batch feeders vs individual feeders

Greengrass1

Batch is 5k for 24 feeders
individual full wood ones are 12600k for 24 feeders
no Inc auger
I would go pig feeders only that when autumn calvers start calving in October and are still at grass they need more meal

Or should I keep my 7k and put it into roadways/reseeding and keep fresh calved autumn calvers separate for the month of October.

Creating more work in a one man system though

Milked out

Main reason I'm going with the individual ones is as you said different cows have different requirements esp in split herds, will allow me feed all milkers the same in shed at winter and top up fresh in parlour, they appear to hold value - hard to get em secondhand and any that are for sale are fairly old ones. Can add to easily enough if put parlour somewhere else or add more units etc. No messing around with less the last row if it's half full etc.

farmerjj

If you decide to go batch,make sure pipe bringing meal to them is at least 4" otherwise it will take a long time for them to fill at peak times.

Buford T. Justice XIX

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Batch is 5k for 24 feeders
individual full wood ones are 12600k for 24 feeders
no Inc auger
I would go pig feeders only that when autumn calvers start calving in October and are still at grass they need more meal

Or should I keep my 7k and put it into roadways/reseeding and keep fresh calved autumn calvers separate for the month of October.

Creating more work in a one man system though

Did you look at the Dairymaster ones? They are doing batch feeders that can be upgraded to individual ones in the future if you want to go that way.

I think the only change is taking out two of the batch feeders and putting in one big holder for every two and a master control box as well to either batch or individual feed.

leg wax

new feeders just gone in here ,cows can be fed as a batch or single .

Timmaay

Batch batch batch and ditch the autumn calvers.

frazzledhome

Put 12k into roadways. Best RoI you can get

mahoney_j

Agree with others gg u have a diet feeder and don't think ur cows are pumping out enough milk to justify individual feeders.concenterate on top notch grass silage and wholecrop or maize bought in on contract and batch feeders in parlour .also agree with Tim.ditch the autumn calvers and either stop milking for 6 weeks in December /jan or else milk in ur late calvers /culls till spring calvers start.

keep going

Would be quiet proud of my reputation as tight f##ker but batch feeders are definitely on the priority list for me because filling the rows is painful without them and id say its impossible to get a row of fourteen and fed through in 7 and half minutes without them.only problem is the roof has to be risen first as its barely 6 ft high on one side or someone shows me how to stop the cows bateting them

mahoney_j

keep going wrote: »

Would be quiet proud of my reputation as tight f##ker but batch feeders are definitely on the priority list for me because filling the rows is painful without them and id say its impossible to get a row of fourteen and fed through in 7 and half minutes without them.only problem is the roof has to be risen first as its barely 6 ft high on one side or someone shows me how to stop the cows bateting them

Same situation in old parlour had batch feeders low roof so feeders were on outside wall .few sheets of galvanise and timbers to make canapoy over them to stay dry

kowtow

keep going wrote: »

6 ft high on one side or someone shows me how to stop the cows bateting them

We have the same problem, only a couple of cows but it creates chaos with neighbours.

Thinking of putting a rail of blue band across just in front of the feeders, either individually or as a row, maybe be able to raise the feeder up a few inches as well. Hopefully that will be enough, to stop them getting the stub of a horn over the pipe and onto the body of the feeder.

mahoney_j

keep going wrote: »

Would be quiet proud of my reputation as tight f##ker but batch feeders are definitely on the priority list for me because filling the rows is painful without them and id say its impossible to get a row of fourteen and fed through in 7 and half minutes without them.only problem is the roof has to be risen first as its barely 6 ft high on one side or someone shows me how to stop the cows bateting them

Same situation in old parlour had batch feeders low roof so feeders were on outside wall .few sheets of galvanise and timbers to make canapoy over them to stay dry

caseman

I put in 20 year old fullwood rope operated feeders working perfect.

Milked out

Timmaay wrote: »

Batch batch batch and ditch the autumn calvers.

Do the sums first, at gg's solids and good bonus it may well pay to stick at it.
Re feeders I keep autumn calvers seperate while at grass in oct/ Nov and it's alrite but when on your own it all takes time when one herd are grazing further parts of farm etc not to mention in wet weather trying to on off graze. A one man show needs to be streamlined or all the jobs add up and if something goes wrong in the day it can fcuk up the whole show otherwise.

Timmaay

Milked out wrote: »

Do the sums first, at gg's solids and good bonus it may well pay to stick at it.
Re feeders I keep autumn calvers seperate while at grass in oct/ Nov and it's alrite but when on your own it all takes time when one herd are grazing further parts of farm etc not to mention in wet weather trying to on off graze. A one man show needs to be streamlined or all the jobs add up and if something goes wrong in the day it can fcuk up the whole show otherwise.

As gg builds numbers hopefully just the late spring calvers will allow him to fill his winter bonus with only them. I think he said before he is shy calving space for proper compact calving so this might suit perfect anyways. With calving spread from say feb 1st until say mid April, and 6wks dry he would have a tidy amount of milk all winter, but still with only one calving season, less management groups etc etc. But Yeh obviously do out the sums on everything ha, and once they are done do them again and again!


On the low roof, that's what I ended up doing with my new parlour! But I'll be running one or 2 lengths of steel bar down in front of all the feeders. Will be 1/2 a days work with the welder for me ha. It was a case that the cost of rising the roof up would have added 2k to my budget, but just covering the feeders is a fairly decent compromise at a much lower cost.

Greengrass1

Cant buy dairymaster feeders the uncle would kill me
winter milk will stay for a few more yrs yet.
If I get cubicles and all sorted it'll be a doddle

Timmaay

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Cant buy dairymaster feeders the uncle would kill me
winter milk will stay for a few more yrs yet.
If I get cubicles and all sorted it'll be a doddle

Dm batch feeders stupid money anyways, double what I paid for my pig feeders. I'd say it would be cheaper to put in pig feeders, flog the whole lot 2nd hand and get new individual feeders.

Greengrass1

We milk recored here last night.
Have 12 cows doing 32 litres plus.
One lady who is 3/4 hol 1/4 je doing 39.
Alot of heifers around 20/22 mark.
I've a milkier herd than I though