You have to invest in the essential small dairy farm equipment if you’re planning to produce delicious dairy products. This article will show you the essential dairy farm equipment so you are investing your money wisely.
In short, there are three goals that you have to achieve. Your animals need a place to live, feed, and a place to milk them.
Essential Small Dairy Farm Equipment
So let’s take a closer look at the equipment you need in order to operate a successful dairy farm.
Housing Dairy Cows
The first and most essential small dairy farm equipment or thing to consider is shelter. You not only need a place for your animals to thrive, but you also need an area specifically laid out for milking. Before you start shopping around and building housing for your animals, let’s go over a few things so you can make an informed decision.
Animal Shelter
Building an animal shelter should be your top priority. This is the most essential small dairy farm equipment or component. Your animals need a place to seek refuge from the elements. You don’t want your animals to suffer in the rain or cold temperatures. Shelter ensures your animals stay safe and happy.
It’s also important to keep the inside of the structure clean and dry to eliminate the risk of disease and infection. Animals that are comfortable will produce more milk, so you will get rewarded for this investment.
Cooling System
Having an adequate cooling system is another essential small dairy farm equipment if you live in a place that gets hot. The most common is a mist cooling system that sprays a light mist of water into the shelter. This gives the animals a place to cool down on hot days. Even though the inside of a shelter provides protection from direct sunlight, it can still get far too hot for comfort. A cooling system lowers the temperature and keeps your animals happy.
Feeding Equipment
Once you have shelter in place, you need to focus on feeding your animals. Fortunately, there are a lot of different ways you can feed them. For instance, if you use grain-based feed, then you will need a grinder. This machine grinds up grain so that the animals can eat and digest it properly. Feed grinders are great for mixing grains, grass, and maize, if you plan to incorporate those into your herds’ diet.
Another option is to feed your animals green fodders like cereal, grass, and other plant-based crops. In this scenario, you need a green fodder cutter to chop up the fodder into tiny pieces. This lets the animals eat and digest them easily.
Eventually, you’ll probably want to invest in both types of feeding systems so your animals get a well-rounded diet.
Milking Equipment
There are two options when it comes to milking your animals: you can either milk them by hand or with the help of a machine. We’re going to focus on the latter since hand-milking is inefficient. Small milking machines are the best choice for small dairy farmers.
You also need milk cans to store the milk so that you can collect milk and transport it around your
farm.
With that said, a cow milking machine is not the only factor to consider. You need a place to milk the animal where they feel safe and comfortable during the entire milking process. Animals that are comfortable produce more milk. It is very important to keep this in mind when designing the shelter.
Like anything else, starting a small dairy farm requires careful planning. Don’t buy anything until you know your goals. Also, don’t immediately choose the cheapest equipment either. Higher quality equipment tends to have a much longer lifespan, so it’s actually cheaper in the long term.
This post is very helpful to the agriculture farmers.
Your article gave me a lot of inspiration, i have a small dairy farm with 3 cows only, thank you.