Posted 15.01.20
Milk Bar™ Vitality Bottle System
Incredibly easy to install, the Milk Bar Vitality Bottle System cuts time spent raising calves and reduces the costs associated with poor health.
The Milk Bar Vitality Bottle System combines a unique chute design with the Vitality Management System.
The Chute: It is vital the Milk Bar teat is positioned vertically so the calf suckles at the correct speed for healthy digestion.The design self-aligns the bottle so the Milk Bar teat is always correctly positioned and keeps the bottle secure during feeding.
Vitality Management System: Calves born within the same week are allocated a colour.
Simply match the designated colour on the Milk Bar Vitality Clip to the Vitality Tag.
The Importance of the Milk Bar Teat
We know that when a calf drinks one litre in under 2 minutes the lactose absorption
is reduced. This impacts daily weight gain and increases the risk of nutritional diarrhoea as lactose passes through the intestines.
It is important that the calf suckles hard from birth to weaning to ensure they drink at the slow speed required for full milk curding and lactose absortion. For optimum health health calves should
start drinking from a new Milk Bar teat and stay with that teat, or a teat of a similar age, until weaning. As a teat ages it softens and milk flow slowly increases. As calves approach weaning the digestive system can manage an increased flow but for young calves it can be detrimental to their health. The new Vitality Bottle System gives the operator a simple method to ensure all calves are drinking at the correct speed until weaning.
Using the Milk Bar™ Vitality Bottle System
BIRTH – DAY 3: Feed at least 2 litres of colostrum using a Milk Bar colostrum teat (MB01 – yellow teat) which makes training easy.
Weigh the calf to ensure adequate colostrum intake. Use a Vitality Bottle Cap fitted with a Milk Bar colostrum teat for the first few feeds. The Milk Bar colostrum teat can be used for multiple calves.
DAY 4: Introduce the calf to grain and a new Milk Bar teat (MB10 – black teat).
Place a new Milk Bar teat into the Teat Clip. Use the colour that has been assigned to calves born that week. Attach the corresponding coloured Vitality Tag to the chute, hutch or pen.
DAY 21: Calves can be paired or grouped to improve social development.
Pair or group calves with the identical coloured Vitality Tags. Attach each calf’s Vitality Tag to the group hutch or pen. Continue to match the coloured Teat Clip to the Vitality Tag until weaning.
IMPORTANT: When calves are weaned it is important to discard the used Milk Bar teats. By now they will be worn and will feed young calves too quickly.
Cleaning
There is no need to dismantle the Vitality Bottle Cap for cleaning. There is no need to remove the Milk Bar teat from the Teat clip for cleaning. Wash the complete unit with warm water and alkali detergent. Discard the teats when the calves are weaned.
To view our full range of cattle brushes, please click here.
