IE53879B1 - Apparatus and method for feeding milk replacer to calves - Google Patents

Abstract

Apparatus for feeding milk replacer to a calf comprises a relatively small pre-feed reservoir 1 replenishable when drawn from at teat 11, which is kept warm by water bath 2. The reservoir 1 has a rapid turnover on account of its small volume, so that the milk replacer has insufficient time for going sour. This reservoir is connectable to a cold milk replacer reservoir 17 adapted to maintain the milk replacer for a comparatively long time (e.g. 48 hours) at a temperature low enough to avoid souring.

Description

This invention relates to apparatus and a method for feeding milk replacer to calves.

By milk replacer in this specification is meant a liquid foodstuff for calves made up from a powdered concentrate by mixing with water.

It is common practice to feed calves with milk replacer on demand, through tubes each connected to a teat suitably located, at which a calf can suck when so inclined. It is thought desirable to feed milk replacer at a temperature in the range 15-25’C, for reasons connected with optimum rate of calf weight gain and acceptability to the animal. If kept.in reserve at such a temperature, however, milk replacer prepared from commercial brands of concentrate becomes sour in a time which may vary from 6 to 18 hours, becoming unpalatable and losing much of its nutritive value. It is therefore undesirable to hold at feeding temperature any large volume of milk replacer unlikely to be consumed within 4 to 8 hours after making up.

On the other hand the cost of labour for making up milk replacer, and for servicing, cleaning and sterilising the associated equipment, makes it highly desirable to make up as large a volume of milk replacer at a time as is practicable. The invention seeks to reconcile the above-recited conflicting requirements. - 3 Apparatus is known wherein milk replacer concentrate and water are automatically and separately metered on demand into a milk replacer reservoir of relatively small volume connected to a set of feeder teats for calves; the metering means is operated by switchgear operated in turn by sensing devices responsive to a fall in liquid level to a predetermined low value in the reservoir. The reservoir is equipped with a heater, a stirrer and a thermostat, so that each increment of concentrate is rapidly mixed with the existing volume of milk replacer plus the associated increment of water to yield an increment of milk replacer which is thereupon brought to feeding temperature. Feeding on demand proceeds at an average rate such that the effective age of the stored milk replacer remains too low for souring to be a problem. The known apparatus is costly and complicated, however, and servicing and maintenance thereof require special skills, thus creating new problems.

The invention has for one of its objects the provision of simple easily maintained apparatus for makinq milk replacer available to calves at feeding temperature for relatively long periods while avoiding souring. Another object is to provide apparatus permitting mixing of relatively large volumes of milk replacer, for use in demand feeding, resulting in low maintenance frequency.

The invention accordingly provides apparatus for feeding milk replacer to a calf, which apparatus comprises a pre-feed reservoir for milk replacer, means for making milk replacer from the pre-feed reservoir available to a calf, a stock reservoir for cold milk replacer, of substantially greater capacity than the pre-feed reservoir, means for automatically controlling the feed of cold milk replacer from the stock reservoir to the pre-feed reservoir to maintain a predetermined liquid level in the pre-feed - 4 reservoir, and means for maintaining the contents of the pre-feed reservoir at a temperature within a predetermined feeding range, the volume of the pre-feed reservoir being so related to the expected feeding rate of the calf that the mean dwell time of milk replacer in the pre-feed reservoir is substantially less than the time required for souring of milk replacer to take place in the said temperature range.

Preferably the stock reservoir is adapted for making up the milk replacer from concentrate and water therein. However, in larger establishments the supply of cold milk replacer can be fed to the pre-feed reservoir, or to a plurality of pre-feed reservoirs, by pipeline or otherwise from a remote stock reservoir. In warm weather or warm environments it is desirable that the stock reservoir shall comprise means for keeping the contents thereof cool enough to remove any substantial danger of souring of the milk replacer over an extended period.

The means for making milk replacer available to a calf (or calves) is conventional, comprising feed tubes, teats and a stand or anchorage, each feed tube communicating at one of its ends with the pre-feed reservoir, and at the other end with a respective teat.

The means for feeding cold milk replacer to the pre-feed reservoir comprises at least one feed pipeline, fed by gravity or power-fed, and connecting the stock and pre-feed reservoirs.

The means for controlling the feed to maintain a predetermined liquid level in the pre-feed reservoir is again conventional, and may comprise for example a float valve and/or a ballcock, disposed in the feed pipeline, with its float within the pre-feed reservoir, to respond to the liquid level therein.

The means for maintaining the contents of the reservoir at a temperature within a predetermined range are well known and may comprise for example an electric immersion heater and a thermostat, or a waterbath and a thermostat, the water bath being itself equipped with an electric immersion heater, and the pre-feed reservoir being disposed in the water bath. These means may be assisted by conventional mixing means such as a mechanical or magnetic agitator, or a milk replacer recycling pump; however, if the pre-feed reservoir is small, mixing means may be unnecessary.

The determination of the correct volume for the pre-feed reservoir is an empirical matter, and depends on the number of calves to be fed, as well as on the mean consumption of a calf over a standard period.

The invention provides, secondly, a method for feeding milk replacer to a calf, which method comprises keeping a stock of milk replacer in a stock reservoir at a temperature low enough to prevent souring for a time long enough for the stock to be consumed, keeping an interim volume of milk replacer in a pre-feed reservoir at a suitable temperature for feeding to a calf, allowing the calf to consume the milk replacer from the pre-feed reservoir on demand, automatically replenishing the pre-feed reservoir from the stock reservoir to compensate for each quantity of milk replacer consumed, and automatically warming each replenishing increment to said · feeding temperature, the volume of the pre-feed reservoir being so related to the expected feeding rate of the calf that the mean dwell time of milk replacer in the pre-feed reservoir is substantially less than the time required for souring of milk replacer to take place in the said temperature range.

The invention will be understood in greater detail from the following description of a specific embodiment thereof, given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig 1 is a sectional side elevation of apparatus for feeding milk replacer to calves, and Fig 2 shows on a smaller scale, the apparatus of Fig 1 in use, indicating the source and destination of the milk replacer.

Referring now to the drawings, apparatus for feeding milk replacer to calves comprises a pre-feed reservoir 1 of small volume, such as 2 litres per calf to be fed. A thermostatically controlled water bath 2 surrounds the sides and bottom of the pre-feed reservoir 1. An insulating jacket 3 surrounds the sides of the water bath 2. Reservoir 1, bath 2 and jacket 3 have a common removable lid 4.

The water bath 2 is equipped with an electric immersion heating element 5 controllable by a thermostat 5 having a sensing element 7 protected by a perforated tubular shield 8, the items 6,7,8 being mounted on or in the lid 4. Likewise mounted in the lid 4 is a plurality of outlet tubes 9 each equipped with a non-return valve 10, and connected to a respective calf feeding teat 11 mounted on a stand 12. - 7 53873 An inlet pipe 13 is adapted to deliver railk replacer to the pre-feed reservoir 1 through a float valve 14 having a float 15 supported at the surface 16 of milk replacer contained in the pre-feed reservoir 1.

A stock reservoir 17 is provided with a mains water supply through a stopcock 18 and has a recirculation pump 19 and appropriate pipework 20. An outlet port 22 is connected to the inlet pipe 13 of the pre-feed reservoir 1 by tubing 23 to provide gravity feed thereto. Thus the bottom of the stock reservoir 17 is located somewhat higher than the top of the pre-feed reservoir 1. The capacity of the stock reservoir 17 is substantially greater than that of the pre-feed reservoir 1, and may conveniently be about equal to the made-up volume of a standard commercially available bag of concentrate which bag contains, for example, 25 kg.

In use, a known weight of the concentrate is weighed or metered or dumped into the stock reservoir 17. Water is added from the stopcock 18 to yield the correct volume of milk replacer,,a crude mix is obtained by manual agitation, and a uniform solution or suspension is produced by recirculation using the pump 19.

The pre-feed reservoir 1 being full, the float valve 14 prevents access of milk replacer at all times except during and immediately following consumption by a calf, when it permits a balancing volume to enter the pre-feed reservoir 1 from the stock reservoir 17 to restore a predetermined working level 16, the increment being then brought to the feeding temperature automatically by the thermostat.

By the method, and using the apparatus, of the invention, calves may be fed, for example over weekends and public holidays, while most or all of the personnel involved are off duty. The savings involved, and the improvements in productivity attainable, will be immediately apparent to those skilled in animal husbandry.

Claims (7)

1. Apparatus for feeding milk replacer to a calf, which apparatus comprises a pre-feed reservoir for milk replacer, means for making milk replacer from the reservoir available 05 to a calf, a stock reservoir for cold milk replacer, of substantially grater capacity than the pre-feed reservoir, means for automatically controlling the feed of cold milk replacer from the stock reservoir to the pre-feed reservoir to maintain a predetermined liquid level in the pre-feed 10 reservoir, and means for maintaining the contents of the pre-feed reservoir at a temperature within a predetermined feeding range, the volume of the pre-feed reservoir being so related to the expected feeding rate of the calf that the mean dwell time of milk replacer in the pre-feed 15 reservoir is substantially less than the time required for souring of milk replacer to take place in the said temperature range.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the stock reservoir is adapted for making up milk replacer from 20 concentrate and water therein.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, comprising means for keeping the contents of the stock reservoir cool enough to remove any substantial danger of souring of the milk replacer. PCN

4. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the means for feeding cold milk replacer to the pre-feed reservoir comprises at least one gravity-fed feed pipeline from the stock reservoir to the pre-feed reservoir, and the 05 means for controlling the feed from the stock reservoir to the pre-feed reservoir to maintain a predetermined liquid level in the pre-feed reservoir comprises a float valve or ballcock in or terminating the feed pipeline.

5. A method for feeding milk replacer to a calf, which 10 method comprises keeping a stock of milk replacer in a stock reservoir at a temperature low enough to prevent souring for a time long enough for the stock to be consumed, keeping an interim volume of milk replacer in a pre-feed 15 reservoir at a suitable temperature for feeding to a calf, allowing the calf to consume the milk replacer from the pre-feed reservoir on demand, automatically replenishing the pre-feed reservoir from the stock reservoir to compensate for each quantity of milk 20 replacer consumed, and warming each replenishing increment to said feeding temperature, the volume of the pre-feed reservoir being so related to the expected feeding rate of the calf that the mean dwell 25 time of milk replacer in the pre-feed reservoir is substantially less than the time required for souring of milk replacer to take place in the said temperature range.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, substantially as herein described. 30

7. A method as claimed in claim 5, substantially as herein described.