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Manitoba | Wife.
Think maybe I'll suggest that to mine. Somehow, after I married mine she stopped coming to the barn with me. Guess she figured the deal was done so no point going the extra mile anymore to make the sale. :)
Seriously though, 10 - 15 % is the normal range. We calculated about 12% when we switched about 15 years ago. But that is not an overnight thing. 3x set's up your fresh cows to a whole new lactation curve so they drop the same rate but since they peaked higher you end up with more milk. Thats not going to impact those non fresh animals the same way so keep that in mind. You can't switch a month and then say this doesn't work and quit, well you can but you haven't given it a fair trial. If you can swing the labour thing it's a no brainer in my opinion, not so sure if the extra help is your wife unless you need a little time apart:) Having hired labour to do the night shortens up your day so you can spend the time with your wife.
Others have mentiond it already, udder health is a big benefit, especially if milking labour is not the best as at least there are 2 more milkings that day if a cow does not get milked properly one milking. Compnenets may drop a touch as volume goes up but there are lots of other factors impacting that as well. Even with a comp. drop you will still end up with more kg's components unless something goes very wrong.
If procedures / holding pen times / milking unit settings etc are not good, 3x will make problems worse as the cows are being exposed to problems 1x more per day. If everything is good, then it's good.
One last thing, make sure your wife never reads the part about her doing nothing at this time, not a good career move. | |
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2x vs 3x
