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Mobile Calf-Grazing Module
Helps calves reap pasture benefits at an early age.
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Mobile
calf-grazing module on Lewis Stuttle's dairy, Dryden, N.Y. | When
Marathon, N.Y. grazier Dick Warner, began experimenting with prototypes of this
"mobile grazing module," he envisioned it as a tool for starting
calves on pasture at an early age for pastured veal production. But it can
also be used on conventional dairies, he says. Like a conventional hutch, the
module keeps calves confined in a controlled area. But by moving the unit with
a small truck, tractor or four-wheeler, the calves get access to fresh pasture
on a regular basis.
This reduces calf heath problems, says Warner.
It also minimizes grain feeding, eliminates hay feeding and manure handling, and
gets the calves used to grazing at an early age.
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Boom-mounted
milk feeder can be filled from outside the pen. | Construction
is relatively simple. The three panels are bolted together and reinforced with
angle-iron braces. The shelter is simple frame construction with metal roofing
(at a slight pitch) and walls. The unit is mounted on wooden skids and equpped
with a cable for quick hitching. The unit can be fitted with a mob milk feeder.
Warner suggests mounting it on an arm that can be swung to the side for easy
filling from outside the unit. Other options include a waterer that can be
connected to your pasture watering system and a grain manger.
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Wooden
skids make the unit easy to move. | For more
information, contact:
Dick Warner 3012 Cincinnatus Rd. Cincinnatus,
NY 13040
Phone: 607-863-4580
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