These are the expectations and responsibilities of the primary feeder. Also refer to Feeding Procedure

• Bunk Management
  • Milking cows should never be out of feed. This means that a small amount (~500lb total) of cow feed will be removed and fed to heifers most days.
  • Prefresh pen(s) should never be out of feed – approx 100 lb (from each pen) each day should be removed and given to the dry cow group
  • Heifers should not be out of feed for more than 2 hours
  • Use the full length of all feed bunks throughout the day so that cows have as much access as possible to feed.
  • All old feed should be cleaned up or removed before delivering new feed
  • Minimize the amount of bunk refusals being thrown out as junk – get the feeding amounts right so that they are nearly cleaning up all of their feed every day.
  • Refusals, and Basis need to be written down every day on the feed charts in order to feed accurately
• Pile and Bag Management
  • No moldy silage fed to any groups – a minimal amount to heifers is acceptable after best effort is made to separate good feed out
  • Silage that has been raked down or otherwise disturbed from the pile needs to be fed that day. Don’t rake down more than is needed. Try to keep the amount saved for the next day within 5%.
  • Any raked down silage that is left over from the previous day must be fed ASAP. Consider blending it in to cow batches, or feeding it to heifers. Never leave any silage sitting for more than 24 hours.
  • Uncover piles 1 tire width at a time and fork off all spoiled feed at that time.  Consider uncovering less under conditions such as forcasted rain or bird pressure.
  • Piles should be uncovered the day before it is needed – this ensures that if a group runs out of feed early, you will have the silage you need to mix a batch right away. Feeding job is not done until piles are uncovered for the next day.
• Clean up (every day):
  • All bags and piles kept clean and neat. 
  • All loose plastic on the burn pile. 
  • All loose tires stacked neatly.
  • All junk feed on the junk feed pile
• Pre-weekend preparation
  • Piles should be uncovered enough to get through Sunday morning feeding
  • All pens that get hay should have enough to get through the weekend
• Equipment Maintenance
  • Daily
    • Check oil and coolant in tractors
  • Weekly
    • Grease feed mixers
    • Check fluid levels in mixers
    • Grease skid loaders
    • Check fluid levels in skid loaders
  • As needed
    • Change oil in tractors
    • Change oil in skid loaders