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Compact Feeding
- Thread starter Bald Rick
- Start date
No,no it's feeding Dexters!Compact feeding, isnt that just putting them into a smaller paddock
Sambo
Member
- Location
- South Derbys/Staffs
In our case it's all stuff that was getting put in the mixer, just put them in at the end of feed the day before and it takes no longer because I'm not running around for the ingredients individually during feeding it takes less time.
farmer1989
Member
- Location
- cumbria
I be putting 24hrs worth of ingredients on for highs and lows mix addd water leave over night empty out the back door what I dont need for highs then add forage mix 30 mins do cubicles come back put feed out do same for lows not that much more work
why mix for 30minutes?
I’d never mix for more than 10 minutes,but then again I’ve 240hp on the mixer so I run it fast.
farmer1989
Member
- Location
- cumbria
Because it says to compact feed you add dry ingredients add water mix for 15 mins leave over night add forage mix for another 30mins
farmer1989
Member
- Location
- cumbria
So will be trying compact feeding in a couple weeks just wondering do I add wholcrop to wet mix to soak over night or do I add it with silage then mix for 30 mins ??
Mixing for 30 minutes your going to do more damage,your mix will be like soup with no structure.
More to life
Member
- Location
- Somerset
That’s actually the goal it’s a very interesting system, it works but it’s a major faff.
What about rumen mat?
The goal is to stop sorting and raise intakes isn't it?
More to life
Member
- Location
- Somerset
I’m probably over playing the lack of structure but it’s a very heavy mix it doesn’t look like the mix you think should work.
An acquaintance tried it and said it went off fast.
More to life
Member
- Location
- Somerset
I think your supposed to add some acid if that’s the case I had no problem last summer
- Location
- Ulster
Who all has stuck with Compact Feeding since this thread started?
Started this year ourselves as our second cut bale silage at 40.1% DM was too dry and was causing too much sorting, and couldn't keep the silage pushed up enough.
Went with 1 kg of water per KG of blend (6 kg) and didn't see that much of an improvement, after some research I found the recommended overall DM of the ration was 36-38%, mine was at 42%. I increased the water to 10 kg and this brought it back to 37.7%.
The ration looks more palatable, the feed trough has little to no concentrate left on the floor after push up, and i am getting away with pushing feed much less as well. The cow have lifted 1.6L per cow per day, BF is up 0.08% Protein has stayed the same.
Started this year ourselves as our second cut bale silage at 40.1% DM was too dry and was causing too much sorting, and couldn't keep the silage pushed up enough.
Went with 1 kg of water per KG of blend (6 kg) and didn't see that much of an improvement, after some research I found the recommended overall DM of the ration was 36-38%, mine was at 42%. I increased the water to 10 kg and this brought it back to 37.7%.
The ration looks more palatable, the feed trough has little to no concentrate left on the floor after push up, and i am getting away with pushing feed much less as well. The cow have lifted 1.6L per cow per day, BF is up 0.08% Protein has stayed the same.
Horn&corn
Member
Very similar here. Still adding an ibc to help bind it together and stop the sorting. Also reduces the bird damage on the ration we think as more difficult for birds to separate. Not sure about yield lift but nutrition man says take it out and we say NO. Feeding in afternoon so for cows leaving parlour and still in at night
- Location
- Cumbria
Moving to a whole diet and feeding less concentrate in the parlour was step one. Time was then spent improving the 'compression ' in the whole diet by experimenting with different types of mixers (paddle or auger) to avoid selective feeding, this improved things.
The next step was no feed in the parlour, the objective being to maintain the ph of the gut, cake and grass silage are ph opposites.
This system hits the spot at the moment, however maybe not as favorable with Robots, as cake in the robot is needed for enticement. The trade off for robots is more milking's and less stress.
Is should definitely improve yield, through a more even ph level in the gut, and should improve DM intake. It would be interesting to know the balance of water usage, the cow will drink less using this method, however you need to use water for the mixture.
Less panic and rush by the cows to get to the feed-fence on this system, is because they know it will be there, and all the goodies won't have gone.
The next step was no feed in the parlour, the objective being to maintain the ph of the gut, cake and grass silage are ph opposites.
This system hits the spot at the moment, however maybe not as favorable with Robots, as cake in the robot is needed for enticement. The trade off for robots is more milking's and less stress.
Is should definitely improve yield, through a more even ph level in the gut, and should improve DM intake. It would be interesting to know the balance of water usage, the cow will drink less using this method, however you need to use water for the mixture.
Less panic and rush by the cows to get to the feed-fence on this system, is because they know it will be there, and all the goodies won't have gone.
Horn&corn
Member
Which type of mixer did you find best? I’d struggle to believe anything better than vertical auger but you’ve experimented!
- Location
- Cumbria
H
Horizontal auger created the best compression, but not great for wet material as it squeezed the water out. Vertical is pushing everything up to the top, and although very good at mixing a wide variety of feeds, especially if the side restrictors are used, did not have the same level of compression. Paddle/barrel was the least.
Horizontal auger created the best compression, but not great for wet material as it squeezed the water out. Vertical is pushing everything up to the top, and although very good at mixing a wide variety of feeds, especially if the side restrictors are used, did not have the same level of compression. Paddle/barrel was the least.
- Location
- Ulster
This compression you mention is something that I am not familiar with, have you any links or more information on its research?
What brands of feeders were used in the experiment? It was a selling point of one horizontal brand was that its tumbling effect left a looser 'fluffy' mix that was an advantage? Although compact feeding isn't necessarily in keeping with their past approach to feeding.
The next step of no parlour feeding, was that one ration for the whole herd, fed at different volumes per batch, or different rations per batch?
I was also interested in the difference in water use before and after compact feeding.
- Location
- Cumbria
I would prefer not to use brand names if you don't mind.
However the three types were:
Horizontal Auger in the bottom (with cutting blades) moving all components to the front end of the hopper with two side augers three quarters of the way up augering all material to the back. The compression was achieved at the front, this is also where the feeding conveyor was.
Like this type: https://www.farmandplant.ie/listings/farm-machinery/for-sale/24589383/sgariboldi-monofeeder-13st
Vertical auger, like this type: https://www.farmandplant.ie/listings/farm-machinery/for-sale/192648639/rmh-mixell-14
and paddle/barrel type, like this: https://www.farmandplant.ie/listings/farm-machinery/for-sale/192409493/2002-keenan-klassik-140
Objective 1 was to increase DM intake
Objective 2 was to avoid selective feeding
Objective 3 was to measure secondary fermentation
Outcome of the project was to measure (1) increase in milk yield and (2) increase daily live weight gain
All of which assumed much less rumen ph activity (like removing concentrate feeding in the parlour and adding this to the diet) .
As this was internal research, it was never made public.