course ration and augers

visatorro

recently changed ration supplier. am feeding a hi-energy 18% ration until cows are out fulltime. not long now hopefully. i asked the rep about feeding a course ration in parlour and he said alot of lads were goin back to nuts as ration wouldnt travel up the augers and feeders were blocking. have three inch augers going into air orby feeders. just said id ask and not believe everything reps will tell me!!

whelan2

i have used coarse feed in my orby augers and said a prayer everytime i switched them on. They made alot of noise and i went back to nuts, not worth the sweating over

whitebriar

Also,when blown in,the ration doesn't mix well so unlike nuts there's a danger your cow will be getting just one or two of the ingredients at a time.
I was forever up on the loft manually mixing the stuff which was a disaster really.
I'd stay away.

st1979

Used ration for 15 yrs through worn out 30 yr old auger and manual orbys and now through a spiral type auger into compressed air feeders for the last 5yrs. Works fine as long as the mill gives u ration under 2% molasses

frazzledhome

Don't mind him, using ration here and no bother

visatorro

frazzledhome wrote: »

Don't mind him, using ration here and no bother

What kind of a mix if you don't mind me asking

st1979

Any mix will do. I have fed lots of straight rolled barley in mine. Molasses is the killer

frazzledhome

visatorro wrote: »

What kind of a mix if you don't mind me asking

Whatever you like, keep molasses to a min or better still none at all

maxxuumman

You'll need to put in a small bit of molasses in to keep the minerals and small particles from settling out.

mf240

I used to get rations made up in the local mill and he would put in 2 % just to keep down dust.

Ive been using nuts for the last while but might get a ration made up for when their on grass.

Was thinking barley, maize, distillers and soya hulls and cal mag and minerals. Should be cheaper than nuts. Anyone any other thoughts.?