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MN | Been using Biotic feeders for a groups of holstein bulls from Wisconsin livestock markets and know of several other people in our area using that also (we have a dealer really close). Actually getting first batch for 2013 in tonight. Been pretty satisfied as work full-time and husband just can fill the feeder in the morning with milk replacer, scroll through the tags to see who isn't eating and go from there. It's not 100% foolproof - but better than we had been doing. We do have more respiratory problems, but working on that with vaccination and meds. With the Biotic machine that I have ($2500 variety) only meds that can be used are dry that I have been stirring into the milk replacer so have to be creative. Also have to be selective with the milk replacer as some replacers are more "sticky" and will hang up in the machine. You do have to clean it every day (manual cleaning) - I use a scrubbie pad and toothbrush. The web site is biotic.com - they do have a new one with stainless steel exterior, but the one we use is the plastic one - holds about 25 pounds of milk replacer. The feeding stall is a little wide for the calves we get (85-90 pounders) so we have narrowed it down with a board so two can't get in at one time. We don't seem to have a lot of scours - more respiratory problems - but every group is different - so always crossing my fingers!!! We usually put about 25-26 per machine. The Biotic we have feeds about a pint at a time - the newer stainless looking one says it has a larger mixing area so that might be a good thing. Also takes a couple days to get the calves trained, but once trained seem to have few problems although always seem to have a few idiots. I spend the time I spent feeding calves now actually observing and cleaning the machine (about a 10-15 minute job) - I used dishwashing soap - and make sure you don't get the milk replacer wet when washing. | |
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automatic calf feeder?
