bulk feed storage

[Jena]

I use gravity wagons. They are kept in the shed and I put tarps under the ones that sit under the leaks in the roof. I can unload from the wagons to the grinder to mix feed. The complete feed is also in a gravity wagon and I fill buckets to feed the cattle.

I also raise chickens.

I make darn sure there are no animal proteins of any kind in my chicken feed, since it all goes through the same grinder. It's not that easy to find to all-vegetarian chicken feed and I have had people try to sell me stuff that did indeed have some kind of animal protein in it. I always read the labels.

I also raise a few hogs. They get the same stuff as the cattle...corn and soybean meal.

The only thing that gets any animal proteins at all on this place is the dog....well and me

Jena

 

[mmaxwell]

The type of bulk storage bin that you need depends on how you want to be able to handle the feed. I have several creep feeders that I fill up using my tractor bucket. So I poured a concrete slab in one corner of my hay barn and built some plywood walls around it and I have several tons of the feed augered in or dumped in on the slab. I then drive into the bin with my tractor and get a bucket full and take it to my creep feeders. This is working wonderful for me since prior to this bulk feed bin I was handling the feed in bags. That was getting very tiresome. Now I'm letting the tractor do all the work. MGM

 

[SPRINGER FARMS MURRAY GRE]

The type of bulk storage bin that you need depends on how you want to be able to handle the feed. I have several creep feeders that I fill up using my tractor bucket. So I poured a concrete slab in one corner of my hay barn and built some plywood walls around it and I have several tons of the feed augered in or dumped in on the slab. I then drive into the bin with my tractor and get a bucket full and take it to my creep feeders. This is working wonderful for me since prior to this bulk feed bin I was handling the feed in bags. That was getting very tiresome. Now I'm letting the tractor do all the work. MGM

Interesting,but how do you keep the fieldmice out of it?

 

[dun]

The type of bulk storage bin that you need depends on how you want to be able to handle the feed. I have several creep feeders that I fill up using my tractor bucket. So I poured a concrete slab in one corner of my hay barn and built some plywood walls around it and I have several tons of the feed augered in or dumped in on the slab. I then drive into the bin with my tractor and get a bucket full and take it to my creep feeders. This is working wonderful for me since prior to this bulk feed bin I was handling the feed in bags. That was getting very tiresome. Now I'm letting the tractor do all the work. MGM

Interesting,but how do you keep the fieldmice out of it?

Here it isn;t much of a problem with field mice, it's the field rats that are the problem.

dun

 

[SPRINGER FARMS MURRAY GRE]

The type of bulk storage bin that you need depends on how you want to be able to handle the feed. I have several creep feeders that I fill up using my tractor bucket. So I poured a concrete slab in one corner of my hay barn and built some plywood walls around it and I have several tons of the feed augered in or dumped in on the slab. I then drive into the bin with my tractor and get a bucket full and take it to my creep feeders. This is working wonderful for me since prior to this bulk feed bin I was handling the feed in bags. That was getting very tiresome. Now I'm letting the tractor do all the work. MGM

Interesting,but how do you keep the fieldmice out of it?

Here it isn;t much of a problem with field mice, it's the field rats that are the problem.

dun

Here too! :cboy: :lol:

 

[kensfarm]

"We lost approximately 18 cows and 21 calves, but I believe it was from the actual litter my son was feeding."

Did your vet come to a conclusion about why almost 40 animals died?

 

[haybalin fool]

After reading this thread, I have many questions. Just like Bez said, it needs to be science based. But on many of the comments, science was left out!

The first question I have is for SHERRY. If you are using litter as a feed supplement, did you let it properly heat up to 160 degrees F and sit for a few days? This effectively kills all pathogens that could be harmful to the cattle.

And secondly, was there a free choice grass or hay available with the soyhull pellets? I feed a mixture of soyhull pellets, corn gluten and cracked corn to a 1000 lb steer every day...around 35 lbs daily...each on a 1/3 basis of the 35 lbs. He also received all the hay he wants. I feed around 500 lbs of a soyhull/corn gluten mixture each day, both pelleted. You can quickly get into problems of bloat from feeding soyhulls free choice without a grass/hay...and on the other hand, it could have been something totally different...like clover bloat or respiratory problems or clostridial problems or tetanus or nitrogen or a deficiency!!!!

Personally, I live in one of the most poultry productive areas of the country, 2nd to Arkansas. My county is first in our state. We have 3 - 10.5 ton bins and keep feed in them constantly, and they came from both broiler and breeder farms. We have no problem, and never have before. We're not the only one in the area, there were many more who started me on the idea.

PLEASE from now on, stick with science...and science also means looking at why animals died. Vets will do this, and in NC for $15 you can take an animal to a diagnostic lab for a full workup...have the info back in roughly 2 hours. Why in the world would you let 39 animals die and just sit back and guess at what killed them?!?!?!...I don't know what else to say to that.

 

[Muratic]

We lost approximately 18 cows and 21 calves, but I believe it was from the actual litter my son was feeding.

Something is definately wrong with this picture...vet was never called hu?
And WHY in the world would you admit to screwing up that badly on a public forum????????

I am going to look more into what Bez said

That would be an intelligent decision. Bez is a perty smart feller

 

[tapeworm]

What about you Muratic. Look what it says for your location. Married a yankee. Talk about admitting screwing up in public. LOL Muratic. Just joking with you. Please dont whup and ride with the Posse to git me.LOL
Agree with you about the vet Muratic. Have a pleasantday Muratic

 

[mwj]

Haybalinfool
You spoke of properly composting to 160deg., do you think this would do anything to the prions in spilled feed that could be in the litter. This in my opinion is not looking at the whole picture!!!!!! Shortsighted thinking to save a few bucks on feed is not going to go over good in the fight on bse. If margins are that thin maybe these people should look at another area to invest there time and money. Does anyone have a price on composted litter for cattle so we can see how it compares to other feeds? Is the poultry ind. the one pushing this crap to add to there razor thin margins?
your friend
Mike

 

[haybalin fool]

Mike,
Having worked for a poultry integrator as a field representative, there are feed spills. You are correct about the prions, it was my error leaving out the portion on prions and BSE. But with the coming legislature and and FDA ruling, feeding litter will not be an option no matter the price. "the rule will also ban the use of "poultry litter" as a feed ingredient for ruminant animals" - http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/hhsbse3.html -

In my area, litter is cheap, really cheap. There is such a surplus that many poultry producers will clean out their houses and pile the litter in their own dry stack for another individual to haul away. We use litter as fertilizer and the producers we haul from pile it in their dry stack until weather permits us to spread. Personally, I wouldn't use litter as a feed supplement, there are much better alternatives available which are much easier and cleaner to handle, by-products for example. Looking from the poultry industry's perspective, they want the litter disposed of in some form or fashion. With the talks of moving to a phos. based system for fertilizer application instead of nitrogen, both producers and integrators worry because this will limit the amount of litter to be spread on the ground. Most land in my area has received litter as fertilizers since the 50's which has caused a build up of phosphorous.

 

[mwj]

Haybalinfool
I can not see a prob with any buildup of a non mobile nutrient unless it is being aplied to land with a runoff prob. The litter if composted should greatly help build humas in poor soil and would be a good use for it in large volumes! As far as byproducts go, I live about 12 miles from ADM and they ship gluten by the train load :shock: They would love to be suronded by cattle feeders so they could sell it wet, instead of incuring the drying expense.
your friend
Mike

 

[haybalin fool]

The problem we have is our terrain. We're located in the foothills and mountains of NC, and there always seems to be a stream at the bottom of the hill. Runoff is a big issue, and the building of buffer strips and fencing off of creeks is becoming a prominent procedure. When we do fence off a creek, we put in a pressurized water system, most oftenly using Mirafount 2 ball waterers. We hit temperatures close to zero at times, but commonly stay in the teens and twenties, and have had no problems.

 

[mwj]

Haybalin fool
I am from the land of corn and beans, but we have ditches and creeks. I am sure if you look at the N,P and K inputs they would be as much as from litter. Almost all of the waterways have a grass buffer because of atrazine use. There are a lot of farms with lighter ''timber'' type soil that would love to have a chance at composted litter to build up there soil 8) Is there any chance that it could be used as a biomass fuel? It seems I read about a co operative effort between the state and porkproducers in the Carolinas to determine what plants were heavy feeders that would take up and capture the nutrients from manure.
your friend
Mike

 

[haybalin fool]

I've heard of some companies burning the litter for power, and the result is about 2% of the initial volume. The majority of what's left is P, which could be utilized out west. The ideal situation would be to ship corn and soybeans in, the P back out.
Speaking of the timber land, litter will give you a great deal more grass than traditional fertilizers for freshly cleared land. That's one of the first things we do, apply lime and litter.
As far as the pork situation, we're under a moratorium right now until an alternative can be found to lagoons. We've got a research center, partnered w/ other universities and companies, working to find solutions to both the mortality issue and manure. With either one, they're reducing it, drying it and pelletizing it. It's kinda cool to see a dead hog that's been in phosphoric acid go into a barrel lined w/ teeth, add some soyhulls, pelletize it, flash dry it, cool it and then put it in a bin.

 

[mwj]

Haybalin Fool
The study I was thinking of used liquid manure, and the last i heard were using a fast growing tree that was used for pulp. The tree regrew from the stump and grew a tremendous root system for nutrient up take! The hog producers in our area compost dead animals. The system you describe sounds fast, but has to many cash inputs for most producers. Anytime you have to dry a product with todays fuel prices, it tends to make it cost prohibative.
your friend
Mike

 

[Sherry]

My son never called a Vet nor did he take one animal approximately 30 minutes away for free testing.....At the time this was going on I was recupperating from an accident where a roll of hay fell on me...so I missed a lot for several months. I do not believe he left it to do the 160 degree bit, but he also fed it straight without mixing at times. The cows always had hay, and grass....even with this and the soy bean pellets.

As soon as I became involved in the running of things again he became angry. We had been told if the Sale Barns here knew you were using Litter they would likely refuse your cows, but he said, "I don't care I am going to anyway"....You will never convince me Chicken Litter, under any circumstances is safe for feed, For the animal or humans the humans that are going to consume that animal!

 

[tapeworm]

Not trying to point any fingers or cast any blame or start any family squabble.....but the only way that I could know for SURE that I lost 21 cows and 18 calves is if I PERSONALLY saw 21 cow skulls and 18 calf skulls. Sounds pretty farfetched to me....if I didnt see those skulls i would be talking to my brand inspector. Better luck to you

 

[Sherry]

Tapeworm, I saw a lot of them and a man helping my son saw all of them. He was there the day a Charlois Bull fell to the ground and died within a short period of time, I know for a fact that my son fed this bull straight litter. This man and two more tried to talk to my son about the litter, etc. He would not listen to anyone! You are not starting a family squabble it started two years ago.

When you have animals they have to be tended to seven days a week, we like to eat every day, so do they. Grass a lone is not all a cow needs and when you have five chicken houses full of hay there is no reason for your animals to run out. I would feed ten rolls a day before my accident, he would feed four....we had 145 brood cows plus calves.

 

[cowgirl580]

i don't remember too much about this, but my biology professor talked about BSE in animals. prions can not be killed by heat or steam or cold. the heat and steam activate them and make them grow faster. that is their ideal environment. there is also no conclusive results saying that BSE is passed on from animal to animal by their feed. the BSE in animals is different for each species. the BSE virus/bacteria( :?: ) is a different strain for each. BSE has been in Europe for many, many, many moons. it infects their sheep. i think its either france or england. whichever place we are not accepting meat from. however, they cannot find any evidence linking BSE in animals to anything bad in humans. like i said earlier, i don't remember exactly what my biology professor said, but this is as close as i can remember.