Ration setups

keep going

Giving some thought to my set up for feeding as I have no feeders in the parlour and I am exploring options as regard bins and feed purchasing.thinking of building a shed for storing ration with good floors and walls for to hold feeds that can be tipped out rather than having everything blown in with a hopper connected to the parlour in one corner which would be loaded by the loader without leaving the house.am I getting into home mixing territory as is there alot of hassele following it.

farmerjj

Why not put a meal silo/bin in and some cheap pig feeders, would nearly be same price and a lot more straight forward, plus those lovely folks in bord bia would be happy

mahoney_j

Buy a bin ,put in some form of parlour feeders and get feed delievered and blown in .less work and hassle and cleaner job

keep going

The parlour feeders are a given but its more a question as regards feed supply.a couple of little stories , one is a pig farmer who went milling his own ration.on a per ton basis the savin wasnt massive but in pig performance the difference was huge.another is a friend who gets rolled barley delivered from a tillage guy during the winter, the tillage guy is passing the coop so he throws in soya ontop of the load depending on what protein yer man requires and weighs everything.its tipped out in a house and fed with the bucket of the loader, simple out.now these thoughts are also swirling around with the debate between renting basically for silage or buying ration instead.you can do sums upside down on it but labour and feed quality are the hidden factors in all this.its almost impossible to know the quality of stuff that goes into a nut and also going this route can also be a slippery slope to tmr and diet feeding.

Milked out

keep going wrote: »

The parlour feeders are a given but its more a question as regards feed supply.a couple of little stories , one is a pig farmer who went milling his own ration.on a per ton basis the savin wasnt massive but in pig performance the difference was huge.another is a friend who gets rolled barley delivered from a tillage guy during the winter, the tillage guy is passing the coop so he throws in soya ontop of the load depending on what protein yer man requires and weighs everything.its tipped out in a house and fed with the bucket of the loader, simple out.now these thoughts are also swirling around with the debate between renting basically for silage or buying ration instead.you can do sums upside down on it but labour and feed quality are the hidden factors in all this.its almost impossible to know the quality of stuff that goes into a nut and also going this route can also be a slippery slope to tmr and diet feeding.

Would a split bin suit? Maybe crowley or some of the other ones have a setup where you could feed in the straights separately and mix in front of the cow, haven't seen it but maybe anyone with pigs may have but sheds and rations can lead to vermin and waste as well as extra work

atlantic mist

we have a bin and wouldnt b without it best thing we ever got on farm, no dust or vermin to b dealing wit
only thing u need to watch out for is that the load is not only out of cooker when it arrives to you, can cause the meal to go sticky
i no a lad who gets straights tipped in a shed, mixes with the loader and he made the concrete slope down to auger to feed bins
he has an attachment for weighing on loader, he maintained that he knew what he was getting in tipped loads ur never sure with a nut, cheaper per ton and cheaper to be tipped not blown

visatorro

you can buy a bin off condon Eng that you fill yourself with the loader. they would make to spec. would at least be vermin proof and you wouldn't have to worry about shovelling ration every milking. you'd still need the concrete to mix the ration thou

keep going

visatorro wrote: »

you can buy a bin off condon Eng that you fill yourself with the loader. they would make to spec. would at least be vermin proof and you wouldn't have to worry about shovelling ration every milking. you'd still need the concrete to mix the ration thou

Whatever will happen there will be no shovel anyway.the idea is that there will be an auger from the hopper to feeders and no running around yards with loaders buckets full of grain.theres a few lads around these parts selling rolled barley through the winter and delivering it but with tippers not blower trailers.you are kind of limiting you options to a mill of one form or another with a ration bin.also im in the process of putting a bin on top of mycalf trough which is already on wheels so that I can fill it with the loader bucket once a week maybe and cut out drawing bags /buckets every day.theres no reason why I cant use the same setup with nuts.was f.irting with the idea of rolling myself but think I wouldnt have the time.one other little advantage is I would have some flexibility in the spring with cal mag

keep going

atlantic mist wrote: »

we have a bin and wouldnt b without it best thing we ever got on farm, no dust or vermin to b dealing wit
only thing u need to watch out for is that the load is not only out of cooker when it arrives to you, can cause the meal to go sticky
i no a lad who gets straights tipped in a shed, mixes with the loader and he made the concrete slope down to auger to feed bins
he has an attachment for weighing on loader, he maintained that he knew what he was getting in tipped loads ur never sure with a nut, cheaper per ton and cheaper to be tipped not blown

A set up similar to that is what im thinking about

Deepsouthwest

Bin bin bin all the way, if ur upping cow numbers nxt yr, then u don't need the hassle of mixing ur own feed. If ur not happy with what's in ur ration then order a simple 4 way mix, and get it tested if ur still a conspiracy theorist! At least minerals etc are all included, the savings in mixing ur own ration is minute unless ur feeding hundreds of cows. Also in a simple spring system, which I think ur in, and plenty land coming on board, u shouldnt need that much ration anyway.
Believe me u won't regret buying a bin, plus they're also a status symbol!!

Timmaay

You can get a grant for a bin and feeders also. 7ton bin should be something around 2k, the pig feeders I got were 4k for 14units. Pig feeders are cheap and cheerful, but can be temperament at times, they are no cashmans for one!

keep going

Deepsouthwest wrote: »

Bin bin bin all the way, if ur upping cow numbers nxt yr, then u don't need the hassle of mixing ur own feed. If ur not happy with what's in ur ration then order a simple 4 way mix, and get it tested if ur still a conspiracy theorist! At least minerals etc are all included, the savings in mixing ur own ration is minute unless ur feeding hundreds of cows. Also in a simple spring system, which I think ur in, and plenty land coming on board, u shouldnt need that much ration anyway.
Believe me u won't regret buying a bin, plus they're also a status symbol!!

No harm to be thinking about things.once you reach a certain point, is it easier to get feeds delivered than taking on more land.grazed grass cheapest in terms of dm and the system to deliver it but silage off rented land introduces a set of risks in terms of feed quality, cost and feed security .one thing ill say about ration youll always have something to sell.by the way youve nearly killed the ration bin by calling it a status symbol, jeep was giving a bit trouble last weeks and told buddies I was looking at donedeal for a new one, tbey were suggesting various crew cabs but were totaly pissed off when I said its same age and type jeep I was after just a different one, a new earth got her going grand again so off the market.any fella renting land shouldnt drive around in swanky stuff,

Timmaay

Keep going, while we are on this topic of parlour nuts, I think it was you who asked me about my diy meal bin hopper in the loft a few months back, 2bh I've scrapped the whole idea ha, and am just going to get a meal bin (can get a 60% tams2 grant for it), and am going to convert the whole old milking parlour and loft into some sort of living space instead, it would have been a waste just to leave it sitting with its only use being the meal hopper.