Labor saver

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Location
North West Indiana
My specialty is rough work. This is something I saw an example of when googling a labor saving device. This calving season was our worst on record, 5 calves dead, 1 cow sold for butcher due to prolapse. The prolapsed cow had twins, we are bottle feeding them (no pictures will try to get some tomorrow). Well to try to offset this loss and since we were making 2 bottles, might as well feed 6 more! So I bought 2 heifers and 4 bull calves, jerseys. Might keep the heifers and put them in the herd, that decision will be made later. So, bottle feeding 6 calves is either an all day affair or something needs to be done! Lou is still on crutches so she can't get in a pen so this is what I did.
Before you say it, my photography skills mimic my woodworking skills!!!

A trough?.jpg
Here it is in the shop partially completed. Somehow someway I messed up the way it looks (focus) playing around getting it sized and yep, didn't save the original!:doh:

Lou's truck.jpg
When Larry last visited, we drove halfway up to his house to pick up this little electric truck for my wife as she is on crutches and it has provided her means of transportation since that day. Best investment I have made for her mobility since her accident. Oh, and she lets me use it from time to time like now! :thumb:

Know what it is?.jpg
Very critical to get the angle correct!:rolleyes: That morning I made an imaginary line on my leg for the angle most of the group preferred. So here it is first hanging. Not used yet.

Calves nursing.jpg
And here is how it looks twice a day. Stays this hot will probably give an afternoon feeding of a half bottle of electrolytes this week. I originally thought I was going to build hinged dividers to keep them at their bottle. Only one takes a break and takes a lap so he is called "Rounder". :rofl:

Remember I said I bought 6 calves and there are only 5 in the picture. Well these are 1-2 weeks old, the 6th one to fill my order, they stuck in a day old calf. Separated him into his own pen to stop from getting mauled. He also scoured real bad but think he is on the mend. So Lou with an individual bottle holder can feed him.
Just thought I would share this so you know I have been doing something.
 
Jonathan, that rocks. What a great solution. Pretty smooth moves for "rough work".

Thanks!

I remeber those days. Used the same type of bottle. We had a wire rack that held 1 bottle, but hung on a board of the pen. I didn't mind the feeding as much as mixing the milk replacer.

Yep, Lou uses one on the single calf. But they start head butting them and you can't hold 5 in place at one time, let alone sort them back into the pen as they finish their bottle. Lou mixes bottles, I wash!
 
As a "City Boy"---really only a "town boy"---seeing what you do fascinates me. It also makes me darn glad I am a "town boy.

Jim

Jim, I grew up in a small town. Larry saw the house, barn and corral. Mom and dad bought a farm when I got into Jr. High to keep me busy and out of trouble. Perimeter fenced, cross fenced into four pastures 60 acres with a pair of post hole diggers, shovel and tamper. I think it was complete with swinging gates my Jr. year of high school.

Funny thing is all I see is next years supper:thumb:
All though I prefer my supper to be black at this stage:thumb::thumb::thumb:

Will try to post pictures of the six calves we have successfully raised so far this year. You'll see some black. Also will try to get a shot of this fall's meat crop, all but one are black. Actually in a blind taste test, Jersey has beaten Angus a few times. Jersey is very delicious and what I prefer. But yes, for at least four of them, your eyesight is 20/20!!
 
Man you a man among men handling that lot. I just have way too many questions see this.

I am really starting to think like the Chinese did way back. As i understand the story from one of my Chinese distributors there was a time when city folk were required to go back and work the land each so many years.

When i first heard the story i thought wow thats pretty harsh. But more and more i think it would do each one a great deal of good to get a feel for what you go through on a farm.

Where are the economics of feeding these guys milk if you have to mix it up i presume from powder milk. Sorry i am as dense as it gets when it comes to farm stuff but interested as all get go.

I was out in the country today at SWMBOs company BBQ and the bosses horses. It felt really great to be able to be outdoors and not have a neighbor in sight.:) Jonathan you amaze me. :bow::clap::clap:
 
You are a genius. Also agree jersey makes the best beef for the buck.

Chuck, with the Angus beef craze sweeping the nation. I can give you a hint. They are all Angus, once the hide is off.
 
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Looks like it's stout enough to hold up to a half dozen calves, nice work! :thumb: Used to bottle feed them growing up and the little buggers can really whip and pull on them bottles.
 
Man you a man among men handling that lot. I just have way too many questions see this.

I am really starting to think like the Chinese did way back. As i understand the story from one of my Chinese distributors there was a time when city folk were required to go back and work the land each so many years.

When i first heard the story i thought wow thats pretty harsh. But more and more i think it would do each one a great deal of good to get a feel for what you go through on a farm.

Where are the economics of feeding these guys milk if you have to mix it up i presume from powder milk. Sorry i am as dense as it gets when it comes to farm stuff but interested as all get go.

I was out in the country today at SWMBOs company BBQ and the bosses horses. It felt really great to be able to be outdoors and not have a neighbor in sight.:) Jonathan you amaze me. :bow::clap::clap:


Rob, let's see if I can help you with your questions. First of all, again I am a small blip compared to the big veal producers. So I am nothing special believe me. My photos are obviously what goes on on my farm, but not representative of a large farm in this day and age. I was born in the wrong century for farming.

The economics, well, the main reason for feeding milk to the original pair of calves is because their mother prolapsed as well as had one quarter of her udder become infected to the point of it having gangrene. I sold her as a butcher cow. There wasn't anything wrong with her meat, I did not put her on a regime of antibiotics knowing I wasn't keeping her and putting her in the meat world. So that is what started this. I am feeding two others in another barn due to the loss of their mother. With the horrible calving season we endured this year, I started looking for replacing the cow we lost by buying a heifer. I am partial to crossbred anything, dogs, horses and cattle due to "hybrid vigor". I also like a crossbred cow from the dairy industry as they produce milk in quantities to feed a growing calf. My cows are all part Jersey depending on what generation they are from. So I found a pair of Jersey heifers and since they were over a hundred miles away, I went ahead and bought four Jersey bulls to help pay the cost of the trip. These calves are available because they are from dairy cows. The end product for a dairyman is milk, the byproduct being calves as you have to have a cow go through a pregnancy to produce milk. Then she needs to be "dried off" late in the calendar year before she has her next calf and the process starts all over. When I get a picture of the first two, them being beef calves, you will see the physical differences. In the picture, these guys look bony/skinny, but they are doing well, they are just young (now 3-4 weeks old). When they are consuming about 2 pounds of started feed on their own and are drinking water good, they will be able to be weaned off of the milk bottles, approximately when they are 8 weeks old. For me, it will have to happen then as I start school when they hit 8 weeks and I am not bottle feeding then!
Glad you got out in the country, it is good for your soul!
 
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