Pig Feeders in Milking Parlour

kevthegaff

Lads just wondering what are the measurements on the side of the feeders. Ones for nuts and the others for ration. Does anyone know are they in kilos or pounds? Also what is the maximum they can hold?

Miley2

Kev, my experience with these is that they are something you are better off to calibrate yourself.
Get a scales and weigh out 1KG of nuts. Take your feeder off the drop pipe and fill. Mark out on the side for 1kg and repeat for 2, 3, 4, 5KG.
Really once you see the 1KG marker, you should be able to calculate the rest using the numbers on the side.
Depending on how they are fitted, this can be easier said than done

keep going

A question for those with pig feeders , do ye put the ration in first then let up the cows or do ye let cows in and then let down the feed.im considering them and I am wondering would you fill the row better if you fed the ration after thecows are in as at the moment with the bucket you have to hunt the cows up the rw as they are eating

delaval

keep going wrote: »

A question for those with pig feeders , do ye put the ration in first then let up the cows or do ye let cows in and then let down the feed.im considering them and I am wondering would you fill the row better if you fed the ration after thecows are in as at the moment with the bucket you have to hunt the cows up the rw as they are eating

We feed when row is loaded. In 20 unit it's 4 handles for 5 feeders if you get me. With 16 it's 2x6 and a 4

delaval

Miley2 wrote: »

Kev, my experience with these is that they are something you are better off to calibrate yourself.
Get a scales and weigh out 1KG of nuts. Take your feeder off the drop pipe and fill. Mark out on the side for 1kg and repeat for 2, 3, 4, 5KG.
Really once you see the 1KG marker, you should be able to calculate the rest using the numbers on the side.
Depending on how they are fitted, this can be easier said than done

+1 The markings on them beat no relation to the volume released.
Check if you change nuts or supplier

keep going

delaval wrote: »

We feed when row is loaded. In 20 unit it's 4 handles for 5 feeders if you get me. With 16 it's 2x6 and a 4

So in a 12 that would be2 handles for each 6 so you could pull for the front 6 and then the second or am I wrong.the feed bin is at the cow entering side so I have to keep the cows out of the parlour while I feed them and then let in the row by opening a gate andclosing it after them.if I had feeders I could let them line up behind the row milking and would hopefully stream line the process and less jumping out of the pit.cows enter parlour at 90 degrees-not perfect but cant be changed without movin dairy

mahoney_j

delaval wrote: »

+1 The markings on them beat no relation to the volume released.
Check if you change nuts or supplier

I had them in old parlour and there great if you want to flat rate feed a full row but not for individual feeding.As for caliberating them i had to do it for every load of nuts as there can be a nice variation.I kg marked on feeder for one load of nuts could be quite different from a kg on next load.

jersey101

mahoney_j wrote: »

I had them in old parlour and there great if you want to flat rate feed a full row but not for individual feeding.As for caliberating them i had to do it for every load of nuts as there can be a nice variation.I kg marked on feeder for one load of nuts could be quite different from a kg on next load.

if it varies in the pig feeders does it not vary in tge likes of the cashman or the fullwoods or others?

mahoney_j

Good question,i HAVE WESTAFALLIA feeders and checked them on two different oads one a 16% and other a 18% and put dumped a kg.Two totally different types of feeders though.The minimum ammount of dropped feed in my feeders is 200 grammes and it was over a half a kg in the pig feeders.Calliberated yearly at service whereas no service with pig feeders

delaval

mahoney_j wrote: »

I had them in old parlour and there great if you want to flat rate feed a full row but not for individual feeding.As for caliberating them i had to do it for every load of nuts as there can be a nice variation.I kg marked on feeder for one load of nuts could be quite different from a kg on next load.

That's interesting I'd never check each load and I thought that there was a hole in the bins
I will from now on, cheers

delaval

keep going wrote: »

So in a 12 that would be2 handles for each 6 so you could pull for the front 6 and then the second or am I wrong.the feed bin is at the cow entering side so I have to keep the cows out of the parlour while I feed them and then let in the row by opening a gate andclosing it after them.if I had feeders I could let them line up behind the row milking and would hopefully stream line the process and less jumping out of the pit.cows enter parlour at 90 degrees-not perfect but cant be changed without movin dairy

Yes you could have 3x4 or any combination you'd like. I'd recommend they place the isolator switch in or near the pit incase a ball gets stuck or anything or if you forget to turn it on.
From what I've been told be sure to switch off isolator after each milking, wouldn't be nice to find 10 tonne of nuts on the floor some Sun morning.
You'll be able to milk without closing back gate now.

bbam

kevthegaff wrote: »

Lads just wondering what are the measurements on the side of the feeders. Ones for nuts and the others for ration. Does anyone know are they in kilos or pounds? Also what is the maximum they can hold?

Just calibrate it yourself..
We did this as an extra to machine servicing years ago but its something easily done with a kitchen scales.. I think we charged about £40+vat for it
Handy tip is to pull a light plastic bag over the chute/trouser so its easy to catch all the meal dispensed for weighing..

UncleGrrr

jersey101 wrote: »

if it varies in the pig feeders does it not vary in tge likes of the cashman or the fullwoods or others?

With the Cashman ones:
The feed amount can go between 250g up to roughly 2kg. I say roughly as it depends on what you are feeding. You can adjust them either on the side of the hopper or by opening the door on the front of the feeder and adjusting the lever inside the feeder. Once you've adjusted one feeder, copy this to all the rest.
When you are changing the amount of feed you want to give out, give the feeder a couple of pulls before weighing off what is coming out. Just to get the nuts/ ration flowing correctly.

If you've our feeders you can drop some ration into the first stall and then leave in the girls. They'll wander up along the parlour easily enough. Of course you can't do this with the pig feeder. As far as I know, that is.

bbam

CashmanEng wrote: »

Of course you can't do this with the pig feeder. As far as I know, that is.

dishing down on the competition...
thats nearly a commercial spin:p

delaval

CashmanEng wrote: »

With the Cashman ones:
The feed amount can go between 250g up to roughly 2kg. I say roughly as it depends on what you are feeding. You can adjust them either on the side of the hopper or by opening the door on the front of the feeder and adjusting the lever inside the feeder. Once you've adjusted one feeder, copy this to all the rest.
When you are changing the amount of feed you want to give out, give the feeder a couple of pulls before weighing off what is coming out. Just to get the nuts/ ration flowing correctly.

If you've our feeders you can drop some ration into the first stall and then leave in the girls. They'll wander up along the parlour easily enough. Of course you can't do this with the pig feeder. As far as I know, that is.

Of course you can

UncleGrrr

bbam wrote: »

dishing down on the competition...
thats nearly a commercial spin:p

Not at all!!

I'm sure they do the job fine!

UncleGrrr

delaval wrote: »

Of course you can

That's why I said "As far as I know".

I didn't know you could individually feed / top up a cow with them...

delaval

CashmanEng wrote: »

That's why I said "As far as I know".

I didn't know you could individually feed / top up a cow with them...

You can't with mine but you can have the front one on a handle to do as you say to squeeze them up in the row when loading. Sorry for mid understanding

UncleGrrr

delaval wrote: »

You can't with mine but you can have the front one on a handle to do as you say to squeeze them up in the row when loading. Sorry for mid understanding

Jesus, don't be sorry at all man! I probably wasn't too clear...

Agrian Brian

Hi all,

will be getting pig feeders into my 10 unit parlour in the coming weeks, first time we've had feeders in the parlour and I have 2 queries perhaps some light could be shone on?
Firstly, just wondering the wisest division of the batches for a 10 unit parlour?

Secondly, is it best to half daily feed between morning and evening or does it matter feeding them their total amount in the morning only?

Many thanks

Mooooo

Agrian Brian wrote: »

Hi all,

will be getting pig feeders into my 10 unit parlour in the coming weeks, first time we've had feeders in the parlour and I have 2 queries perhaps some light could be shone on?
Firstly, just wondering the wisest division of the batches for a 10 unit parlour?

Secondly, is it best to half daily feed between morning and evening or does it matter feeding them their total amount in the morning only?

Many thanks

Split it between morning and evening it they'll be giving out the times they dont get it. Mangers or one long trough, maybe an adjustable breast rail to keep them tighter. Enough space to get in and out but not enough to let the bullies cause wreck

kowtow

Does anyone have an adjustable breast rail with mangers? Or would you need to move the mangers back and forward?

mf240

Agrian Brian wrote: »

Hi all,

will be getting pig feeders into my 10 unit parlour in the coming weeks, first time we've had feeders in the parlour and I have 2 queries perhaps some light could be shone on?
Firstly, just wondering the wisest division of the batches for a 10 unit parlour?

Secondly, is it best to half daily feed between morning and evening or does it matter feeding them their total amount in the morning only?

Many thanks

We have them in a ten unit divided into two at the front then four and four.

Your as well off feed them twice a day.

Mooooo

kowtow wrote: »

Does anyone have an adjustable breast rail with mangers? Or would you need to move the mangers back and forward?

I think some have a rump rail or another part to push in from the other side with mangers. Have dairymaster mangers here with two bars in em so only one head space and dividers are long. Good control but they odd time if a push comes on the one in front can't back out to get out iykwim