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  1. #26

    R.I.P.


    dirtydog's Avatar
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    How do you get the cows pregnant, do you have a viscious nasty bull or artificial insemination?

  2. #27
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    Butterfly's Avatar
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    Interesting thread. And yes you do look like a fag

  3. #28
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    AO yes this time of year is a killer, if it hit 45 I have the afternoon off

    DD, we used to have 3 bulls, sold one cos it was gay, I think it caught it off the staff, but we've gone back to AI now for various boreing reasons. Doing it yourself is fun but not really sucsessful

    BFly, english or american version
    I have more than the average number of arm and legs

  4. #29

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    erm, so who has to erm, well you know, like erm, get the sperm from the bulls so to speak, it actually makes being a bar gal look like a respectable job I suppose, although I am basing my views on a certain film called animal farm or some such thing

  5. #30
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    ^5555555555
    When we had bulls we just ran them with the herd and checked which cows were pregnant once a month. If you use artificial insemination AI you just buy the sperm, 1 shot frozen straws anything from 50-2000 bhat a shot

  6. #31
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    Superb thread RC - excellent! I can't green you because I pleasured you only yesterday.

    Can tortoises be milked?

  7. #32
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    Great thread. My stepfather is a dairy farmer in Canada, had to slowly downscale over time due to lack of help. Now he does not milk any more he only boards others young heifers until they are ready to have their first calf.

    Just a few questions about your operation....

    Did you get the land for free or did you buy/lease it? Just curious if the price of land would make this a non-viable pursuit.

    Do you grow any grain to offset feed prices? Have you thought about irrigation or adding additional forage land to get back to maximum herd capacity (in your milking barn/theater/parlour), to drive your unit cost down? Is automated milking equipment available in Thailand? If so would it pay back over time or is labour too cheap? Do you make any money off selling bull calves and or heifers or is this trivial? Is your herd all Holstein? If so do they register them in Thailand?

    Sounds like you have quite the gig going, the gentleman farmer thing has its appeal provided you have lots of help for the hard labour parts. Great post!

  8. #33
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    The land was free

    Quote Originally Posted by Sanuk Canuk
    Do you grow any grain to offset feed prices? Have you thought about irrigation or adding additional forage land to get back to maximum herd capacity
    This year it's all planted with forage sohgram, we always tried some forage, but in the past I've been looking for cash crops that we can also use the leftovers for the cows. Did Peanuts last year, one of the best cash crops here IMO and the plant is great for the cows, unfortunatly we ended up with too much and wasted most of it, It's not really suited to silage.

    Quote Originally Posted by Sanuk Canuk
    Is automated milking equipment available in Thailand?
    Yes you can get it (on order) never actually seen one being used here,but am prety sure somewhere like Chok Chai farm would have one. Labour is cheap though so they are'nt really viable unless you have a really big heard

    Quote Originally Posted by Sanuk Canuk
    Do you make any money off selling bull calves and or heifers or is this trivial?
    Yes and Yes We used to raise our own calfs' but at the moment it's just not worth it cows have droped to about half the price of 5 years ago, so it's just cheaper to buy new stock in...it will probably change again in about 2 years when people relise that there is no replacment stock as no one has been raising any, so I'm being a bit short termish in not raising any. New born calfs go for about 500 Bhat, A decent milker is around 25,000 at the moment from 45,000 a few years ago, Old/poor cows go for around 12-18,000 depending on size for the meat


    Quote Originally Posted by Sanuk Canuk
    Is your herd all Holstein? If so do they register them in Thailand?
    Got a real mixture, none are pure Holstien, they just dont cope with the heat, food and parasites that well, so they all have some "Thai" Brahmin blood in them, The high % Holstiens do give good milk, but can be more difficult to look after. I used to have this idea of getting a top of the line "pedigree" herd, but to be honest, your better off just getting average cows and turning your stock over, getting rid of any poor or problem ones and buying new.....of course everyone else is trying to do the same. Yes they all have "registration" papers

  9. #34
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    Eliminator's Avatar
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    Great thread RC, wish I could do the same.

  10. #35
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    That's the picture RC ... thanks for the memory refresh.

  11. #36
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    Certainly would take my hat off to you, if I had one! A great thread, and certainly inspirational. By the way, the black and white cow reminds me somewhat of my first wife!

  12. #37
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    I'd like to thank you, RandomC, for your time and enthusiasm in keeping us all informed of your dairy project. It's surprising how many are truly interested in this. Just wondering what is the life expectancy of a dairy cow and do you sell the cow for beef at some stage prior to reaching that stage in her life cycle? Cheers, and thanks again for your spirited sharing of your experience.

  13. #38
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    Quote Originally Posted by tango
    Just wondering what is the life expectancy of a dairy cow and do you sell the cow for beef at some stage prior to reaching that stage in her life cycle?
    They tend to measure the life expectancy in number of calf's here, you should get about one calf every 18 months (12 if you are really lucky). They reach their peak milk production after about 4 calfs and assuming no problems are good for up to 11, so possibly up to 16-17 years, my oldest at the moment is about 9 years old, usually they just get harder and harder to get pregnant as time goes on....not pregnant = no milk = sell for beef

    If had very few get to that age, usually selling them on for a variety of reasons before hand. Some we sell for beef some for milking. I dont really like buying in cows that have had more than 4 calfs, but will if the price is right
    Last edited by RandomChances; 08-05-2006 at 03:41 PM.

  14. #39
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    Just spent half an hour reading this thread which is brilliant for the motivation. People are willing to work hard here in Thailand for the return of better life. I imagine your farm been very quiet and peaceful but i'm suprised of the problems you encounter to make it successful. Saying that it must be worth it otherwise you would be back in Phuket i guess. Bravo Mate.

    It's a refreshing change to pig farms and more pleasant than listening to them grunting beasts all day. Keep it up!
    Last edited by Jonah; 08-05-2006 at 06:38 PM.

  15. #40
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    I am headed home to the family farm for a visit soon. It on the east coast of Canada, if anyone is interested I can take a few picks to contrast with the Thailand farm thread. Only the cows look the same!

  16. #41
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    I probably shouldn't tell ya'll this but when I was a young lad living on a farm ... I used to like to lick those blocks of salts left out in the pasture for the cows. I musta been nuts. Great thread RC.

  17. #42
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sanuk Canuk
    I am headed home to the family farm for a visit soon. It on the east coast of Canada, if anyone is interested I can take a few picks to contrast with the Thailand farm thread
    Yea that would be nice to see some of the differences.

    Quote Originally Posted by Storekeeper
    I used to like to lick those blocks of salts left out in the pasture for the cows.
    Next time your up these parts I'll sort you out with a block, 10kg block for 250 bhat....should last you a while

  18. #43
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    A dairy farm in Thailand

    hi random can you please help me i have a question , do you sale the milk to cheese maker or just to cooperative, i have a small factory in chumpon i make cheese pizza and in this area now there is not much milk available ,i think to move and I'm looking for better milk supply can you suggest me good locations area thank

  19. #44
    Days Work Done! Norton's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by RandomChances
    really well behaved as long as you dont go into her "teritory"
    Sounds like my missus.

    I've just finished reading your thread and found it to be brilliant. Thanks.

  20. #45
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    RandomChances, brilliant thread. Great to see the variety of lifestyles in Thailand other than the bar scene.


    Quote Originally Posted by Sanuk Canuk
    I am headed home to the family farm for a visit soon. It on the east coast of Canada, if anyone is interested I can take a few picks to contrast with the Thailand farm thread
    Please do.

  21. #46
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    Great thread! Still farming?

  22. #47
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    Hi RC,

    can't believe I missed this thread before!

    Couple of questions, I hope you don't mind.

    On average, how many litres per cow per day are you getting?

    Where are you located and where and how are you selling your milk.

    Also, have you ever heard of AFS cattle before? We used to run them in the tropics in Australia as they were a special breed bred for hot tropical conditions. They are described as "The World's best tropical dairy breed"
    News is what someone, somewhere is trying to suppress - everything else is just advertising.

  23. #48
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    nice story best wishes from me and god luck in the future

  24. #49
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    I guess you missed the 'closing the farm' thread , basicaly the hered got hit by an outbreak of TB and closed me down, anyway had a good 6 years out of it.


    Quote Originally Posted by MeMock
    On average, how many litres per cow per day are you getting?
    Probaly over the 6 years around 12 kg, no where near what a western farm would get but the overheads are much lower.

    Quote Originally Posted by MeMock
    Where are you located and where and how are you selling your milk.
    I was in Nakhon Sawan and sold the milk to the local milk co-op, Korat/Saraburi are the biggest milk producing regions

    Quote Originally Posted by MeMock
    Also, have you ever heard of AFS cattle before? We used to run them in the tropics in Australia as they were a special breed bred for hot tropical conditions
    No I'd never heard of them, but having looked at the link we had a few that looked very simular, most of the cowes were Bhramin/Friesion crossed. Pure Friesions don't do well out in Thailand

  25. #50
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    What a great thread! My wife has been trying to talk me into trying my hand in Thai agriculture, and until reading your post I didn't think it could be possible for a farang in Thailand. Thanks for the inspiration!

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