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Mighty Suck Portable Calf Feeder
An innovative Wisconsin dairyman who's gradually switching over to seasonal dairying New Zealand-style, says he had to go all the way to New Zealand to find rubber nipples he could use to make effective calf feeders.
Paul McCarville, who farms near Mineral Point, says that after being dissappointed with American-
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Mighty Suck Portable Calf Feeder LIVESTOCK Dairy (17) 17-1-29 An innovative Wisconsin dairyman who's gradually switching over to seasonal dairying New Zealand-style, says he had to go all the way to New Zealand to find rubber nipples he could use to make effective calf feeders.
Paul McCarville, who farms near Mineral Point, says that after being dissappointed with American-made rubber teats, he sent off to New Zealand for their durable hard rubber nipples which require the calf to suck much harder to get nourishment. The "mighty suck" nipples, as some farmers call them, cause heavy saliva flow which McCarville says helps prevent scours. He's so pleased with the way the nipples work, he's become distributor for the U.S. and Canada.
McCarville starts calves in the barn on bottle-fed colostrum for two days and then shifts to 5-gal. plastic pails with nine rubber teats inserted. They hang from rafters about 20 in. off the ground. He also hangs plastic 55-gal. drums (cut in hail) from the ceiling, inserting 19 rubber teats around the bottom.
On all his homemade nipple feeders, plastic 7/16-in. dia. hoses run from the nipples down to the bottom of the feeders which requires calves to suck hard to draw milk up from the bottom.
As McCarville shifts his dairy herd to seasonal spring calving, he's started to rear all calves on pasture. He's built two port-able calf feeders for use on pasture using 35-gal. plastic drums fitted with 19 New Zeal-and rubber teats (and plastic hoses to the bottom). He feeds whole milk in the feeders, which can be pulled around with his ATV.
McCarville says it takes calves 2 to 3 weeks to accept the rolling feeder as "momma" and stop sucking on each other. He credits the fresh grass, sunlight and open air with a major decrease in death loss. In addition, his calves almost never get scours anymore.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Paul McCarville, 18875 McCarville Lane, Mineral Point, Wis. 53565 (ph 608 776-4514).
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