Silver medal for calf feeder

A simple calf feeding idea was enough to win a silver medal for innovation at the big EuroTier animal husbandry show in Germany. The show is in November, but the six gold medal and 15 silver medal winners for innovation have been named.

The FixClip valve, pictured, is a silver medal winner for Albert Kerbl GmbH of Germany. They saw that calf feeding bucket drinker valves are usually firmly connected to the bucket, and very difficult to remove for cleaning, leading to hygiene problems. The FixClip valve can be mounted or removed quickly and easily, allowing fast and simple routine cleaning.

Computerised animal monitoring is built into the silver medal winning management systems for bucket-feeding calves, from German manufacturer Urban. Animal-related data such as how often they come to suck and drinking speed are recorded automatically and documented.

Also of interest to dairy farmers is the innovation silver medal for further development of the AktivPuls teat liners launched in 2006. Recognised then for providing complete vacuum relief in the massage phase, they are now improved by manufacturers AktivPuls GmbH of Germany.

They have a new teat liner in highly elastic silicone with a structure that imitates natural calf suckling, and improves massage effect, even with differing teat lengths and diameters.Also new is a self-cleaning nozzle for optimal head vacuum, and a signal element in the teat liner head for online monitoring of current milking conditions at every milking cup. An elastic membrane signals any disruption of head vacuum at the teat base to the milking personnel by means of deformation that can be seen and felt very simply..

DeLaval’s InService Remote was awarded the silver medal for innovation. It monitors milking equipment remotely, enabling farmers to manage their dairy operations from their desktop computer, tablet or smart phone. It alerts users to, for example, undesirable pulsation or vacuum level fluctuations.