*Post contributed by Dr. Bob James and Jan Ziemerink When the farm has an excellent program for maternity, newborn care and colostrum management the earlier the better! The most important consideration is to place the calf on the autofeeder when it has a vigorous appetite. These calves adapt well to this transition and are easy to train. […]
In this farm feature video with Ingleside Dairy, Dr. Bob visits with Linda Leech about how the family successfully retrofit an old facility into a calf barn that works well for group housing with an autofeeder.
Inadequately cleaned autofeeders can create unhealthy conditions for the calf, and impair the longevity of the equipment. Watch this how to video to learn how to carefully clean and sanitize your autofeeder.
When calves are first introduced to the autofeeder, it can take time for them to increase their consumption. Learn what might be causing this slow transition, and how to get them quickly consuming more milk.
Automated calf feeders are increasing in popularity with progressive dairy farmers who want to raise top-notch heifers by offering several benefits over manual feeding.
My name is Jan Ziemerink. In this calf blog, I want to share my decades of hands-on experience with farmers to help them get the most out of automated feeding to ensure healthy calves, strong heifers, and good performing cows. Read more
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While there are claims of saving in labor with the autofeeder system, the Hammocks wanted to develop a system which provided an environment which allowed more time for management of calves by reducing the demands of some of the more labor-intensive chores of feeding, cleaning, and treatment of calves. Read more…
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Their initial experience with one feeder in a retrofitted facility convinced the Hammock’s to make the investment in a new facility designed for use of the Foerster Technik autofeeders. They visited other farms and obtained information from multiple sources including their dealer. Read more…
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Hammock Dairy is a family business owned and operated by several generations of the Hammock family and is located in southern Virginia. This blog post will feature a discussion with Paul about their dairy business and how they explored the use of the autofeeder system. Read more…
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Successful calf rearing is a contemporary issue all over the world. Everybody should know that healthy calves are the future of dairy farms. But how important is professional calf rearing for US farmers? How important is it for the Europeans? For the Germans? Do we have similarities? What is different? What can we learn from each other? Have a look at a highly interesting discussion with my German counterpart, blogger and veterinarian Dr. Peter Zieger…
