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calf warmer

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strawking

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Has any one built their own calf warmer? If so what kind of heater did you use. Or is there a calf warmer out there that will hold more than one? The only ones I can find around here will only hold 1 calf. Please post pics if possible. And I know I'm an idiot calving right now and I wouldn't need one if I didn't calve so early. :?
 
I just board off a corner of the barn so cows cant get to it and have a plywood top and put one or two infrared heat lamps high enough so the calf cant touch it I hang it so the cord is tight so if it falls it is unplugged you have to be careful of fire.
 
we rarely use one here in the south, but this has been an unusual winter, we used the floor in the mudroom yesterday to save one and it was to late for the other. about 2/3's done with calving
 
Mine looks just like Jody's . Problem with propane or kerosene heaters is sometimes the gas smells stick on the calf and then you have an acceptance problem. My favorite is a pallet with sides and a top by the wood stove in our shop the heat blows out the bottom right under the pallet and up under the calf that way your warming him from the bottoms up with hot wood heat. My new warming system is not calveing until mid april. :wink:
 
I have used the bathroom in the basement several times and find the best thing is about a 20 to 30 minute hot shower then a blow dry - - - I had to use this several times last year so I backed the bull up to July 1st and hope the bad weather is gone before they start arriving.

I have used 4th of July for decades but my son talked me into June 1st and we had several years in a row when that was fine but not last year and with the way this year is going I'm not sure I waited long enough!

-8F with 25 MPH winds right now. Our normal high temp should be +47F but the 8 day forecast shows daytime highs in the + teens and a possibility of +32F for next Saturday.

I do not live in Canada and I try to make the best of it but this winter is wearing me out!
 
A couple of years ago I bought an electric one from Western Ranch Supply-- and in the first week paid for it... It was a bad winter and it ended up paying for itself many times over as there were times we had a couple of the worst chilled in the heater while at the same time a few frosty ones under the heaters of a couple of pickups...

I used to use an old propane shop heater- heat up one end of barn... It worked- but if I had cows in the barn the noise bugged them and I was always afraid of burning the barn down...
 
Right now the basement bathroom is keeping a litter of German Shepherd puppies in comfort.

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Mom wants a break as 16 day old pups keep her busy. The orange mat is a baby pig warmer that maintains +70F - - - Dogs do not like to lay directly on it so there is cardboard and blankets between the pups and the warmer. We try to keep them comfortable as an 8 week old pup will bring as much as an 8 month old calf.

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I am still looking for a good AKC German Shepherd male this color. Any leads appreciated.

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We've got a VAL-6 radiant heater in the shop. I just drag the calf sled in the shop and fire up the heater. Warms them up better than anything I've tried. Just don't get the calf too close to the heater! :shock:
 
I made one out of a chemical tote. Works great. I can pull it with my 4-wheeler or pickup. I've left it overnite out in the pasture with a calf in it. The cow stayed close by because she knew her calf was in it. Can put several calves in it at a time. Not a lot of lifting required to put one in it. I bed it with clean prairie hay. A hair dryer warms it but I've found that it's translucent enough very little sun lite warms it nicely. I've never tried to post pictures here but I will send them to you, if you'd like to see it.
 
DejaVu said:
I made one out of a chemical tote. Works great. I can pull it with my 4-wheeler or pickup. I've left it overnite out in the pasture with a calf in it. The cow stayed close by because she knew her calf was in it. Can put several calves in it at a time. Not a lot of lifting required to put one in it. I bed it with clean prairie hay. A hair dryer warms it but I've found that it's translucent enough very little sun lite warms it nicely. I've never tried to post pictures here but I will send them to you, if you'd like to see it.
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this appeal's to my cheeep nature, that and i happen to have a couple of totes kicking around not doing anything.... pictures would be great.. perhaps some technical type could help out
 
hayguy said:
DejaVu said:
I made one out of a chemical tote. Works great. I can pull it with my 4-wheeler or pickup. I've left it overnite out in the pasture with a calf in it. The cow stayed close by because she knew her calf was in it. Can put several calves in it at a time. Not a lot of lifting required to put one in it. I bed it with clean prairie hay. A hair dryer warms it but I've found that it's translucent enough very little sun lite warms it nicely. I've never tried to post pictures here but I will send them to you, if you'd like to see it.
Click to expand...



this appeal's to my cheeep nature, that and i happen to have a couple of totes kicking around not doing anything.... pictures would be great.. perhaps some technical type could help out
Click to expand...
mine was cheap ply wood a 2x4, screws and a expanded metal
 
I've got pictures but have never tried to put any on Ranchers. What I did was, I took a right angle grinder and cut away some of the aluminum cage that surrounds the tote. Then, I marked a door in that cut-out section. I took a razor knife and cut the top, right hand side and bottom, leaving the left side un-cut. I bolted some metal strapping to the top and right side of the door to give some support to the plastic. That was it. I can tie it open or shut with the strapping. I've planned on making the door more appealing but it's working like it is, so I don't worry about it. I'd like to put runners or wheels under it but haven't got that perfected either. I did locate the door on the side so that going through snow or mud, it doesn't fill the inside, which a sick or cold baby calf wouldn't appreciate. If anyone who posts pictures would pm me, I'll email my pictures to them and they can put them on here for me.
 
Sounds like a good idea Dejavu, if it isn't -30 at 3 am. Not our country's normal temps, but the current ones. I've been telling Strawking to buy an old Suburban and a bunch of gas. I think you could put 10 calves in there overnight. Rob the battery out of any tractor, as they won't start anyhow.
 
A ranch west of us is calving out big numbers and they got a couple vans with a drop down corral/maternity pen on the side. They can catch the cow. Pull the calf and put it inside the van to warm up. Wouldn't surprise me if the hired man sleeps in it as well. :lol: :lol:
 
I prefer the sun and later spring temps but when they won't co-operate the wood stove in the basement has warmed a bunch over the years. Debbie is looking forward to using the new shop this year. :lol:
 
gcreekrch said:
I prefer the sun and later spring temps but when they won't co-operate the wood stove in the basement has warmed a bunch over the years. Debbie is looking forward to using the new shop this year. :lol:
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but you don't get any sunlight for 2 more months :shock:
 
The thing I want to accomplish is getting the calf warmed up with minimal lifting. I can't carry one very far and it's pretty difficult to lift one into my pickup. They're usually wet and limp. Some calf warmers require lifting to put the calf inside. With my tote, I can flop that little sucker inside, tie the door shut and drag it to the house if need be. Gotta do what works in your situation. A "real" calf warmer would be nice but money, or the lack of, was a big issue when I needed one so "necessity and invention" took over. This works, so I haven't had a desire to replace it.
 
We made a few some time ago. Ours was a A shape box with both sides you could fold up and get a calf out also had a door on top that you could open to see the calf or let fresh air in. We made a slat floor on the bottom to flow the air up around the calf with a hole on one end for the space heater. At the top of the box we put a small fan the was used to circulate the heat in the box. The box was made out of 2x4's and 3/4 plywood and was 4' tall so when a calf wanted to stand up he could. One problem was it was heavy close to 150-200 lbs but was nice that it was sturdy. We made a lot of them and sold a lot of them. If I could figure out this picture thing I would post some pictures. We bought one of those plastic Warmers a couple years ago which are fine but the calf can't stand up in it when he decides he wants to.
 

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