Animal Health: Right pump for dosing

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SOLUTIONS PUMPS AND FEEDERS

The right pump for dosing

Frustration with poor performance led Southland dairy farmer John Titter to replace the existing automatic dosing units used on his properties near Winton.

“We milk 1400 cows through two herringbone sheds so we need reliable gear that doesn’t break down and need to be sent away for repairs all the time,” he says.

“The maintenance costs on our old dosing pumps were very high and we just had to find a better option for dosing our cows with minerals,” he says.

When an old friend from his university days in the 1980s mentioned the success he was having with a Mixrite dosing pump on his own run-off block, John decided to buy one himself and see how it coped.

Mixrite pumps were developed in Israel and are sold in New Zealand through a local agent, with service and sales agents around most of the country.

“The issue for us is that our water has quite high levels of manganese and iron in it. Even with a pre-filter, the wear and tear on the old units was a massive challenge once we pumped in other minerals for the cows like magnesium.”

The replacement Mixrite unit was such a revelation when it came to reduced maintenance costs and performance. Aside from keeping the unit’s O-ring clean and lubricated, John says maintenance required is almost zero.

“We were spending between $500 and $1000 a year on maintaining each one of the old pumps. Now we’re able to handle most of the maintenance of the Mixrite units ourselves.”

More? visit mixrite.co.nz

Finally, an easy way to grow great replacements

Growing a quality heifer will lead to increased conception rates, easier calving, longer time in the milking herd and higher production outputs, however getting the right nutrition into calves can be difficult.

Feeding challenges often include labour shortages, wasted feed from the elements, higher feed prices for feed in 25kg bags, lack of control over intake, bossy stock consuming more than they should, and when the calves grow out, they can start making the task risky to your health.

Advantage Feeders have been helping farmers around the world overcome these challenges for almost 15 years and have developed a model for the New Zealand dairy farmer.

The three-way feed restriction system controls the height, width, and depth of how much feed flows from the hopper, restricting the amount of feed that enters the feed access area and controls how much can be consumed by calves and heifers.

The animal soon learns how to lick in and out of the “feed access area”, getting only a tiny amount of feed with each lick. The three adjusters can be set for any ration but in the most restricted setting, stock receive about 0.33% of their bodyweight per day. This is about 350g/day for a 100kg calf or 1kg/day for a 300kg heifer.

Once feed control is achieved, many of the challenges of providing ideal nutrition to replacements is easily overcome. The practical benefits of Advantage Feeders newly released M1000HD only scratches the surface with the main benefit of the increased production being realised out of sight in the animal’s rumen.

Using the three-way restriction system supplements animals with small amounts, often. This ensures the pH of the rumen stays in a zone that allows pasture digesting microflora to work efficiently leading to a reduction in supplementation and reduced feed expenses.

More? Call Advantage Feeders on 027 353 7274 or visit the website, www.advantagefeeders.co.nz

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