Filling of Feeding and Drinking Troughs

Although the preparation and filling of feeding and drinking troughs depend on the type of feeding system that is used and the workplace procedures that are normally followed, there are some basic principles that apply.

When animals are put in the fattening unit you must make sure that enough feeding space is available for the animals so that competition for food does not take place.  For cattle, there must be approximately 20-30cm of feeding through space available for each animal, and for sheep approximately 10-15cm.  Water space is not that important, and it is usually better to use smaller water to ensure a fresh inflow of water during the day. 

Clean Feed Troughs - The troughs must be swept clean with a broom and all excess feed from the previous mealtime must be removed.

Clean Water Troughs - The water troughs must be washed each time the animals are fed. Animals that receive poor quality water have a lower feed intake and thus a reduced growth tempo.

Fill - Fill feed troughs with the right amount of feed following workplace procedures.

Water - Make sure the water inlet is working properly allowing fresh water to flow into the through.

Visual check of fattening unit - This is a very important part of the feeding procedure. During this stage, you must check for any abnormalities in the structure of the fattening unit, such as water leaks, broken fencing or troughs and an excess amount of left-over feed.

Animals should be fed at least twice daily, and the following routine tasks must be fulfilled each time:

In some of the large commercial fattening units, the animals are not fed by hand.  These fattening units make use of modern technology and machinery to provide the animals with feed almost every hour of the day.  Although this process is almost much less labour intensive, someone must still do the routine check every day.  The feed and water troughs should also be cleaned at least twice daily to prevent any type of build-up of excess feed.  Animals easily refuse to eat if there is some old feed in the troughs that start to become rancid or sour, especially sheep are very particular about their feed.

Click here to learn more about tanks and troughs for livestock.