milk replacer

[steveaust]

I am bucket feeding 10 calves ranging in age from 6 days to 4 weeks and i wish to know how best to feed them on milk replacer without having to seperate them into 4 groups each time.Is there some way i can safely feed them adlib or is this asking too much.

 

[dun]

I am bucket feeding 10 calves ranging in age from 6 days to 4 weeks and i wish to know how best to feed them on milk replacer without having to seperate them into 4 groups each time.Is there some way i can safely feed them adlib or is this asking too much.

The only way I can think of is with the gang feeders that used to be available. It has a bunch of nipples aranged around it and a shutoff valve deal that only allows a certain amount of solution through in a given amount of time. They were heated so you could just clean nad fill them once a day. Haven't seen them now in 20 years. Other then that, we've made a small panel that seperates each calf as it eats and hang a bottle or bucket in each little stall type of deal. The only problem we've had with this arangment is the urine/scrotum suckers.

dun

 

[Ann Bledsoe]

Other then that, we've made a small panel that seperates each calf as it eats and hang a bottle or bucket in each little stall type of deal. The only problem we've had with this arangment is the urine/scrotum suckers.

dun

I raise calves in groups.
I get around the sucking on each other by tethering each calf for feeding and leaving them tethered out of reach of each other for about an hour after each feeding. It takes that hour for the sucking reflex to cease. If they have access to each other while that sucking reflex is still active, they'll suck on each other all day (and night).
I stopped the urine drinking by providing loose salt -- the calves don't seem to be able to get enough from a block.

Ann B