Cattle oilers

[just_wondering]

Are there differences in results between oilers
Lewis vs rope style
what do you use as a carrier diesel vs mineral oil
Malathion vs other insecticides

in the past couple years I also used Ivermectin in the spring, the cheaper American Generic but this year did not get organized enough to get it in time for branding
My conception rates were good was it luck or good management.

[coppertop]

Lewis Oilers are costly to purchase and maintain, replacing wicks,etc.

[just_wondering]

thanks coppertop
for the last couple we bought we went with the conversion kit rope style sorry I can't remember the name. it seems a lot simpler with the gravity flow.
approx how many cattle per oiler do others run?

[grassfarmer]

just_wondering, why do you use Ivermectin in the spring? what do you treat with it and why?

[smcgrath76]

We use a rope oiler on a large pasture simply for livestock distribution purposes. Just fill with mineral oil, no disinfectant.
Can't remember the brand but it is orange and had a plastic tank. It now has a homemade steel tank made from a Princess auto hydraulic fluid tank (on sale) and a set of wheels from an old auger that was in the bush.
They do help with livestock distribution, but I am not sure how much they are really worth.

[just_wondering]

grassfarmer
someone told me or maybe I read that conception rates in breeding animals are better if cows are not fighting parasites, flies and mosquitoes, as for calves weening weights are supposed to be better for the same reasons we had good results for the past two years but admitidlly we were not very scientific about it either
our progam is calve april to mid Aug. run the cow through a couple times with calves Ivomec cows give boosters on IBR-BVD after they have calved but before re-breeding Calves get
nutted, 8 way, Ibr/bvd, mine get an implant dads don't (doesn't beleive in them) Ivomec the only thing that I am realy working on changing is tightening up that breeding season.
We do a minimal rotational grazing program where the heards get moved once a week or so over six different padocks?
What do others do?

smcgrath that idea of using the old auger wheels mind if I use it?

[smcgrath76]

Want to buy an auger?

[smcgrath76]

Actually, we pulled the auger out of the bush, cut off the pipe with the wheels. They fit over the oiler pipes, so I drilled them out on the drill press and presto.
Our neighbour then came along and saw the auger so he took it home and cut the wheels off his auger and repaired our old one.
Further, we got rid of all of our grain bins during our simplification sale (more than we had listed) and we even threw in another old auger that was kicking around.

[just_wondering]

no thanks on the auger I have a boneyard myself that needs to be cleaned up. we have one old auger in a dugout covering the spot where the spring fills it a little farmer ingenuity

[grassfarmer]

just _wondering,
Is Ivomec an effective way to fight flies and mosquitoes? I don't believe parasites are a significant enough burden to justify regularily treating adult cows with Ivomec. We gave up that crutch a couple of years ago and it has been all gain. We used to spend $1000 on Ivomec and we have noticed no difference without it. If we did have an outbreak of lice we would treat it, probably with cheap louse powder - so far it hasn't happened. We do treat weaned calves once for worms, I believe that is all cattle need under our conditions.
We usually average close to 3lbs a day of gain on calves up to weaning. Of our cows that calved this spring 94% did so in 6 weeks. We did have 7% open though which is higher than usual due to pushing them fairly hard in a drought situation last summer. I don't think spending money on Ivomec or cattle oilers would make a significant beneficial difference to our operation.

I believe you would get a far better bang for your buck by putting your bulls out a month later and bringing them in a month sooner. I certainly couldn't manage April and August calvers in one herd without wasting a lot of feed and money.

[smcgrath76]

Grassfarmer, I think you might be right on well managed rotated pastures as the infection cycle would tend to be broken through the rest period (larvae have no cattle on the paddock to infect). I am not so sure on larger more extensively managed pastures as cattle are free to return to their ice cream patches repeatedly.
For us, on our one large piece the oiler helps to create better livestock distribution. We don't put any insecticide in it (just UFA light THG) and by moving it around it does create better forage utilization.
I think anyone who is corraling cows for the winter should consider IVomec (or other products), and calves going on feed should probably be done (just my two cents). Cattle that are out over the winter I am not so sure.

[just_wondering]

we do manage our herd as two separate groups heifers, heiferettes and old crocks as one herd and everybody else in group 2
As for the generic Ivomec we never used it this year. I never got around too ordering through FNA and was not up for a trip too Montana, will see how it goes.
Just back from a streak supper and beers after roundup today. 151 calves with a new Payson calf table best investment all year that will save some backs and toes in the future
I don't know why we did not get one five years ago?
Thanks everyone for for the tips as you might have guessed I am more of a grain farmer than stock man but I am learning

[just_wondering]

The grain farming background probably explains the Iron and Chemical addiction.

[Muttley]

I suggest brush oilers, there are several on the market. Easy Way makes a good! Use mineral oil and malathion. The cattle love to scratch, it will also work well in winter for lice!!!