The effect of the calibration of the spiral feeder and the type of feed pellets on the precision of its dosing

J. Chlebowski¹*, M. Gaworski² and T. Nowakowski¹

¹Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Institute of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Biosystems Engineering, Nowoursynowska str. 166, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland
² Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Institute of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Production Engineering, Nowoursynowska str. 166, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland
*Correspondence: jaroslaw_chlebowski@sggw.edu.pl

Abstract:

When feeding dairy cows, there is a need for precise dosing of concentrate feed. The quality of the feed dosing process is influenced by the physical properties of the feed material and the accuracy of the feeder calibration. The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of the accuracy of calibration of the spiral feeder and the type of granulated feed on the precision of dosing feed material at the feeding station. The study used a feeding station intended for feeding cattle, equipped with a spiral feeder with a feed rates of up to 1 kg min^-1. Three types of feed material with different granule diameters were used for the tests. The characteristics of the feed pellets included their bulk density, diameter and length of the pellets. In the study, the accuracy of the feeder calibration was related to the number of feed mass measurements obtained in the calibration procedure. Options for three and six mass measurements were included. The tests were performed for two feed rates, i.e. 0.3 and 0.4 kg min^-1. In order to determine the accuracy of feed dosing by the spiral feeder, the dosing accuracy index was calculated. The research results were subjected to statistical analysis. A statistically significant impact of calibration on the accuracy of feed dosing was found. In the study, increasing the diameter of the granules was accompanied by an increase in the accuracy of its dosing.

Key words:

dosing accuracy, feeder calibration, feeding station, granulated feed properties, mechanical engineering

Effect of Automatic Feeding Station use on fattening performance in lambs and intake activity periods

L. Šenfelde* and D. Kairiša

Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, Faculty of Agriculture, Institute of Agrobiotechnology, Liela street 2, LV-3001 Jelgava, Latvia
*Correspondence: shenfeldel@gmail.com

Abstract:

Implementation of precise farming technology is very important for productivity increasing of livestock. One of the highest components of the production costs is feeding expenses. An automatic concentrate feeding stations (AFS) can ensure economic feed distribution and intake registration for animals individually. The aim of this research was to study the possibility and benefits of using AFS in fattening of lambs. Results show that during all the research average number of daily visits to AFS per lamb were 13 ± 0.2 visits, average daily live weight gain per lamb was 254 ± 15.7 g. For 1 kg lamb live weight gain 5.35 kg concentrate was used. More intesively acitivity periods of lambs was noted during following hours of day time: 02:00–02:59, 08:00–09:59 and 19:00–20:59. Significant (P ≤ 0.05) moderate positive correlation (r = 0.470) was found between average daily number of visits to the AFS per lamb and total amount of concentrate consumed during the research per lamb. Significant (P ≤ 0.05) strong negative correlation (r = -0.806) was found between average daily number of visits to the AFS per lamb and average amount of concentrate consumed during one visit.

Key words: