared in this months Holstein Journal, just to promote the fact that Chloanne Gallagher is joining the Cogent stud.

I am on holiday this week (I know it's hard to believe), so hopefully i will have time to put a few new posts on ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Red Hot Chilli Pipers - PigJigs

Chloanne Update

Well looking at the date of the last post, it's been a while huh, and I offer no excuses for that ( except i've been busy and have had a lot on my mind lately).

Since the last post, I have had an advert in the Holstein Journal(UK) and also a small feature in the Breeders Choice section which was fun to do.

I suppose the big news is that Chloanne Gallagher is to be sold to Cogent as a potential young sire, which is very exciting.

I will keep the site posted of the developments.

The cows are still milking very well and to date there is 6 pregnancies confirmed for this year !

Spring Is Finally Here ! ! !

The clocks have gone forward and we have all "lost" an hour.
However this also means that it is still light now at 8pm and this in turn just means more hours of daylight to do more jobs.
Therefore it will be no surprise to learn that I am just in the door having been rolling fields.
We are getting behind with the land work, purely because of the weather, so this has been a great chance to get on.
The cows are still milking fine , however Chloanne Addison Gracious is really very lame at the moment and I can't see what the problem is.
Hopefully she will resond to several overdoses of TLC and will be back to her usual self soon.
Cows will be going out soon now and this sould also put a spring in their step as well as mine ! !

NO Non-Compliances

The above are the magical words to hear after you have just had the Dairy Farm Assurance Audit.
All went very well with no points to be pulled up on. This follows on very nicely from the visit from the Dairy Inspecor. These visits are unannounced and are enough to make you very nervous. However for that visit we scored 93% so we must be doing something right.

The cows are all milking extremely well at the moment and the milk tanker is now coming in every day now.
Milk quality has been exceptional as well so we are riding on a real "high" at the moment.
Looking forward to the middle of April as that will be the time to turn the cows out to the summer fields. They will be glad to be out after the long winter.
In the Chloanne herd , Chloanne Hanno Gracious has been confirmed in calf to our stock bull Ellenneff Storm Johnnie, so that is pleasing as at least she in pregnant to a black and white bull.

Tommy Emmanuel - Classical Gas

I stumbled across this on YouTube and just couldn't believe it. Pure Brilliant

CHLOANNE WEBSTER GRACIOUS EX92

The Chloanne cows were classified on Monday and they exceeded all my expectations of them.

Chloanne Webster Gracious is now EX92
Chloanne Magna Gracious is now VG86
Chloanne Addison Gracious is still VG88
Chloanne Hershel Gracious is now EX90(2E)
Chloanne Goldwyn Gracious is now VG85 (2 yr old)
Frankham Sept Storm Ethel is now GP84 (2 yr old)
Chloanne Tulip Gracious is now G79

These were just fantastic results and it now means that Chloanne Webster Gracious EX92 SP is the highest classified Webster daughter in the UK
Also, Chloanne Goldwyn Gracious VG85 now completes 11 generations of VG/EX.

Male Fact Sheet

Male Fact Sheet

On-Line Pedigree

On-Line Pedigree

Chloanne Gallagher

Chloanne has a new member to it's ranks. Chloanne Gallagher was born on Monday morning. His dam is Chloanne Goldwyn Gracious. With a pedigree like his , I felt I had to register him and will keep him to either use as a stock bull or I will sell him if the right buyer comes along.
Chloanne Goldwyn Gracious is just looking a million dollars and has adjusted well to the milking parlour.
Next week we are to get a visit from the classifier, so fingers crossed that the new heifers that have joined the herd in the last few months do well.

RAF Airmarshall Dancing

Herd Competition Results

Well at long last I can announce how we did in the Northumbria Holstein Breeders Club annual herd competition that was judged in December.
Chloanne Webster Gracious was placed 2nd in the Cow on Inspection class
Frankham Sept Storm Ethel was placed 2nd in the Heifer on Inspection class
The Gracious family was placed 1st in the Cow Family class
And I was named Herdsperson of the Year !!!!!!!!!

So all and all, a great night for the Chloanne herd and the fact that the Gracious family won the class again is just amazing.
It is always nice to get any recognition for any achievements that the cows do, and hopefully we can go on and do more great things in the years to come.

New Arrival At Chloanne.

Just a quick post to say that Chloanne Spooky Gracious had a little Hereford bull calf this morning.
I will try to post some pictures if them both later.

Waiting Game Again .......

As I sit and post this , I am awaiting the next arrival from the Chloanne herd. Chloanne Spooky Gracious is due to calve soon and she will have a Hereford calf. She is looking amazing considering we thought she wasn't in calf and was going to be sold fat !!!!
Moet Formation Gracious went away as planned. I received the cheque for her today. Not enough to retire on , but substantially more than I thought I would get !
Chloanne Addison Gracious' calf has also ben sold but this time for export. So by the time you are reading this , he will be on main land Europe somewhere, having a better holiday than I could ever wish for.
The herd competition results are due in 2 days time so it will be interesting to see how we have done.
All will be revealled on Thursday night.

Happy New Year !!!!

Well, here we all are, another year gone and , predictably, another year here to throw all sorts of problems, troubles, highs, lows, joys, laughs and anything else that lies around the next corner to bite us when we least expect it.
As with most Xmas and New Year times on a farm, the main thing we notice is that the whole of the country grinds to a halt while we battle on and then have no companies to deal with or order from. Hopefully by Monday everyone will be back at work as normal.
One of the above list which is going to bite me already is that , as mentioned in a previous post, I am saying goodbye to Moet Formation Gracious B tomorrow.This will be quite sad but I am putting a brave face on and thinking of the list of achievements she has to her name.
93000 kg of milk in lifetime
Classified VG as a heifer
Classified EX four times
Ist cow family 2006
3rd cow family 2005
Has an EX daughter and granddaughter

Her legacy will always live on in the family that will follow on from her .
Her picture is above.