Self-Feeding Concrete Bunk Silo

Self-Feeding Concrete Bunk Silo SILOS Silos 23-1-33 FARM SHOW readers might be interested in my "self-feeding" concrete bunk silo. It's 8 ft. high by 118 ft. long by 50 ft. wide, and I used to haul silage from the silo to my cattle before I came up with this idea. Now, they come to the silo and get it themselves. I made a pair of hooks out of 1/2 by 2-in. flat iron that fit over the top of each side. Then I ran a length of poly rope down from each hook, weighting them down on the ends with heavy oil well drill bits (any heavy object would do). Then I stretched electric fence wire between the two poly ropes to control cattle as they feed off the silage. The fence wire is about 2 ft. off the ground so they can easily reach over or under it. (When a cow gets a shock, she simply takes a step back and goes right back to feeding). As cattle feed at the silo, all you do is periodically move the fence backwards. The only thing you have to watch is that overhangs don't develop that could fall onto the wire or even bury some cattle. The system saves so much time and effort I plan to continue to use it even after I cover the silo with a Cover-All canvas shelter this winter. I'll have to install some sort of track along the walls in place of the hooks. (Helmut Luethi, Box 628, Breton, Alberta, Canada T0C 0P0; ph 403 969-2151).

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.