calf feeding machine
 

does anyone use a calf feeding machine? it is one of them machines they can walk up to and it automatically mixes the powered milk and they can then eat. if so where can i find one of these machines? and how much do they cost?

I never heard of this before, but I googled "calf feeding machine" and, sure enough, there are websites with information. Try it!

Yes I've seen the machine, sorry no brand name available. Saw one on Craig list recently, best I can recall $1500.....Topside

Calf Feeders

That sure didn't take long...Topside

It seems like one would need to be feeding a large quantity of calves to make one of these machines worthwhile.
I would probably worry about it malfunctioning somehow.

Also, it is still no substitute for human interaction with the animals.

Delaval makes one also $5000 it would work on 2 pens with 30 in each pen

Topside do you remember what city is was listed under

Myers it was actually on LSN (local sales network) for my area. It was a couple of months ago, do you want me to look around for the ad? Person tried to sell it twice, don't know if it sold or not. Topside.

Yes please

Just looked, ads only stay posted for 30 days on LSN, no luck. I visit that site daily, I'll keep my eyes peeled for a re-post. Not many people want a machine like that so it should be advertised again soon....if I see it I'll PM you....Topside

thanks Topside

YOUTUBE has videos of them working

I watched a lot the videos of them on y-tube.
They seem to be mostly of older calves and brand new set-ups, or of computer generated images of 'how' they work.

That is no substitute for Real Life.
In my opinion.
It would take some follow-up footage for me to be convinced that they are 'all that'.
Maybe I am just old-fashioned. :shrug:

gone a milking If i get one it will be for the calfs that just do not grow like the others....in a big pen and let them have a sip each day

myersfarm,

You know what you are doing.
If you do get one, please enlighten me as to how it actually works.

Some of them require the calves to have tags that get read, and other ones dont.
You still need to TRAIN the calves to use it. That is always a hassle, but necessary.
Some of them look like a PITA to try to get the calf in there, LOL.

I worked on a dairy for awhile that had tag readers on the grain feeders and they did not work good when it was humid or if the tags were wet.
The cows were very grouchy in rainy weather. LOL

I have come to believe that stuff made by techies isnt always applicable to actual farmyard reality.
I am willing to be proven wrong on that though. :p

I will need one that used tags or collars...... because I only want the small ones to get the milk but run in the 6 acre pen with the big ones I wean...so I can have the 5 calf barns open for more calfs

We do not have calf feeders on our big dairy farm yet, but without question we will get them!! They are unbelievable and lower the mortality level on calfs tremendously.

I say that, not from reading literature on them, but from a fellow dairy farm neighbor who has many of them. They are just incredible because while reliant on technology, it is that technology that takes the human element out of calf work and really makes the units pay for themselves. In other words the calf only gets what it needs, when it needs it, and as you know, on dairy farms hired hands just cannot do that.

If you do the math on the units, they are actually very cheap. If one $1500 unit saves one calf that turns into a $2000 dollar replacement heifer, you are ahead by $500...on only one calf! That is one incredible return on investment!!

Myersfarm, I had a good chuckle over your "6 acre pen." That's a whole entire pasture for me! LOL!

I've seen one in action at a 300 head dairy here in Tn. One of the hired hands checked on the calves & equipment morning and night, self feeding nice set up....Topside

G. Seddon I have 440 acres I have raised these calfs getting close to 10 years...what the calfs need is what I provide . I have a 1 acre pen that I turn out the first week then they come from the 5 calf barns usually 30 at a time then go to 6 acre one.....then they go to a 40 acres when the 6 acre gets full with about 90 calfs...that lets each pen rest before the next batch of NEW CALFS ARE ADDED......


Plowpoint is right why does somebody buy a $200 calf but not have the $50 stuff that they need to keep it alive plus most of the stuff is reuseable

Topside with the saved time of not feeding that gives the hired hand more time to WATCH THEM....I set out there a lot just watching ...when they first stand up you can learn alot or when one starts running.. and one does not ..IF THE HIRED HAND would use the freed up time that way I know it will pay for itself

I think it would be very convenient if you had a lot of calves. It would only be a problem if the caretaker thought it meant he was free from paying attention to the calves.

Those tag feeders don't work, because it doesn't take the dominant cows long to figure out they can wait for a low status cow to get her grain and then push her out of the way. So the low status cows end up with none, while the dominant cows get double or triple rations.

i went to a farm the other day we are going to start buy all his bulls and that guy had it and i would love to have one we have 10 bulls right now that are about 2 weeks old and it would be so much easier if we had one he said his was 15 years old and he paid 2500 for it 15 years ago. he should me how it works and it seems to work really well this would free up some time. we rise are calf up to weaning and then we sell them to another guy he buys all he can get

Mironsfarm ....did you get the MFG. of his

Sometimes it angers us. We have hundreds of cows I know, but we actually do care for them the best we can, and it is not unusual to get some people who buy the bull-calfs off us and then not want to take care of them.

They come back to the farm and claim "all five are blowing the crap out of their hineys", and really want to know how to make them better. So we tell them what they need to get, and what they need to do to keep the little calfs alive. That is about the time they say. "Oh we don't believe in antibiotics", or some other similar statement. I am sure they go back home and say they should have never bought calfs off a big dairy farm that were "diseased."

We tend not to sell calves to those people any more though. The same goes for the people that balk over a 2 month old bull-calf with a $125 dollar purchase price. Apparently they have no idea what a bag of calf-starter costs today!

By the way, after watching other dairy farmers really get ahead by having a progressive calf management style, we are starting to invest in that aspect of dairy farming. I admit that we are slow on the uptake, having invested in equipment, milking cow barns, and a really nice milking parlor, but now its time to invest in the calf side of things. I doubt we will get Calf Machines soon, but there is a major shift at the farm to consider how calfs and profitability coincide!