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Feeding down a central passage with telehandler

multi power

Member
Location
pembrokeshire
I used to feed 150 cow's , grass silage, spuds and brewers grains, i just tipped it in a pile at start of passage, it was mixed fine by time i had it pushed in with grab
I didn't even get out of tractor from start to finish, grab never came off, i just picked up bucket with the grab
 

early riser

Member
Location
Up North
I've a relation who feeds and mixes for his 250 milk cows just using his loadall and bucket,grass silage,wholecrop and blend.

Only downside is time taken,I can feed my whole herd in half the time,but I'm feeding 230 in one mix.

How long does it roughly take him to feed that number out of interest?
 

early riser

Member
Location
Up North
For the op, I have a similar problem here with lots of uncovered concrete which equals to lots of water in the slurry pit, along with other design faults with the cubicle housing, my only option to improve things would be a new cubicle shed (when i can afford it) been thinking long and hard how to do the feeding, and the simplest and cheapest idea i have is for feeding on the outside just using a shear grab, just drop blocks off in front of the feed fence, and have a silage pusher of sorts to push up the silage a few times a day. (y)

You sound in a similar situation to me.

If I had the farm for it then a perimeter fed building would be my first choice no doubt about it, just dump the silage around the outside. Unfortunately I have a very exposed farm that catches a lot of wind. The cows would be ok eating on the south side of a building, but the strong westerly wind would probably blow the wholecrop around the yard :banghead:, and as for feeding on the north side of the building..... forget it!!

For your idea though, would you not have to break the grabs of silage up a bit to spread it along barrier in the first place? If I were to put in 5ft blocks of silage turned on their side close together over 150ft of passage then I would end up with about a weeks worth of silage in there! and I think it would soon start heating up as the blocks got more broken down
 
Location
West Wales
You sound in a similar situation to me.

If I had the farm for it then a perimeter fed building would be my first choice no doubt about it, just dump the silage around the outside. Unfortunately I have a very exposed farm that catches a lot of wind. The cows would be ok eating on the south side of a building, but the strong westerly wind would probably blow the wholecrop around the yard :banghead:, and as for feeding on the north side of the building..... forget it!!

For your idea though, would you not have to break the grabs of silage up a bit to spread it along barrier in the first place? If I were to put in 5ft blocks of silage turned on their side close together over 150ft of passage then I would end up with about a weeks worth of silage in there! and I think it would soon start heating up as the blocks got more broken down

You'd be surprised how easy it is to spread or if you can keep it in a block next to no waste as the air isn't getting in
 

Scholsey

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Herefordshire
IMG_1493022214.024159.jpg


Just put out along 320ft of feed barrier 3tonne of whole crop, maize and grass silage in 10 mins including cutting the silage.
 

Scholsey

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Herefordshire
Suppose it suits machinery hating/wrecking stockman
But a tractor and wagon would be a cheaper to run than a telehandler

but you still need a telehandler to load it, unless your seriously keen with a fork/shovel! A auger bucket wouldnt suit everyone but is certainly a good alternative for someone who's setup/system doesnt suit a wagon.
 

PREES

Member
Location
SW Wales
Gelli Aur did an interesting trial last winter, they now use a block cutter putting silage out about once per week (maybe every 5 -7 days) so they analysed the silage in the block on the edge furthest away from the cows (and therefore exposed the longest) and it showed that the deterioration over the week was negligible.
 

Blue.

Member
Livestock Farmer
How long does it roughly take him to feed that number out of interest?

2.5hrs,mixing the heap in the clamp takes the most time.

I've 60 heifers I feed along a barrier using my shear bucket,I just tip it out and push it round to them,I can feed them in a crack,ok if your feeding just silage.
 

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Webinar: Expanded Sustainable Farming Incentive offer 2024 -26th Sept

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On Thursday 26th September, we’re holding a webinar for farmers to go through the guidance, actions and detail for the expanded Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer. This was planned for end of May, but had to be delayed due to the general election. We apologise about that.

Farming and Countryside Programme Director, Janet Hughes will be joined by policy leads working on SFI, and colleagues from the Rural Payment Agency and Catchment Sensitive Farming.

This webinar will be...
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