Training lambs and calves to eat from feeders is best done by having their mothers show them how it is done. However, most cows are not being complementary fed through feeders at calving and farmers are moving lambing periods later in the year when there is more feed on often so ewes aren’t needing to be supplemented. This has meant that attracting stock to the feeders is more difficult when the maternal stock aren’t coming to the feeder.
Numerous customers using feeders have reported that they often feed minerals to their maternal stock at calving and lambing to attract the stock to the feeders. By having the mineral attachments connected to the feeders, cows or ewes have access to minerals at the same time calves and lambs have access to the pellets or grain in the feeder.
Using the mineral attachments to bring stock to the proximity of the feeder, spreading handfuls of dry milk powder around the feeder, in the troughs and over the 3-way adjustment system helps attracts young stock to start consuming the pellets or grain. The effectiveness of dry milk powder as an attractant is more effective when the stock are young and still receiving a large proportion of their diet in milk.
