Here is a quick recap of the new 4.5 bushel Osborne Pig Feeder that automatically switches from a traditional gravity-fed feeder to a mechanical feeder all on its own! Keep the feed in front of your pigs and eliminate the ‘play waste’ as they grow automatically with this specially engineered feeder from Osborne.
See all the Osborne Pig Feeders by clicking here!
Pig Feeder Review – gravity to mechanical automatically!
Osborne Industries, the leader in hog feeding equipment recently announced its latest advancement in their signature line of no-waste, Big Wheel Hog Feeders.
The Fast-Start, wean-to-finish feeder features all the no-waste feed-saving aspects of the Big Wheel family of mechanical flow feeders but operates as a gravity-flow for newly weaned pigs, and then, as the pigs grow, it converts automatically from gravity to mechanical feed flow!
HOW THE PIG FEEDER CONVERTS FROM GRAVITY TO MECHANICAL FLOW
When weaned pigs are put on the feeder, small slides in the feeder hopper bottom are open. As pigs grow, they begin turning a five-spoke feed wheel in the bottom of the trough which closes the slides on the feed hopper bottom. The turning of the feed wheel is what automatically converts the Fast-Start feeder from gravity to mechanical operation. Once in mechanical mode, a feed-sweep located at the bottom of the feed hopper and attached to the feed wheel sweeps feed past the cone and out of the hopper into the trough. Feed falls through the center hole in the trough where it is dispensed to the pigs. Once pigs can turn the feed wheel, the feeder makes its automatic conversion from gravity to mechanical flow.
With the Fast-Start feeder, pigs receive all the great benefits of gravity flow feeding when they are small which provides access to fresh feed at all times. However, unlike traditional gravity-fed feeders, no adjustment is ever necessary when the feeder is in gravity mode.
Producers benefit from substantially reduced labor that is required to continually monitor and adjust traditional gravity flow feeders. With the Osborne feeder, once the pigs turn the feed wheel, it automatically converts from gravity to mechanical flow.
BENEFITS OF MECHANICAL FEEDING
The mechanical flow design is the key to maximizing feed savings in finish feeding. No other feeding method can make the speed-saving claims of the mechanical flow Big Wheel Feeders. Once the feeder converts to the mechanical flow mode and pigs stop eating, the feeder stops feeding which eliminates play waste.
ROUND HOG FEEDERS ARE A BETTER DESIGN
The round axis of the Big Wheel Feeders improves the feeding and growth performance of your animals. The feeder spreads animals radially around the self-cleaning trough which provides more standing room and less physical contact between the pigs. Conventional rectangular feeders force pigs into close contact with each other and often result in wasteful competition for food.
HOG FARMER TESTIMONIAL
From Jeff Dorman: ‘I started raising hogs in 1983 and bought some of the first RO feeders from Osborne. Don’t know what year that was but a lot of them are the originals and are still on the farm. Then I moved into the nursery feeders and used them for close to 30 years probably.
The first thing we noticed when I put them in there with the Fast-Start was that the feed was always there, especially the first pallets. So the pigs come in and they’re averaging about 13 pounds and I sort them down. The smaller group is around 10 pounds, some are up to 15 pounds but average around 13 pounds.
When we first started, we put the bigger ones on (the new pig feeder), and the next week we put the smaller pigs on. There was no problem with the smaller pigs getting started on these feeders. They did just like we wanted them to. The first pellets lasted about 3 to 5 days and then I switch to another pellet that goes for another four or five days, so then it’s grind and mix. In that time frame, from about 10 to 14 days, is when I noticed that they’ll switch from being gravity fed to start moving that mechanical wheel. Within about two weeks, they’re spinning that wheel. I’ve watched it for 10 days up to about two weeks and they are moving the wheel with ease. Once they’ve spun the wheel, then there’s no problem with them having access to feed. There is always feed in the trough at that point.’
Osborne’s latest innovation in pig feeding comes from over 30 years of research and development in finding the optimal way to feed pigs. To see the Fast-Start feeder that converts from gravity to mechanical feeding automatically and all the Osborne pig feeder line-up, visit Barn World Livestock Supplies today!
