do straw choppers/shredders actually save straw

[Valmetal Inc]

Machine is available new from £3,600 with own integrted engine, good for upto 100 cubicles , next machine good for upto 60 cubicles costs about £6000 and is self propelled, both have a life span of about 10 years if minded well so that works out at between £1.50 - £2.00 per day repayment at 5.5% interest....no tractor needed...maintenance minimal....<£100 p.a.

 

[Ducati899]

all depends on the system,my loose houses aren't geared up for straw choppers,dry cow yards and beef cattle..bedded every monday and friday with 2 round bales each time,cake cattle pen them out of shed drop 2 bales over the gate and roll out,10 minutes tops if that

 

[Henarar]

Enormous saving on straw of 35% and labour time of up to 66% due to distribution of substantially more absorbent straw chopped up into small pieces. Enormous saving on work and costs!

But capital outlay and running cost increase.

So how much is really saved?
Machine costs 10k? So 1k per year.
Maintenance £500/yr?
Tractor at £25/hr

I'm not saying there isn't a saving but between 35 and 66% i don't think so.

agree with you sid, I would like to see a machine that would bed the cows as well keep them just as clean and only use half the straw in fact if it would I would buy one

 

[Henarar]

Machine is available new from £3,600 with own integrted engine, good for upto 100 cubicles , next machine good for upto 60 cubicles costs about £6000 and is self propelled, both have a life span of about 10 years if minded well so that works out at between £1.50 - £2.00 per day repayment at 5.5% interest....no tractor needed...maintenance minimal....<£100 p.a.

cubicles its a bit different though I still don't think they could be bedded as well with half the straw,

 

[Sid]

cubicles its a bit different though I still don't think they could be bedded as well with half the straw,

Yes they can
We use to shred with a teagle 404
We now mill to 25m use half the straw as it doesn't get dragged out as much.

 

[Hampton]

Time and effort is the main saving I always reckoned. Straw is more evenly spread, might be a cleaner batch of beasts on average?

Plus the safety thing.

Not trying to knock you, but I don't agree with the safety thing.
Quietist cattle are those handled (sensibly) regularly. You won't have quiet cattle if you just blow straw at the a few times a week.

 

[Hampton]

We used to bed our beef cow shed down twice a week with 8 quadrants each time (16 bales a week). We now bed the each day with one bale per day (7 bales per week) or if they are calving, 2 bales per day (14 per week).
They are cleaner with the straw chopper as it is more regular, but they also get dirty quicker as we are using less straw. It is easy to just put another bale in if you want to keep them clean though.

i still think it is better to do fat cattle by hand.

 

[mo!]

Not trying to knock you, but I don't agree with the safety thing.
Quietist cattle are those handled (sensibly) regularly. You won't have quiet cattle if you just blow straw at the a few times a week.

The first step in a risk assessment is the question "is there a way of avoiding the risk?" I avoid it therefore it is less.

We have also stabbed two animals with the loader over the years. We have had no animal injuries due to the blower.

 

[Hampton]

The first step in a risk assessment is the question "is there a way of avoiding the risk?" I avoid it therefore it is less.

We have also stabbed two animals with the loader over the years. We have had no animal injuries due to the blower.

That's true. We have dividing gate in the cattle yards so can shut them out whilst we bed each half.
We have had problems in the past with stones in the straw becoming missiles when they pass through the teagle causing haematomas which can take a long time to heal (less of an issue now we bale it ourselves as it tends not to get wet and so we don't have to turn it or drop pick up on baler to scrape straw off deck).

Obviously if cattle are mental it's a different story, but the vast majority of cattle will become quieter if they are carefully and sensibly handled regularly.

 

[Valmetal Inc]

I can guarantee that you can bed 270 cubicles in 20 minutes with 350kg of wheaten straw....that costs about 12p per cubicle for materials....at todays straw prices..

 

[Valmetal Inc]

see a machine near you and talk to a farmer for a reference...

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Half an hour to take the Plough off and hitch it on Find the loader load the bale . finally get going .bang sheer pin goes .no sheer pins left .stick a nail in .bang goes again . sod it .park up in the corner and tip a bale in the pen. Crist that was quick . time
for breakfast

 

[Derrick Hughes]

see a machine near you and talk to a farmer for a reference...
View attachment 592420

Who's Farmer F

 

[Valmetal Inc]

Beside
LLANDYSUL
Do you want to have a look at it? It's about 25 mins drive from your place

 

[Derrick Hughes]

are you managing to find straw to put through it ?

 

[Nearly]

So how does just dumping whole bales in yard work. Say I put a six string half ton bale of wheat straw in the middle of the yard and cut the strings and walk away? Surely it's a bit of a waste having all that thick wodge of unspread straw growing like Mount Vesuvius in the middle and cattle covered in crap laying against the walls round the outside.

Have to muck out more often too I guess.

This is one end of my shed this morning. 4 string bale, cut 2 days ago. They are eating it and still graze outside too.
It looks a mess but the savings wouldn't pay for a bedding machine and all the feed spaces have a bale of silage split between the herd each morning.

I do rate bedding up machines but shed layout here won't work with them. It's my own straw and all goes back onto my land.
It's all about choices.
I choose to cut the bands and leave it. The next bale goes in a different area and once they're in for the winter their muck dries up and my 'system' looks much tidier.

My winter routine is one hour a day on the busy days for 30 sucklers.
My neighbour spends longer than that opening gates and driving the loader tractor through mud to get to 3 ring feeders with bales for his out-wintered beasts.

If I had a realistic sized cattle business again I'd have a bedding machine again.

 

[An Gof]

View attachment 592904
This is one end of my shed this morning. 4 string bale, cut 2 days ago. They are eating it and still graze outside too.
It looks a mess but the savings wouldn't pay for a bedding machine and all the feed spaces have a bale of silage split between the herd each morning.

I do rate bedding up machines but shed layout here won't work with them. It's my own straw and all goes back onto my land.
It's all about choices.
I choose to cut the bands and leave it. The next bale goes in a different area and once they're in for the winter their muck dries up and my 'system' looks much tidier.

My winter routine is one hour a day on the busy days for 30 sucklers.
My neighbour spends longer than that opening gates and driving the loader tractor through mud to get to 3 ring feeders with bales for his out-wintered beasts.

If I had a realistic sized cattle business again I'd have a bedding machine again.

Each to their own. Personally I'd do a bit of louster with a fork and spread a bit in a small pen like that.

 

[Henarar]

Each to their own. Personally I'd do a bit of louster with a fork and spread a bit in a small pen like that.

I suspect your straw costs more than his or if you grow your own it would be worth more

 

[Nearly]

Each to their own. Personally I'd do a bit of louster with a fork and spread a bit in a small pen like that.

Yes, but at the moment I'm not using it as bedding, I'm using the floor as a feed ring.

In full winter mode I cut the bands and try to roll half the bale another turn. After a car crash 10 years ago I'm lucky to be able to walk so forking the straw into the corners isn't possible or even close to the top of my list.
It's a good day if I can pull all 4 bands out at once.
It does look tidier in winter, if I remember to go back in and cut the bands at all.

 

[Nearly]

Each to their own. Personally I'd do a bit of louster with a fork and spread a bit in a small pen like that.

When we had this lot the bedding machine was used to cover every corner of the pens.
Even just the round bale unroller / flicker paid for itself every year.
When we got a trailed Taarup/Kv on the Massey 590 and bedded 1000 goats with 2 6 band hesstons a day it was a longer job to get the Massey to start than bed the stock.