representative in terms of grain feeding time of practices on many New 

 Hampshire farms. Probably a well located grain room off the stanchion 

 stable would be almost as efficient in terms of grain feeding time as an 

 overhead-bulk bin and downspout, but not nearly so desirable in terms of 

 the amount of physical effort or the cost of feed. There is another advantage 

 inherent in the bulk method — release of space which might be used for 

 other purposes. 



In any study involving time savings, these are of real value only if time 

 saved can be put to productive use or if a real decrease in hired labor costs 

 is realized. 



Size of herd undoubtedly has considerable bearing upon the selection 

 of an optimum method of feeding grain. As size increases, the cost of extra 

 construction and mechanization equipment per unit tends to decline. There 

 is also a tendency for labor requirements per unit to decline. Where bulk 

 feed is concerned, there are herd sizes below which the feed dealer will 

 not wish to go in extending bulk-feed service. With every-other-week de- 

 livery, a 20-25 cow herd could use a ton of grain about every two weeks. 



(1) (2) (3) 



Cow Si able 



Feed 

 Room 



Left: grain storage on barn floor, downspout to feed cart in basement stable. 

 Center: grain storage on barn floor. Operator climbs stairs from basement 

 stable, throws down bag of grain through trap door, and empties this into 

 feed cart. Right: grain storage at ground level in room off stable. Bags un- 

 loaded from truck onto chute. 



(4) 



Cow 



Stable 



Grain Sforoge 

 in bags or bin 

 ai end of alley 



F^F^f^F^--^ 



r\ 



Metering 

 Device* 



Lever 



Left: grain stored in stable feed alley. In another variation, grain is stored 

 in bags in a feed room and bags emptied into a bin near feed alley. Bucket 

 is used in feeding. Center: grain stored in a bulk bin located above the stable. 

 Downspout to feed cart. Right: grain stored in a bulk bin located above the 

 stable. This is the Pennsylvania State mechanical dairy feeder. A downspout 

 fills automatic poultry feeder unit. Endless chain fills individual meters above 

 each stanchion. These are set individually. A hand lever is pulled to open 

 meter-bottom slides. A rather costly installation. 



Figure 10. Some grain-feeding arrangements in stanchion stables on dairy 



farms. 



40 



