Mobile Mineral Feeder Travels With The Herd

There’s no dragging mineral tubs and lick tanks for Dan Dykstra when he moves his herd. The rotational grazer has a wagon decked out with needed supplements to move as he moves his cows.

 

   “I rotate my 30-cow herd around 50 acres of pasture,” says Dykstra. “I have one running gear for a water tank and a second one to hold a mineral feeder, a lick tank for protein, and a fly control oiler curtain hanging off the rear.”

 

   Dykstra found a running gear at a consignment auction for only $150. It was a New Holland, ideal for the use as there was no reach running down the middle. He notes that it cost less than the mineral feeder and lick tank it carries.

 

   “I ground the welds loose and stretched the frame a few inches so my Pride of the Farm mineral feeder would fit,” says Dykstra. “I used 2 by 2-in. bracing and angle iron to support it and the lick tank.”

 

   Dykstra salvaged sections of steel bracing from an older field cultivator to hang his fly control curtain from. He mounted one piece vertically to the back of the running gear and welded the second as a cross arm. Chains bolted to it support the reservoir and curtain.

 

   “I wanted to be able to hang it low enough the calves would use it too,” says Dykstra. “The lick tank has worked out well for the calves also. I no longer bother with a creep feeder. They lick what the cows leave until they’re big enough to reach the tank themselves.”

 

   Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Dan Dykstra, 18191 Malvern Rd., Morrison, Ill. 61270 (dykstrafamilycattle@yahoo.com).