How to make cow drinkers and feeders
Feeders and drinkers for cows are needed by every farmer who breeds these animals. It is simply impossible to do without this inventory, and in any case you have to buy it or assemble it yourself. The design of many such devices is not complicated, and even a beginner can make them. But before assembling, it is imperative to choose a design and decide what exactly this inventory will be used for. There are many factors to consider here.
Drinking bowls and feeders for cows
Requirements for drinking bowls for cows
Before making drinkers for cows, you need to figure out how much water one animal needs per day. Much depends on the direction of production. For beef cattle breeds less water is required than for dairy and meat and dairy animals. At the same time, during lactation, the need for water increases many times. Calculations are carried out as follows: to obtain 1 liter of milk, a cow needs at least 4 liters of water, so she needs at least 80 liters of clean drinking per day.
Owners of high-yielding animals should take into account that this figure can increase to 140-160 liters per day, so it is better to make such a drinker that will hold up to 150 liters of water, although you can do with a 100-liter capacity. Moreover, such a drinker is designed for one dairy animal, but this is when it comes to cows during lactation. For meat animals, gobies and young animals, the consumption rates are somewhat different. Here's how much water you need in such cases:
- For beef cows and adult breeding bulls, 65-70 liters of water are needed per day, therefore drinking bowls for beef cattle are made of a smaller volume.
- Young bulls and heifers who have never given birth need an average of 40-50 liters of drinking water per day. We are talking about animals aged 1 year and older.
- Drinking bowls for calves that are not yet six months old must contain at least 10-15 liters of drink. Moreover, this category of cattle is the most demanding on the quality and temperature of the water.
- For calves aged from six months to 1 year, drinkers are installed, which hold 25-30 liters each. Some farmers argue that it is at this age that calves most often break fragile implements, so drinking bowls should be made strong enough.
It should be understood that different animals differ not only in drinking rates, but also in the design of the drinker. This means that, for example, small calves need a drinking bowl, into which they cannot apply dirt. And at the same time, she should not have sharp corners and protrusions that the kids could hit. For those cows that are in the last stages of pregnancy, you need to collect lukewarm water, because cold drinks can provoke a miscarriage in them, and this should not be allowed in any case.
Drinking materials
Drinking bowls for calves and cows can be individual or group, designed for one animal or for the whole herd. At the same time, the drawings and the principle of operation of each device can vary greatly. Homemade drinkers can be cast iron, stainless steel, durable plastic, wood, or even stone. The main requirement for the material is that it should not be toxic to livestock, therefore, drinkers should not be cast from lead or other similar metals. And if the tank is made of wood, it cannot be painted over with toxic paints.
You can make a drinking cup out of concrete, baked clay, or fold it out of bricks, but with such a construction you need to make sure that there is no leakage anywhere, just so that you do not increase your drinking consumption with your own hands. And if a plastic container is used, it is necessary to check that this plastic does not dissolve and does not contain toxic components.
A plastic drinker is easy to clean and install at home, but when using it in a barn, you need to understand that plastic is not the most durable material.
Designs of various livestock drinkers
Group and individual devices for watering livestock can be made according to the same principle. The type of device affects individual design differences, but the general principle remains the same. Most farmers prefer to use automatic drinking dispensers, although simpler systems are used on smaller or less affluent farms. It all depends on what the owner can afford and what he is able to do with his own hands.
The simplest drinking bowls for cows are ordinary reservoirs of water: a trough into which a bucket is drawn, a metal bath, or even a galvanized bucket. They are easy to install, they are cheap, and there is no need to make anything with your own hands. But such equipment has a couple of significant drawbacks. Firstly, in winter there are problems with heating the drink, and the ice-cold liquid is harmful to both young and adult cattle. And, secondly, it is necessary to constantly add liquid to these containers, which is not always convenient.
Valve-float drinking circuit
Such a system is not the most difficult to manufacture, but at the same time it is very convenient and reliable. Drinking troughs of this type are used by many farmers precisely because of their simplicity of design. The same scheme is used in cisterns, so some take some parts of the structure from there. The dimensions of the device may vary, since both group and individual drinking bowls are made according to this scheme. A wide variety of materials can be used to make this automatic device.
The general scheme is as follows: drink is supplied to the drinking bowl through a pipe from a container located at a certain elevation. Water access is blocked by a rising flap attached to the rocker arm. The other end is attached to a float that should float in the drinker itself. In this case, the total mass of the float must exceed the mass of the damper so that it can lift it. When the water in the drinking bowl decreases, the float goes down and raises the flap. The liquid begins to flow in, the float rises again and the flap is lowered.
Such a drinker will work as long as there is liquid in the main tank. The reservoir required for the device must be at a certain elevation, and drink can flow from it into several drinkers at once. A winter construction of this type should be equipped with additional heating. Moreover, it is desirable that both the pipe and the reservoir with the collected drink be heated. It is a good idea to periodically clean the drinker so that cows do not have to drink dirty water.
Cup and teat drinkers
A drinking bowl is made in much the same way as a valve device. Only here the role of a damper or valve is essentially played by the drinking bowl itself.When the liquid decreases in it, the bowl rises and opens the valve, and therefore the liquid fills it, it goes down and blocks the flow. Such a drinker is convenient for keeping animals on a leash. You just need to teach the cows to drink from these bowls. You can learn more about how these automatic drinkers work from the available photos and videos.
Nipple devices for feeding young animals are the most difficult to make on their own. The fact is that very few farmers can independently make a nipple (the same nipple). And the description of the process will not help here, you will have to buy it ready-made. The dimensions of the device depend on the age of the calves. The milk drinker for babies is relatively small, in contrast to the containers for grown-up young animals. Calves usually need to be trained to use these devices, so the farmer cannot rely on automation in this matter.
Pasture cow feeders
When keeping cows in the cold season, it is more difficult to provide animals with the required amount of nutrients, so the farmer will most likely need a hay feeder in which the pre-prepared feed will be placed. It is not worth just pouring hay to the cows: in this case, a considerable part of it will be trampled into the ground and mixed with manure, so a pasture cattle feeder is used here. Moreover, it is worth remembering that such devices are used not only for feeding cows.
The feeder for keeping cows in winter is made so that animals can constantly get food from it. But at the same time, they should not injure themselves or waste harvested hay. The ideal option is a cylindrical container, which has a 15-20 cm wide slot at the bottom. The cylinder stands on a pallet, whose diameter is 40-50 cm larger than the diameter of the cylinder itself. From above, hay is loaded into the container, which the cows get from the bottom as needed.
Even an inexperienced farmer can easily make such feeders for keeping cattle. They are easy to use, do not pose any danger to animals and are very durable. Such a cow feeder can be made of any material - it all depends on the capabilities of the breeder himself. You just need to make sure that there are no sharp corners or protrusions anywhere, about which the cow could get hurt, after which you can safely install the feeder in the pasture.
Pasture feeders for summer keeping
Such devices are usually made of an automatic type, which makes their design somewhat more complicated. Nevertheless, such a do-it-yourself cow feeder will be very useful on the farm. It is done according to the same principle as a drinking cup. When the tray is empty, it rises and opens access to the feed, which is filled to the desired level. So you can constantly feed the animals without wasting food. Here's what they write on the forums about such devices:
“Feeders for walking during summer maintenance are needed primarily by owners of dairy breeds. These animals require an additional portion of vitamins, which the grass on the pasture cannot provide, therefore they are fed with various concentrates and vitamin supplements. This allows you to increase milk yield and, as a result, increase profits. "
Feeders for keeping cows in a stall
Often, such a feeding device is a long wooden trough into which food is poured. It is made at such a height that it is convenient for cows to eat from it. Food is added as needed. Some farmers prefer to use automatic feeders. They can also be of a group or individual type, depending on the preference of the breeder. Some owners even install an automatic feeder for one cow.
When kept in a barn, feeders can be made according to the same principle as grazing feeders.There are no fundamental differences between these two types. The only difference when keeping cows in a stall is that they are essentially tied to their feeder, but this does not affect its design in any way. As in the case of drinkers, making feeders is made from environmentally friendly materials. Wood, steel, or cast iron work best.
Conclusion
Both drinkers and feeders for cattle are not at all difficult to make with your own hands. Of course, some knowledge is required here, but many owners will be able to cope with the assembly itself. It is only important to correctly approach the choice of design and installation, and then homemade feeders and drinkers will fully pay for themselves.