Advantage feeders

[exmoor dave]

It will help to keep the pigeons out too. This decoy hawk worked for a couple of weeks until the fudgers sussed out it wasn't going to attack 'em
View attachment 435252

Haha! my first thought looking at that photo was Bo selecta

 

[NZDan]

Hi NZDan

Your pellet spec is important ideal spec

3mm in size with extra hardener to bind the pellet and a spray of fat after forming is ideal, this keeps the dust down and also helps with moisture resistance

mixing 250KG of 34% protein with 750KG of barley will give a ration of 17.9 % (barley estimated @ 10%)

ability to feed this @ circa 250 g per head per day or more, it will also include mins & vits

don't over stock the feeder and once a day to run your finger down it is a small price to pay for controlled feeding, if you have the newer white adjuster guard this in its inverted position prolongs the build up of dust before blocking and cleaning may be needed less frequently.

I still can't justify the cost of the pellets. The hi protein pellets are almost 4 times the cost of barley $1000 v $285.

If I was having to clean the feeder every day because it had pellets in it I wouldn't bother with the feeder and just feed pellets on the ground. The biggest advantage for me is being able to feed him quality feed with out having to go to the ewes every day.

 

[NZDan]

Looking to feed inlamb ewe lambs on 3in1 feeder but want to make sure all are eating, heard of people putting food colouring in feed, what is the best way to do this?

I've had a hell of a time getting ewe lambs on to the feeder. It's taken up to 2 months and still some don't take to it. Ewes get on to it in days.

 

[NZDan]

How much straight barley could you safely feed?

In Aussie they feed up to 1.7kg per head. With straw avaliable for fibre.

 

[Bury the Trash]

I would try one .

My main concern tho is that the hopper bottom would rust out just like ordinary feeder hoppers do corn/conc stuff is highly corrosive when gets a bit damp if it hangs around.

Would it take much more - to build the bottom section of the hopper at least, with plastic ie stockboard ?

 

[richard1686]

hi everyone

just wondering how you are all getting on with your feeders.

have they become a permanent fixture on farm or more of a passing fashion?

comments good or bad would be greatly aprreciated

 

[Bury the Trash]

early doors for me,..... but its well designed, (and well built )
and is ideal for steady feeding of whole grain ...which is what i like to feed as i grow it.

recently been feeding oats mixed with wheat and also straight barley, ..all of .which is stored nice and dry.

 

[jjm]

hi everyone

just wondering how you are all getting on with your feeders.

have they become a permanent fixture on farm or more of a passing fashion?

comments good or bad would be greatly aprreciated

I have had a few for three years now.
Really like them for simplicity reasons and having the ability of feeding cereals plus protein with minimum waste.

I am going to feed oat straw instead of silage aloneside the feeders when they are used again for feeding pregnant ewes 4 -5 weeks pre lambing. For the past three seasons I have lost a few ewes that have got far too fat and have suffered problems in the couple of weeks leading upto lambing.

The feeders are currently being used to feed whole oats to fattening lambs. There is no waste and it amazes me how the lambs have worked out how to feed from them so quickly. The feeders have been out for 4 weeks and to date we have lost three lambs out of 900 as a result of eating too much.

 

[pgk]

I've had a hell of a time getting ewe lambs on to the feeder. It's taken up to 2 months and still some don't take to it. Ewes get on to it in days.

Was having similar issues on Dusty whole oats, added some hi pro soya, job done.

 

[rancher]

Feeding lambs here .5kg/day. half of them are getting it through the advantage feeder and the other half are getting it once a day from the quad and snacker.
Both batches are on grass and for the last 6 weeks the lambs on the advantage feeder are doing a lot better

 

[baaa]

I have been looking into getting one or two of these feeders. How can the 800 be moved without a tractor? I was disappointed to read in the brochure that the size pellets I can get would be available ad lib. I was thinking of crushing them to powder. Would this work or block the feeder? As a time saving device which also helps the sheep stay healthier than hand feeding it seems worth the expense if it works!

 

[andybk]

I have been looking into getting one or two of these feeders. How can the 800 be moved without a tractor? I was disappointed to read in the brochure that the size pellets I can get would be available ad lib. I was thinking of crushing them to powder. Would this work or block the feeder? As a time saving device which also helps the sheep stay healthier than hand feeding it seems worth the expense if it works!

you can put wheels on ,or tow with quad , work best with whole grain as thats what they are designed for , crushing powder will block the slots ,

 

[rancher]

I have been looking into getting one or two of these feeders. How can the 800 be moved without a tractor? I was disappointed to read in the brochure that the size pellets I can get would be available ad lib. I was thinking of crushing them to powder. Would this work or block the feeder? As a time saving device which also helps the sheep stay healthier than hand feeding it seems worth the expense if it works!

Yea it's hard to move if you don't have a tractor, we have a chain on it that we tow with the quad, we move it to a fresh area every time we fill it, ground recovers quicker if it's not mucked up........we have a tractor loader as well, I keep it off the land in bad weather.
The ration needs to be grain or pellets, our pellets are about 5mm and work fine.
Ours is the 500, it is easier filled and has more trough space than the 800, I think it was cheaper at the time too,
It doesn't hold as much pellets as you'd imagine though , it only holds about 350kgs so don't be misled by the model nos.
I've a suspicion that the 500 isn't available now, can't seem to get much information on it now
http://www.3in1feeders.ie/sheep/

 

[baaa]

The 500 is in the brochure I received recently. I feed powdered soya, sugar beet pellets which are quite big and barley grains. I try to split the ration into three feeds, but it is a tie. The sugar beet pellets could go in one side and be fed ad lib. The barley the other side at 200-250g. Any suggestions for feeding protein and minerals? No protein pellets here and sheep nuts are 600/tonne

 

[exmoor dave]

I have been looking into getting one or two of these feeders. How can the 800 be moved without a tractor? I was disappointed to read in the brochure that the size pellets I can get would be available ad lib. I was thinking of crushing them to powder. Would this work or block the feeder? As a time saving device which also helps the sheep stay healthier than hand feeding it seems worth the expense if it works!

Pull the feeder around, it has skids on it.


If you crush the feed, it will block.


My experience is that you really need to mix any concentrate with whole grains,
The higher % of grains, the better the feeder will work.

 

[NZDan]

I've tried sheep nuts, barley, and peas, I wouldn't bother with peas or nuts again, I'd just feed them on the ground as there is very little waste, barly works a treat, as above they were designed to feed cheap grains easily that would other wise suffer wastage,

 

[exmoor dave]

The 500 is in the brochure I received recently. I feed powdered soya, sugar beet pellets which are quite big and barley grains. I try to split the ration into three feeds, but it is a tie. The sugar beet pellets could go in one side and be fed ad lib. The barley the other side at 200-250g. Any suggestions for feeding protein and minerals? No protein pellets here and sheep nuts are 600/tonne

I'd mix the 3 feeds in to a ration, the more barley you use, the less trouble you'll have with blockages.
The sugar beet pellets will be what gives you trouble as they will bridge due to their size if the feeder is set up as a restricted feeder.

 

[hillman]

No problems with blocking with the 5mm pellets @rancher what was low st rate you could set it at with them ?

@exmoor dave do/did you put pellets through yours also , what size ?

Dave do you use yours for your early batch what mix through it ?

Have one with the ewe lambs on a sniff of barley, but want to use it lambs next year so looking at options

 

[pgk]

I'd mix the 3 feeds in to a ration, the more barley you use, the less trouble you'll have with blockages.
The sugar beet pellets will be what gives you trouble as they will bridge due to their size if the feeder is set up as a restricted feeder.

Have added shreds to our mix with no issues, did this when adding barley to pure oats they were previously on, small addition of soya made no effect.

 

[pgk]

I have had a few for three years now.
Really like them for simplicity reasons and having the ability of feeding cereals plus protein with minimum waste.

I am going to feed oat straw instead of silage aloneside the feeders when they are used again for feeding pregnant ewes 4 -5 weeks pre lambing. For the past three seasons I have lost a few ewes that have got far too fat and have suffered problems in the couple of weeks leading upto lambing.

The feeders are currently being used to feed whole oats to fattening lambs. There is no waste and it amazes me how the lambs have worked out how to feed from them so quickly. The feeders have been out for 4 weeks and to date we have lost three lambs out of 900 as a result of eating too much.

How are you getting on feeding oat straw I could get some instead of hay do you put molasses on to improve intake. Looking at mix of oats n barley for ewes in 3 in 1.