Automatic calf feeder

tripperman

HI everyone

I'm looking at changing from sucklers alongside the milking cows rearing all the calves, it's just time consuming when I'm on my own now recently as my father hit health problems. We keep the milkers and sucklers in one cubicle shed by the parlour so from I take them out to feed the calves and get back to the shed there's nearly an hour gone morning and evening.

So I'm considering modifying the calf house to cater for a automatic feeder to rear 100 calves, split into autumn and spring calves, we had planned on next summer installing a ventilation system and rewiring the calf house, but thought why not go a step further.

I've no experience of the feeders or there working requirements, I've only just started researching into them and see jfc or lely feeders, but theres probably more on the market I'm not aware of. So thought I'd ask for anything to watch out for regarding the different automatic feeders good or bad as it's a big change, but hopefully a labour saving one

Thanks in advance for all advice it will be greatly appreciated

dmakc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058382172/automatic-calf-feeder

I don't know much about them myself but just a reminder next TAMS deadline is Dec 5th so no harm have the application in while you ponder

Castlekeeper

So you've been double suckling the calves on a separate group of nurse cows is it? And no small number either!

One thing to consider is what age you'd be selling the calves at and who your market is as well.

Maybe settings can be adjusted but a lot of modern feeders are designed to ration milk for early weaning of replacements and calf to beef rather than feed them well for market at 1 month old.

mahoney_j

bought second hand Forster technic 3 station feeder last year …..it’s only used few months of year but I’d rank it as one of best investments I’ve made ….a few points I’d make

Shed has to be right as regards slopes and ventilation ,no drafts at calf level

It will save you time but you need to check calves and feeder at least twice a day

Cleanliness is key ,I clean around stations daily and swap teats daily (new teats every 3 weeks ,and I wash and soak teats in a Milton solution

Ideally have a wet area around feeder where stations are ,hay racks ,meal trough and water and calves can walk back to bed

tripperman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122886484#Comment_122886484

Looking at applying for next stage of tams after talking with the advisor, should get the young farmer on it also, I wouldn't be able to install anything till next summer /autumn before September calving starts,

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122886638#Comment_122886638

Some cows put out with high cell counts can carry 3 or 4 calves, have blue friesian crosses we couldn't sell when locked up with tb that can carry 3 calves aswell. But takes alot of management to ensure no bullying of calves. generally weaning here from around 12 weeks of age, they do be keep on till 12 to 14 months old and sold for beef, some heifers could be sold as weaned if a neighbour seen them and wanted limousine friesian crosses for suckling cows,

As for the rate of feeding that's what I'm concerned about and looking to learn about for both replacements and beef calves as I go.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122888793#Comment_122888793

Never heard of a forster technic before, how do you find it to setup and get working,

Shed is OK for drafts but want to install a ventilation tube to improve the airflow as the mild weather last month a caused a few case's of pneumonia,

Slopes is good, do have to look at changing layouts and dig out concreted in gate posts to replace with sleeves, to lift posts out to let the teleporter in to clean the shed, as currently done by hand and to timber off bedding areas from wet area.

I see some videos with the wet area and the feeder outside that again I'm the passage is that a better way of doing it?

Wildsurfer

Forster Technic and Lely are one and the same, just Lely put their name on it. JFC seem to be dominating the market at the moment. The ability for all stations to feed simultaneously is a massive plus as there won't be any calves hanging around station waiting on a feed.

GrasstoMilk

jfc. Are having open days on a few farms around the country over the next week or so. Worth looking into. We have a jfc heading into its 5th

season and very happy with it

Castlekeeper

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122891104#Comment_122891104

That's essential, one would think a basic, otherwise calves end up sucking urine.

GrasstoMilk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122891866#Comment_122891866

majority of the older feeders only mixed the milk when the calf came to the stall. The jfc has half a litre there mixed ready to go all the time which improves through put through the machines. I would say most of the other makes have probably changed to a similar set up now

mahoney_j

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122891626#Comment_122891626

At peak 25 calves per station ….im told it could handle 30/station I’ve a starter pen with one station and bigger group pen that can hold 60 calves with 2 stations ….rear tgeee would be 50 on that pen

limo_100

how many calves would you want to be rearing to justify a calf feeder I plan on rearing 20 this year hoping to go up to 30-40 over next few years is it worth it for that quantity? also does it improve calf performance or just saves a lot of labour?

mr.stonewall

Jfc feeder here and it has done 2 seasons rearing 50-60 calves with 2 feed stations. Game changer on labour and time. The real benefit is if you can keep calves the whole way to weaning on it. The curves and being able to tweak the feed to calves are super. The weaning is so gradual and easy on the calves. Say you have a weaker calf or a calf that gets a setback it's so easy to give that calf a bit longer, it helps.

On the set up having the area around the feeder as a wet area is huge to keeping to clean. A quick run of a brush or scraper is key. A washdown hose would be the job.

Typical daily routine is check to see calves have feed, similar Mahoney j swap the teats with one from a bucket of Milton. Quick hose down of the stall, top up powder and then bed, meal and check calves. Being part-time it doesn't matter whether it's 4 in evening or 10 at night and again at anytime in the morning. Once a week run descaler through it and calibrate the powder. Keeping the stalls clean, washed down and teats disinfected are key. You have 1 teat serving 90 feeds in a day, so it serves to keeping clean

The pros I have found, a lot less work on the body, less time, more flexibility, better do for the middle of the road calf or the weaker one and gradual weaning

Some of the cons, initial price, a bit of set up, esb is a bit more. A bit more work for the first 3 days getting calves going on it. The kids were a bit pee'd off as they couldn't wash buckets help with milk

Would I be with out one, god no as a part-time calf to beef farmers, is helps hugely

dmakc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122893795#Comment_122893795

Thanks for insight.

Our calf sheds are multipurpose - is there much to retiring these away for the other 9 months of the year?

mr.stonewall

@dmakc

I have multipurpose sheds aswell. Holding stuff machinery repair work and timber. And what ever gets abandoned

I put the feeder on a crate with plastic decking as slats so it moved it with the front loader to a corner of the shed

Retiring it is easy. Run a descaler cycle, run an empty cycle, empty the remaining powder ( you get cute and put in very little on the last few calves), disconnect the water, pull plug out and power hose the unit.

Service cost was about €350 per year. If you have hard water you could need and element change so consider a softener or some treatment for the supply to the machine.

tripperman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122893795#Comment_122893795

Thanks for this, glad to hear I can adjust feed schedule for a calf that could be falling behind the others in a batch, these are all the small things I need to learn,

Missed the open day in cavan, hope to get to the meath one when it's on, did put in online request for information for a jfc and agent rang this morning and has said he will be out Monday to look at the shed and walk me threw it when he is in the area on the day

mr.stonewall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122896419#Comment_122896419

There is about 7 different curve options that you can alter to what ever way you want in the following areas, ramp up period in days, start volume, full feed volume, full feed period in days, ramp down period, weaning volume and final weaning period in days. Also the number of fed allocations per day can be altered from 1 to 5 feeds in a day in each of the 4 periods, ramp up, full, ramp down and weaning

For a calf that isnt going as good or gets a set back I will change his age to make his 7-10 days younger on the feeder. One chap this year wrecked my head and wouldnt take to 3 feeds a day. Switched him to the same volume over 2 feeds and the problem sorted itself

tractorporn

Anyone here with the feeder have problems getting calves onto the feeder? I have one lassie here who just won't go into the station to drink and even when pushed in she won't drink the full allocation. Any tips on getting her on or am I better off to cut my losses and sell her? I only have her 2 weeks. She's about 45 days old on the card and eating hay/straw and meal and doesn't look like a lassie that's lacking in anything, she hardly weaned herself?

mr.stonewall

How many feeds per day. If on 3 cut this calf back to 2 and keep the same volume. Had one this spring and wrecked my head until this change.

visatorro

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122967338#Comment_122967338

If she's eating meal I wouldn't worry about her! Sounds to much like work struggling like that!

tractorporn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122967372#Comment_122967372

She started on the beef curve so 4 feeds per day but I changed her to the same litres but 2 feeds to try and maximize the volume the odd time she did suck

tractorporn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122967948#Comment_122967948

I was thinking that if she didn't drink soon I'd sperate her and give her some milk powder on top of the meal? Anyone else tried this?

Wildsurfer

She was probably trained to drink out of a bucket, might be worth offering it to her that way.

tractorporn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122968454#Comment_122968454

Maybe but she drank 3L out of a peach tit feeder there this evening. If she takes it that way I'll stay feeding once a day till she's weaned I don't think I'll bother trying her back on the feeder if I can get her settled.

Castlekeeper

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122972597#Comment_122972597

Cpuld it be the temperature? Or even a cold nipple?

If she's drinking for you that way give her 4-5l altogether to get her thriving.

tractorporn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122984132#Comment_122984132

I think it was the fact that she wasn't immediately getting milk out of the teat. The way the feeder works they have to suck for about 10 seconds to get the milk up out of the little reservoir in the station. I noticed yesterday that when I put the feeder onto the gate yesterday she sucked it before I got to pour the milk into it and when there was that small delay she stopped sucking and wouldn't go back until I put her onto the nipple. I'm off for three weeks now I'm gonna feed her morning and evening and get her up near 6 litres. Have 39 others on the feeder with no issues tank god

visatorro

Anyone working with or seen an ad-lib feeder like the ones on donedeal?

visatorro

https://www.donedeal.ie/dairycattle-for-sale/power-automatic-calf-feeders/25493461

tractorporn

Just a word of warning I have the outlet pipe for washing the machine heading to a gully outside the door if the shed. The end of this pipe froze up last night and the machine stopped working altogether. Only an inch of the pipe frozen but because it couldn't discharge it stopped

mr.stonewall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123037043#Comment_123037043

Wouldnt have thought of this. Just thinking out loud if a tee and a tap off the mains water into the machine to this waste pipe to let it dribble away during cold temps work

ginger22

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122986478#Comment_122986478

We have one for the bull calves. Feeding milk only. Dont use the heater. We find with the cold milk they self regulate. Makes a great job of them before going to the mart.

visatorro

What age do you start them on it?

Similar to auto feeder, I presume you just bring them to it a couple of times and just keep an eye then?