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Portable Calf Pen Built Out Of Old Disk
When a neighbor gave Clifford Craig an orphaned calf to raise one spring, the Galva, Ill., grain farmer bottle-fed it until summer. Then he needed a way to get the calf to grass, so he built a 12 by 14-ft. portable calf pen that mounts on an old disk.
"I built it on the spur of the moment be-cause I wasn't equipp
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Portable Calf Pen Built Out Of Old Disk BUILDINGS Livestock 21-4-29 When a neighbor gave Clifford Craig an orphaned calf to raise one spring, the Galva, Ill., grain farmer bottle-fed it until summer. Then he needed a way to get the calf to grass, so he built a 12 by 14-ft. portable calf pen that mounts on an old disk.
"I built it on the spur of the moment be-cause I wasn't equipped to handle livestock, but I think the idea might be helpful for many cattle producers," says Craig. "To move the calf I just raise the disk, drive slowly to a new spot, and let the disk down again. The calf walks right along inside the pen."
He first cut off the rear end of a 14-ft. wide Kewanee single axle disk and threw it away, keeping the lift wheels and hitch. He welded a 2 by 5-in. channel iron horizontally onto each side of the disk frame, then bolted a 14-ft. long cattle panel to each side. The calf enters and exits the pen via a hinged gate at the rear. A piece of wire cattle panel runs across the front. A 55-gal. plastic barrel at the front of the pen serves as a water tank. Craig cut the barrel in half and laid it down horizontally, then bolted an angle iron frame on top of it for strength. He then placed the barrel at an angle under the disk frame and bolted it on, with part of the barrel extending through the cattle panel.
"It really works good and didn't cost much to build," says Craig. "In the summer I move it every day. I generally use a small tractor to pull it, but I can even use a riding mower. I already had the disk which I had bought at an auction for $300. I bought it for parts after the bearings in my disk failed and I learned that new ones would have cost $100 apiece. I've used five bearings off the disk so I've already paid for it.
"In hot weather I place a section of can-vas over the pen to form a canopy that keeps the calf in shade. I welded a pair of channel irons vertically onto each side of the disk and welded a steel rod between them near the top. I place the canvas on top of the rod and use bunge cords to fasten one end of it to the cattle panel and the other end to the rear gate."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Clifford Craig, 28670 N. 150th Ave., Galva, Ill. 61434 (ph 309 853-3186).
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