Has anybody feed or feeding Formic Acid milk

myersfarm · #1 12/23/10, 09:20 PM

I have been looking at the site on how to and why to feed Formic Acid
milk but would like to know somebody that feeds it first hand

http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/...formicacid.htm

springvalley · #2 12/23/10, 10:15 PM

Anything you need a hazmat suit to mix it up doesn`t sound good to me. > Thanks Marc

Cannon_Farms · #3 12/23/10, 11:06 PM

those goat kids are not a prime marketing example as they look pretty skinny to me. sounds great for commercial folks but dont think Ill be trying it I personally want to know how much each kid drinks

myersfarm · #4 12/23/10, 11:21 PM

did not figure goats but I did calfs 2 1/4 gallons a day.....seems like a lot to me..but you can wean at 49 days instead of 64

glenn amolenaar · #5 12/24/10, 06:25 AM

I'm not sure about this, but in the 80's we sold calves to a commericial raiser of holstein calfs they fed an acid type replacer free choice. Well we had a tour of place (sick) never saw such poor and sick cattle, stink from scourers, syringes at the ready. To make a long story short that was the last time we sold them any calves.
Glenn

ozark_jewels · #6 12/24/10, 07:56 AM

I don't know.....after reading it I agree with the above posters. Yech. And it just seems another try at shorting calves those few short weeks of milk they really need for a long productive life. Coming from a 12 week at minimum person, 49 days sounds terrible. I've seen many shortcuts tried and used and I've never seen a result I really liked.
Including the calves I fed 2+ gallons a day and weaned at 8 weeks. The calves who were on 1 gallon a day for the full 12 weeks were bigger and healthier in the end.
And no, I've never used it so I guess I shouln't have posted.

Good luck in your search.

myersfarm · #7 12/24/10, 10:09 AM

I was trying to help the calfs....milk FREE CHOICE anytime they want it....the acid just keeps the milk from spoiling....

..I am sure you could keep them on milk as long as you wanted..

....it does seem to me it is more WORK AND MONEY to the human...

..and more MILK

BUT SUPPOSE TO CUT DOWN ON scours THE KILLER OF CALFS

thanks

Alice In TX/MO · #8 12/24/10, 12:34 PM

From Wikipedia:
A major use of formic acid is as a preservative and antibacterial agent in livestock feed. In Europe, formic acid is applied on fresh hay or other silage to promote the fermentation of lactic acid and to suppress the formation of butyric acid; it also allows fermentation to occur quickly, and at a lower temperature, reducing the loss of nutritional value.[2] Formic acid arrests certain decay processes and causes the feed to retain its nutritive value longer, and so it is widely used to preserve winter feed for cattle.[citation needed] In the poultry industry, it is sometimes added to feed to kill E. coli bacteria.[8][9]

Formic acid is also used in place of mineral acids for various cleaning products,[2] such as limescale remover and toilet bowl cleaner.

ozark_jewels · #9 12/24/10, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by myersfarm

I was trying to help the calfs....milk FREE CHOICE anytime they want it....

Who am I to fault that....its the way I raise my goat kids. Still don't like the idea of the acid...but I don't know.
Would you really have to worry about milk spoilage if you dropped a frozen pop bottle of water in the milk during the hot weather?? I mean, soured milk doesn't hurt calves, we feed it all the tme to ours. Its only when the milk is dirty that different bacterias in the milk cause bad issues. Hmmmm, just thinking.
Of course, this is assuming you are feeding raw milk, not milk replacer or pasturized milk as some "experts" are reccomending.
But I think you do?

dosthouhavemilk · #10 12/24/10, 02:40 PM

We feed free choice raw milk to our goat kids in lambars. It is filled two-three times daily with warm milk and left out. Usually they drink it all but there are times the kitties (and now the chickens) enjoy the leftovers.
Raw milk should not spoil, so we don't tend to worry about it.

ozark_jewels · #11 12/24/10, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dosthouhavemilk

We feed free choice raw milk to our goat kids in lambars. It is filled two-three times daily with warm milk and left out. Usually they drink it all but there are times the kitties (and now the chickens) enjoy the leftovers.
Raw milk should not spoil, so we don't tend to worry about it.

I do the same. I wash them every day and the kids do great on it. Main reason I'm wondering about the real need of the acid?

southerngurl · #12 12/24/10, 03:53 PM

Just make kefir and put some of that in there. It will just culture the milk instead of it going bad. Which it really won't do if raw anyway.

myersfarm · #13 12/24/10, 03:54 PM

but cows milk to goatsis cross animal...as in if I was feeding goat milk to calfs it would work better...

but in our weather you would have to keep the milk from freezing..so you need heat thats were the problem arises

you both raise calfs why not feed them cows milk free choice...trying to learn something new not question your way but 88 calfs on milk now....and I want to raise more..

dosthouhavemilk · #14 12/24/10, 04:39 PM

We don't feed ours free choice because we need the milk for the goat kids. When we were still a Grade A dairy we needed the milk for a check to help pay bills.
Nowadays dad feeds calves three times a day and they get a lot more milk than we used to feed. We don't leave it out free choice because we aren't set up to and don't have the excess.
I have had calves figure out the lambar bucket though. So you could do a modified system.
There is definitely a challenge for you feeding in the winter. Most of our kid rearing occurs in the spring/summer, though dad has been feeding lambars straight through this year.
There was some frozen milk, but the kids generally "tank up" with the fresh warm milk and then drink a little throughout the rest of the day.
Raw milk is raw milk.
I think as long as you can keep it from freezing you ought to be able to feed it free choice without needing to use the acid.
It is better if they are gradually switched to free choice or they can make themselves sick.
Our kids are started off on free choice colostrum and switch to free choice milk.

ozark_jewels · #15 12/24/10, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by myersfarm

but cows milk to goatsis cross animal...as in if I was feeding goat milk to calfs it would work better...

It shouldn't make a difference. Most people who free-feed their goat kids use goat milk. I just happen to use Jersey milk as my own form of disease prevention for breeding stock that I market. The type of milk for the calves shouldn't make a difference.

but in our weather you would have to keep the milk from freezing..so you need heat thats were the problem arises.

True. For the kids, I fill it up with warm milk three times every day and that thaws the frozen milk in the feeders. Not saying you should do it for calves, its just the way I do it for kids.

you both raise calfs why not feed them cows milk free choice...trying to learn something new not question your way but 88 calfs on milk now....and I want to raise more..

Wow, you are braver than I.

I don't want to raise that many calves at a time.
I have contemplated free-choice for calves many times. It works so well for kids, it just seems sense to try with calves. But the truth is I cannot.
When we were making cheese, I needed all the milk for cheese(except for 1 gallon per day per calf). Now, while temporarily not making cheese, I need the milk even more as every gallon I can ship help cover bills. Dad is on the road again working, so I need to eek every gallon I can to send off to pay bills so hopefully Dad can be gone less soon. Making farm payments, feeding the families, feeding the cows, buying fuel, its all dependent on the check Dad brings in and the twice monthly milk checks.
So unfortunately, I cannot take the milk and try free-feeding. Because I'd love to give it a whirl.

myersfarm · #16 12/24/10, 10:05 PM

OJ it is easy 3 hours in morning thats milking 12 cows and feeding milk with dry feed and adding water.....2 hours at night milking cows and feeding milk to calfs

what makes it easy is the milkbars feeding 5 or 6 at a time fast and not having to wait on them to finish before going to next pen

I have 19 milk bars and 18 pens set up..each pen has 4 to 6 calfs sorted by size ..the extra is for the fully inclosed insulated horse trailer with heat that I put the sick one's in...

ozark_jewels · #17 12/25/10, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by myersfarm

OJ it is easy 3 hours in morning thats milking 12 cows and feeding milk with dry feed and adding water.....2 hours at night milking cows and feeding milk to calfs

what makes it easy is the milkbars feeding 5 or 6 at a time fast and not having to wait on them to finish before going to next pen

I have 19 milk bars and 18 pens set up..each pen has 4 to 6 calfs sorted by size ..the extra is for the fully inclosed insulated horse trailer with heat that I put the sick one's in...

Still, my hats off to you.

Calves are cute and I enjoy them in smaller amounts. We usually keep and raise about 30 over the course of a year. But of course I am also caring for the animals at my place and the herd of milking cows. Guess that would make a difference, it being your primary concern.