Automatic calf feeder gives 140-cow farmer more family time

Dick Howley runs a 140-cow dairy farm with his father, Paddy, in Mooncoin, Co. Kilkenny.

The pair milk all-year round, with 70% of the herd calving in spring and the remaining 30% in the autumn.

The herd is predominatly Holstein Friesian, however Dick keeps a few Norwegian Reds, British Friesians and some Normande cows too.

“We have a 90ac milking platform, with a further 36ac we zero graze as it’s on a dangerous road,” the dairy farmer explained

Dick and his wife Carol have a two-year-old son, Adam, who is part responsible for inspiring Dick to automate parts of his dairy operation and install an automatic calf feeder.

“The biggest reason was to free up time. Adam is two and I wanted to be able to spend more time helping out at home,” Dick said.

“Before we got the feeder, I was farming during the day, in the evening time I’d go home to spend time with Adam before he went to bed and then go back to feed the calves.

“I wanted to be in a position to have more time rather than racing from one job to the next, so basically for a better life.”

Automatic calf feeder

In November 2020, Dick purchased a JFC Agri Evolution S4 Automatic Calf Feeder. The Evolution S4 is capable of feeding and monitoring the performance of up to 140 calves, coming fully equipped with a touch-screen display, dual hoppers and mixing bowls.

The Howleys have seen a number of clear benefits to their calf-rearing system since installing the Evolution S4, they said.

“The time that it saves is massive. Between morning and evening feeding, it’s saving at least two hours every day,” Dick said.

Before purchasing the Evolution S4, Dick used a milk trolley to feed his calves.

“It did the job, but the labour was something awful,” he recalled.

“You could be spending an hour between mixing and feeding the calves in the morning and another hour in the evening.

“The biggest thing the automatic feeder delivers is the time it saves you. It means that when you have the young child, it gives you more time.

“More time to look after the newborn calves better aswell,” Dick added.

“We have enough going on at that time of year so any bit of time you can save at all is massive. Even if you were doing nothing, it’s your own time.

“I normally would have fed the calves with the trolley, and Paddy would have looked after the younger calves. But now I can give him a hand looking after the younger calves.”

Calf health

Another benefit the feeder has brought, Dick has noticed, is an improvement in calf health

“The calves are far healthier now. They are getting the right amount of milk and it encourages them to eat more of the calf crunch a lot faster,” he said.

When it comes to calf rearing, the Howleys implement a robust feed plan from day one.

“When the calves are born, they receive colostrum straight away. I have one station set to train the calves onto the machine,” Dick explained.

“They take too it very quick and seamlessly. For the first four to five days, they are given whole milk.”

Dick said that he has the confidence and peace of mind that his calves are getting all that they need nutritionally to perform at their optimum level.

“You walk into the shed in the morning, and there’s no calves bawling. It’s music to my ears,” he said.

“I’d go in and check them before milking in the morning and then have it timed so they’d be starting their next feed at 10 o’clock. They can go and get their milk whenever they want, they don’t have to drink it all at the one time.”

Feeding programme

The Howleys implement a 72-day feeding programme for their calves, with the Evolution S4 capable of weaning the calves by gradually reducing their intake until point of weaning.

“The very fact that we don’t have to worry about weaning is a great job. Calves don’t lose condition and are ready to head out to grass once they are weaned,” Dick said.

Dick is quick to highlight how user-friendly the Evolution S4 really is.

“When I was deciding on what automatic feeder that I would purchase, I wanted one that was going to be reliable, durable and easy to use and I felt that this was the best one on the market. The Evolution S4 is extremely easy to use. Everything we need is on the touch screen,” he said.

“It shows the current feed and the previous three feeds of all the calves. There’s a green tick if everything’s okay and it’s a red ‘X’ if a calf hasn’t drank their allocation. There is great flexibility in the system.”

Another clever design feature that Dick identified was the individual station pumps on the JFC Agri Evolution S4 Automatic Calf Feeder.

“Other feeders have one pump for two stations, so one calf would have to wait for the other to finish. The Evolution S4 has one pump per station, meaning four calves can feed at any one time,” the Co. Kilkenny man added.

JFC Agri Customer Support

Dick believes that having an efficient and timely back-up support service is as important as having the right feeder.

“From all those that I spoke to before purchasing the Evolution S4, the reliable and efficient service provided by JFC Agri was the thing that I kept on hearing and now I know why,” he explained.

“The team at JFC Agri have been brilliant right from the start. There’s no such thing as a silly question and the lads have been very helpful anytime that I’ve called. I can’t fault them one bit.”

Taking all elements into consideration, the Howleys believe that the JFC Agri Evolution S4 is a value-for-money investment.

“It saves me so much time. The calves are being fed what they need to be fed, at the right temperature, consistency and volume every time,” Dick said.

“I don’t have to deal with weaning and it just gives myself and Paddy more time to get other jobs done, both on and off the farm.

“My advice to anyone considering purchasing an automatic calf feeder would be to talk to someone who has a similar farm type and size as you that has installed one so you can see the benefits.”