Giant Calf Feeder Serves 45 At Once

Giant Calf Feeder Serves 45 At Once LIVESTOCK Feeding Equipment Keith Marshall can feed a lot of calves with a minimum of effort using his big portable nursing station     The Unionville Virginia dairy farmer designed and built the industrial strength rig for about $4 500 in labor and materials He was assisted by Sammy Altman & Son     Marshall raises 150 calves per year The big feeder allows him to keep the calves out on pasture      Other large-scale nursing stations use barrels to hold the milk but none of them lets you make certain every calf has an equal chance to drink he says This feeder keeps the milk away from the calves until I see that they re all in position This is important because they re very competitive It s sort of a mob situation      Marshall s feeder holds 80 gallons of milk inside a 20-ft section of 10-in dia pvc pipe It ll feed 45 calves at a time     The pipe hangs inside a trailer frame fitted with two large wheels He tows it behind an ATV     The open ends of the pipe are sealed by 10-in expansion plugs that Marshall got from a marine supplier in Florida He fills it through a T-spout at the front end     The pipe rotates 180 degrees so the nipples can be held at the top of the pipe until calves are in position to nurse     Marshall installed the long row of nipples by boring in brass tees each of which accommodates two nipples     In all the rig has 67 nipples spaced 7 1/2 in apart 32 tees with three extra nipples aligned vertically     Marshall sorts the calves into different paddocks according to size and age Each group of about 45 calves is fed separately      The calves are kept on a different farm from where we milk cows so we transport the milk in 55-gal drums and use a sump pump to load it into the nursing station Marshall explains We park in a reasonably flat spot and then use a sight glass to level it using a jack on the station That way all the nipples feed out an equal amount of milk     As the calves start sucking they create a vacuum The rig includes a ball valve where Marshall can manually let air into the pipe Once he s sure every calf has found a nipple he uses the valve to release the vacuum and let the milk flow      We pour a few gallons of water into the pipe as the calves are finishing the milk and they will drink as much of this as it takes to make them completely full This ensures that the calves won t suck on each other when we take the nursing station out of the paddock Marshall explains      Because of the equal opportunity they have to drink all the calves seem to do real well he explains The investment was worth it In only 45 min one man can feed 90 calves and clean the nursing station     He cleans it out with a chimney cleaning brush and five gallons of soapy water     Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Keith Marshall 24109 Constitution Hwy Unionville Va 22567 ph 540 854-6800; fax 540 854-0818; email: marshallfarms@adelphia net; website: www marshallfarms us

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