Wednesday, 10 May 2017 08:19

Calves suck feeder dry every time

Written by  Mark Daniel
New five-calf open feeder from Stallion Plastics. New five-calf open feeder from Stallion Plastics.

A new five-calf open feeder from Stallion Plastics is said to be light, strong, easy to clean, big enough for calves to grow into and up to a third cheaper than traditional feeders.

Made by Axiam Plastics, Whanganui, the feeder is injection, rather than rotationally moulded, and is mounted on strong steel brackets.

Widely spaced teats (Skellerup Peach) allow calves room to grow; these are screw mounted for fast removal, cleaning and replacement.

Because of the way the feeder has been shaped and angled, calves are able to suckle virtually all the milk out of it at each feed.

Farmers who trialled a prototype last season particularly liked the hygiene aspect, Stallion says.

“All we have to do is screw the teats out, blast the feeder with the hose and screw the teats back in,” says Louise Pickering, from Culverden.

Rearing up to 600 calves a year, including replacement heifers, beef crossbreds and Friesian bulls, she was among several farmers who wanted to keep the prototype feeder after testing it last spring.

“I wanted to buy more. I like having some smaller feeders; they’re good when you have a pen of slow calves, and we could easily get five onto this one because of the way the teats are angled.”

Grant Allen, chief executive of Stallion Plastics, says the five-calf feeder has been designed to conform to industry-accepted best practice as recommended by Dr Bas Schouten.

“Calves bond in small groups; feeding them in groups of five to 10 appears to stimulate a good physiological response among pen mates and often a more active suckling reflex in some slower feeding calves.

“The new feeder helps nurture their bonding, and because it is an open trough the first calf to finish feeding doesn’t push the others off their teats.”

www.stallion.co.nz

More like this

Stallion's foray into fertiliser

Known throughout New Zealand for its innovative and robust calf-feeding solutions, Stallion Plastics has never shied away from experimenting with the latest technologies, with the aim experimenting with the latest technologies, with the aim to make life easier and improve a user's bottom line.

Goat feeders meet growing need

A recently introduced premium range of goat feeding equipment from Stallion Plastics should hit the shelves in time for this year’s kid rearing season.

Feeder saves time, money

The annual toil of calf rearing just got easier with the launch of a ‘premium’ mobile calf feeder range designed to save time, money and effort, says the developer, Stallion Plastics.

Featured

Every vote will count - Alliance chair

An independent report, prepared for Alliance farmer shareholders is backing the proposed $250 million joint venture investment by Irish company Dawn Meats Group.

John Deere technician's record hat trick

Whangarei field service technician, Bryce Dickson has cemented his place in John Deere’s history, becoming the first ever person to win an award for the third time at the annual Australian and New Zealand Technician of the Year Awards, announced at a gala dinner in Brisbane last night.

Australia develops first local mRNA FMD vaccine

Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks could have a detrimental impact on any country's rural sector, as seen in the United Kingdom's 2000 outbreak that saw the compulsory slaughter of over six million animals.

National

All eyes on NZ milk supply

All eyes are on milk production in New Zealand and its impact on global dairy prices in the coming months.

Machinery & Products

Amazone unveils flagship spreader

With the price of fertiliser still significantly higher than 2024, there is an increased onus on ensuring its spread accurately at…

Leader balers arrive in NZ

Officially launched at the National Fieldays event in June, the Leader in-line conventional PRO 1900 balers are imported and distributed…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Full cabinet

OPINION: Legislation being drafted to bring back the controversial trade of live animal exports by sea is getting stuck in the…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter