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You'll Like These Fiberglass Hutches
There's a new wrinkle in the fastgrowing practice of using outdoor hutches to start young calves. Called "Calf Condos," the 4 x 8-ft. units, made of fiberglass, feature an exclusive top air vent hatch.
"You can open it during the summer, and lock it tight during severe winter weather," explains Owen Vaaler, presi
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You'll Like These Fiberglass Hutches DAIRY EQUIPMENT & IDEAS Dairy Equipment & Ideas 3-5-14 There's a new wrinkle in the fastgrowing practice of using outdoor hutches to start young calves. Called "Calf Condos," the 4 x 8-ft. units, made of fiberglass, feature an exclusive top air vent hatch.
"You can open it during the summer, and lock it tight during severe winter weather," explains Owen Vaaler, president of Vaaler Industries, Spring Grove, Minn.
The molded fiberglass units come with three or four sides. The foursided units serve as individual hutches. The three-sided hutches are pre-drilled and can be bolted together to form a continuous row of hutches to centralize a group of calves in an area. An end panel is available to enclose the fourth side of the last hutch.
Two brackets on the front of each hutch serve as mounts for 4 x 4-ft. plywood dividers making up the outside pens.
"Based on the experience of calf owners in our area last winter, our fiberglass units were nuch warmer than all-plywood hutches," Vaaler told FARM SHOW. "One farmer had the ears of his calves freeze in wooden hutches, and he almost lost two registered Holstein heifers from snow buildup inside a wooden unit. In our fiberglass hutches, which were right alongside the wooden units, he had on trouble whatsoever."
Vaaler adds that the lightweight Calf Condos are easy to move. Simply drive your tractor loader into position, hook onto a built-in metal rod on top and you can haul four units at a time to clean ground. Individual hutches are equipped with an inside feed and hay manger, and an attachment for holding "sucker" bottles. The ventilation door doubles as a handy access door for hand feeding each calf, and for cleaning the unit.
Suggested retail cost in $260 for the first hutch, and $210 for additional add-on units. "They're more expensive than wooden units but they last 5 to 6 times as long," explains Vaaler. "They never need painting or maintenance, and won't rot or deteriorate. Considering these advantages, plus the improved calfhealth they provide and the exclusive design that simplifies chores, we feel the units are very economical."
For more details, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Vaaler Industries, Spring Grove, Minn. 55974 (ph. 507 498-5577).
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