Recent content by Farminlund

We've done both over the years. We used to slaughter the heifers because the steers would bring more at the sale barn. Then as we progressed into selling meat to the public, the steers gave us the growth & size advantage (lbs=$) & thus we were doing both. I really had a hard time discerning a...

I vaccinated my spring calves with modified live respiratory viruses. Their moms did not get vaccinated when open. If vaccinated calves nurse the moms, this can cause abortions. In the pas,t I could keep them apart for a couple months & all has worked out just fine. I don't have that much...

kdpihf - I did look up some of the sires you suggested & there are certainly up-close breeding duplicates. I also was able to calculate the inbreeding coefficient - it is 3.13%, so not so much risk! Thank you all for your inputs - they were all in favor of doing nothing & that's what I'm going...

I haven't been on this board for sometime but when there's something I need to understand - this is the place you can usually get an answer! Thanks in advance for any inputs. I have always bred using the rule of thumb of 3 generations back on both sides of the pedigree for the same sire/dam...

Don't disagree that the hay hopper is very pricey (~$1200 ea). If you use the hay loss calculator (http://www.noble.org/ag/tools/livestock/hay-ring/), the hay loss cost difference between the standard skirted feeder & the modified cone feeder (the most efficient feeder in their calculator), in...

http://www.barnworld.com/cattle-guards/ ... ay-feeder/

Thanks for the great pics & link to site where the chain sling/cone feeder was shown. I like that one but $$$, but so is hay! Also, the MO University study on hay waste (linked from the pics on the chain sling feeders) had a link to the Noble site hay waste calculator. It had 4 feeders to...

Have not seen the feeders with the closely spaced bottom bars - does sound like it would approximate a skirt. Agree that they should last as long as the feeder rather than the normal, skirt falls off before it's time to retire the feeder (I have replaced them with plastic salvaged from...

Thanks for the input fnfarms1. I am most interested in your opinion of your GoBob bale feeder.

Jedstivers - Without some fairly major layout changes, feeding from outside pasture/feedlot is unlikely (not that I don't think it would be nice). When you say fence line manager - does that mean a single strand of electric wire that the cows reach under & in to eat the hay, thus using the same...

I agree that skirtless straight sided feeders are more wasteful than skirted rings (have both & even added a skirt to one). However, the curved design would seem to help that issue (catching what's accidently dropped). Their comment is: "Been there, done that. We have found that the hay that...

Thanks - most informative & thought provoking, just don't operate in a" large pasture mode" during the winter, therefore, moving the feeding location in order to have a "clean" area to deposit hay row would quickly be exhausted (esp with rain & above freezing temps). We were using hay wagons...

Thanks for the input - I am looking for options to change/improve how we do things at our operation (started intensive managed grazing this past yr). Could you give a bit more info - ie link to what you have, etc. Thanks much!

Anyone have experience with any GoBobPipe Co. round bale feeders? They seem very sturdy & they advertise 30% hay loss reduction. Our operation is always on the edge of not enough hay despite purchasing 100's each yr (purchase quality is never as good as our own either), so waste is a big deal...

I can't say I've noticed much difference. We are using mostly different (AI) bulls from the previous year, so a true comparison can not be made.