Automatic Calf feeders

bud10 · 22-09-2010 10:12PM #1

Just wondering has anyone any experience of using the computerised automatic calf feeders? How did you get on? Are they worth the cost - very exp (10K) from what i hear?

Just looking for thoughts from other users experience, was thinking of buying one maybe.

Thanks

whelan1 · 22-09-2010 10:13PM

was thinking about this , it is quite expensive for a machine that will only be used for a few months isnt it

bud10 · 22-09-2010 10:36PM

Exactly what i was thinking.

But to rear say 90 -100 calves, do you think this feeder could do a better job rearing the calf especially when they are dairy bred calves and want to bring these calves to beef or replacement heifers at 2 years of age

5live · 22-09-2010 11:01PM

Was at ploughing to look at those babies. 10k will get you 4feed stations and ability to use milk or replacer. Auto wash. 2 calves can drink at one time. You can set the feed programme or use your own. The number of feeds goes up to 3 of 1.5 l then the number of feeds goes down and volume up. They are fully weaned at 10 weeks i think on their programme. But for me the beauty of the system is it has an alarm system in place so that if a calf doesnt drink its allocation in time then you can call it up and see its drink pattern for last 48 hours. I think it would help identify sick calves sooner and poor drinkers so they can be minded a bit better. It wont replace good management but when thungs are busy i find myself dropping balls here and there and spending enough time checking calves is a big one. They have another one to do 80 calves for about 8k. Interested to hear what people think about it

premier10 · 22-09-2010 11:50PM

Do you reckon it's worth the investment or just plain madeness

5live · 23-09-2010 12:03AM

Say 100 calves reared. costs E100 a calf. over 10 years 10 a calf.Probably better calves as fed 3 times a day so less chance of nutritional scour by drinking too much. Better chance of seeing sick calf early as it will tell you if he hasnt drank. Less deaths as you have a better chance of treating a sick calf when caught early. You can go for a day or 2 and be fairly confident that someone looking after the calves. I had to go away for 2 days in march and half the calves had scour when i came back. I am on my own on the farm and i reckon if it saved 2 calves a year it would be well on the way to paying for itself

castletrader · 23-09-2010 12:43PM

I had one of those calf feeders and sold it after 2 years .You spend more time on the computer part inputing numbers every day etc, .I is easier to feed calves on the bucket and teat .

premier10 · 23-09-2010 11:45PM

Is it very difficult to get calves to go to the machine e.g should you rear them on a teat feeder for a few days after taking from the cow? would this be any help or just avoiding the inevitable?

5live · 24-09-2010 09:48AM

Sales rep at the ploughing said that it takes a few days to get young calves to drink but most sorted after 4 days and most of the rest after a week. I use JFC 10 teat feeders at the minute and pretty much what i find myself. Hunger is a great sauce as they say but the odd one will not drink even if you kissed their behind

whelan1 · 24-09-2010 03:48PM

5live wrote: »

Sales rep at the ploughing said that it takes a few days to get young calves to drink but most sorted after 4 days and most of the rest after a week. I use JFC 10 teat feeders at the minute and pretty much what i find myself. Hunger is a great sauce as they say but the odd one will not drink even if you kissed their behind

god i remember trying to get charolaois calves to drink from a bucket ffs

would drive you mad

5live · 25-09-2010 10:33AM

I would prefer charolais to brown swiss. I still wake up in cold sweats 10 years after the last one weaned. A total nightmare. Maybe i just got the wrong bulls

Man of Kerry · 28-09-2010 11:47PM

very interested in one for ourselves. spoke with a few at the ploughing but I thought the clearest on what the feeder could do was a fellow kerryman from Killorglin. They were on the Lely stand but I think the feeder is made by some other crowd.I got the impression that it worked best for about 60 calves on two feed boxes but for us that would be plenty. I have to say I thought it was a mighty yoke and would seriously reduce labour at a busy time.

mattthetrasher · 14-09-2011 09:03PM

anyone buy one since thinking of taking the plunge its about 10k but ya cant do it all

stanflt · 14-09-2011 09:36PM

mattthetrasher wrote: »

anyone buy one since thinking of taking the plunge its about 10k but ya cant do it all

pure madness-keep your money in your pocket

linebacker52 · 14-09-2011 09:40PM

stanflt wrote: »

pure madness-keep your money in your pocket

why would that be

stanflt · 14-09-2011 09:44PM

linebacker52 wrote: »

why would that be

from talking to lads who used it

plus was on the winning calve rearing competition herd in the north and he was looking to sell the prize he won

sh1tstirrer · 14-09-2011 09:50PM

linebacker52 wrote: »

why would that be

One good reason is why most posters on here would like it, is to substitute poor management.

linebacker52 · 14-09-2011 09:51PM

sh1tstirrer wrote: »

One good reason is why most posters on here would like it, is to substitute poor management.

what on earth is that supposed to mean

sh1tstirrer · 14-09-2011 10:01PM

linebacker52 wrote: »

what on earth is that supposed to mean

:rolleyes:

whelan1 · 15-09-2011 06:17AM

stanflt wrote: »

pure madness-keep your money in your pocket

have to agree ... there is no stand in for the human eye... even with out the automatic feeder its going to take a day or 2 to get the calves to drink then they can work away why pay 10k for the pleasure, i can think of other things to spend my money on, especially if its going to be idle most of the year

F.D · 15-09-2011 09:25AM

whelan1 wrote: »

have to agree ... there is no stand in for the human eye... even with out the automatic feeder its going to take a day or 2 to get the calves to drink then they can work away why pay 10k for the pleasure, i can think of other things to spend my money on, especially if its going to be idle most of the year

That is the problem with most farmers is they assume automatic machinery is going to replace them! or that they just set it up and come back when the calves are reared in fact the whole object of it is to free up your time to really keep an eye on your animals and record performance, i have not got one of these but if i could afford one i think i would take the plunge, We bucket fed calves morning and evening and working full time, and to be fair for the time you spend making up the mix and throwing it into them you dont really get to spend enough time looking at them until the evenings, so in our senario we would be better spending the time we loose making up the feed walking through them morning and evening, plus we could manage more calves. for a dairy farmer i suppose the time inbetween rows could be spent feeding a batch at a time so it wouldnt be as benifical

bbam · 15-09-2011 09:39AM

We bucket feed, have been doing so for a few years and with a half decent setup you can feed an awful lot of calves in 30 minutes in the morning... that would include looking at them..
Feeding time is a great time to spot any problem calves.....

It's hard to see the €10K payback from a feeding system, how many calves do you think would be required to justify the spend?..

5live · 15-09-2011 10:06AM

linebacker52 wrote: »

what on earth is that supposed to mean

I think the answer may be found in the name;)

jeff greene · 15-09-2011 12:27PM

Don't have one, but lust for one:rolleyes: know two farmers that are delighted with them, alot of money though, I guess you could say a luxury but same could be said for many things depending on your point of view.

5live · 15-09-2011 01:35PM

sh1tstirrer wrote: »

One good reason is why most posters on here would like it, is to substitute poor management.

Yer man Buckley in Banteer wont be happy with you when he reads that. He does try to keep his deficiencies under wraps so he had an open day to talk about all his 'deficiencies', and there were many:rolleyes:

mattthetrasher · 15-09-2011 06:56PM

the reason i would like to buy one is not poor management as an oodd a hole might say but because i milk near enough to 100 cows on my own there is a lot of jobs to do and i want to give young stock more time also i have a wife and family who id like to see every so often if posters cant post something helpful or genuine i wish they would just shag off

PMU · 15-09-2011 09:13PM

dont forget the cost of the shed to house 100 calves and the machine.this year i reared 25 heifer calves on a mobile teat feeder in an outside yard with loose house access.very easy to see the sick ones,they will be slow to come drinking. one farmer i know rears 150 heifer calves each spring in three batches in three different paddocks.

John_F · 15-09-2011 10:02PM

5live wrote: »

Yer man Buckley in Banteer wont be happy with you when he reads that. He does try to keep his deficiencies under wraps so he had an open day to talk about all his 'deficiencies', and there were many:rolleyes:

just read abit on the ploughing section in the journal about this fella, what exactly was the open day trying to achieve... show off all his gadgets?? he must have a fair ball of cash spent with new parlour, rapid exit with feeding, volac calf feeder, moo monitors

5live · 15-09-2011 10:14PM

John_F wrote: »

just read abit on the ploughing section in the journal about this fella, what exactly was the open day trying to achieve... show off all his gadgets?? he must have a fair ball of cash spent with new parlour, rapid exit with feeding, volac calf feeder, moo monitors

Horses for courses. I meant to go but didnt in the end. I had no interest in the rest of the stuff, just wanted a look at the feeders and if they would fit in with what i had in mind. In fairness though, talking to a neighbour who did go, he seemed to have a fairly labour efficient set up.
Was the price worth it? He obviously thought so. Not sure it would work everywhere

sh1tstirrer · 17-09-2011 08:32PM

5live wrote: »

linebacker52 wrote: »

what on earth is that supposed to mean

I think the answer may be found in the name;)

Another man that doesn't understand plain English and the best come back he can think of is the username one.

5live · 17-09-2011 08:51PM

sh1tstirrer wrote: »

Another man that doesn't understand plain English and the best come back he can think of is the username one.

Well,IMO, that was just what that post was doing. Not being cryptic or sly or sarcastic. Just posting to look for a reaction;).

Quite honestly, i dont understand why someone would post if they had nothing constructive or informative to offer. If you have an accusation to make, go ahead and make it. We are all (mostly) adults and as such accept criticism and also agree to disagree where both sides are entrenched in their own ideals. Fair enough.

If you have an opinion on why any poster should or should not buy a calf feeder or even discuss the buying of one then go ahead and put it out there in all its blaze of glory. We await with bated breath

But tbh, i found your comment snide and disrespectful to those of us looking at options for our business in the future. Obviously you are a superb farmer with no deficiencies but the rest of us mere mortals, most definately including myself, seek ways to improve our productivity. Please forgive us for bothering your celestial eminance with such trifles as our own mundane concerns

Automatic Calf feeders

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