The Advantage Feeders has proved most successful with our suckler herd. The calves look the best we have ever had and we would be pleased for anyone to have a look at them - this is down solely to the Advantage Feeders. With the Advantage Feeders, the calf was able to fend for itself without being bullied by the other calves and has gone from strength to strength.

I first bought an Advantage Feeders 800HD and put it in a shed with 10 bullocks, they took to the feeder straight away using the lick feeder system. There was no bullying and they all had their fair share, bearing in mind that these were 500–600 kilo bullocks. Because they were having a little and often, they seemed to pull their bellies in and put it on their rear ends, just where you want the meat. I was so pleased with the results from the 800HD that I have now bought the larger 1800HD.

Before I had my Advantage Feeders 1800HD I had problems with my lambs getting stuck in the vertical bars of the conventional feeders that I used. Since I have had the 1800HD I have not had any of these problems. My first impression was that the Creep Gates for cattle were not strong enough but now that I have used them to feed my calves, I have had no problems at all with damage to the gates or my livestock. Due to the Lick System on the Advantage Feeders, I now have no problems with stale or damp food in the feeding tray.

I saw the Advantage Feeders and was suspicious about the creep feeding system working. Since I have had one, I have not had an injury to any ewes or lambs. The new lambs took to the system very easily. When I was using the Advantage Feeders as a creep, I could notice the lambs coming back and forth all day. I had it set so the lambs would get a little bit often. The bunch of lambs were very consistent. After weaning, I still had some hoggets to finish and put them back in a field with the Advantage Feeders and a number of other feeders. The hoggets preferred using the Advantage Feeders and would always go to this feeder first. The 1800HD model is ideal for my farm because I can fill it in bulk with the Front-End Loader. It also feeds three times the amount of other creep feeders, so the initial outlay isn’t that much more. With all the other benefits, the choice of creep feeders is easy. With the results I have had, I will now be using the Advantage Feeders to feed ewes a controlled ration before they come in the shed for lambing. I will be buying more before next lambing.

As a newcomer to the Suckler world in 2010, I was looking at creep feeders, nothing I looked at through regular suppliers offered a way of measuring the amount of grub the calves were getting. I came across the Advantage Feeders website and was impressed by the basic desire of the manufacturer to ‘Not waste money’. One 800HD seems to serve about 25 calves with comfort, they lick out into the trough what they can and always go and drink or lie down before they finish what they hook out. While you keep feed in the bin, they are content to help themselves without gorging, no blown bellies or related symptoms. The adjustable gates restrict anything too big getting in, it’s easy to move, fold up the gates, stick the loader bale spikes under it, one strap round it and take off down the road looking over it, or two men can handle it onto a trailer if you prefer. Gerard Roney delivered our third feeder personally while visiting the UK and insisted in shutting off the feed slots even further as he said I was wasting grub. We will be adding another next year as the herd develops.

I have been using Advantage Feeders for 2 years and found they can be used in a huge range of applications. I use them to reduce/eliminate costly issues of waste, excessive labour, stock losses, mismothering and acidosis.

Supplementing ewes: I used the 1800HD feeder out in the field with Welsh ewes before and during lambing. This saved a lot of time and there was no mismothering. Normally, when the ewes hear the quad bike, they run towards the bike anticipating food and forget their newborn lambs; with the feeder in place this does not happen.

Creep feeding lambs: As I can set the feeder so the lambs can't gorge, there is no acidosis risk and they don't scour. The 800HD model can be used to creep feed on one side and supplement ewes on the other.

Hogg feeding: I would always lose 2 to 3 hoggets a batch due to acidosis from ad-lib feeders. I have done three batches of hoggets with Advantage Feeders and never had a loss.

Investing in Advantage Feeders can be high initially, but the one feeder works better than any other in all applications and is soon paid off.

As with many growing businesses, our young stock has been a problem due to changing numbers, leased facilities and mobs requiring different growth rates to achieve targets. We were looking for a system to streamline our feeding of expensive bagged concentrate or 48-hour TMR mixes which led to feed spoilage. We trialled our first feeder with 50, 6-month dairy heifer calves at grass in the back end of the season. We were impressed by how quickly they adapted and how even the bunch remained right through to housing. Last winter, we fed over 150 spring-born cattle using 3 feeders indoors. Due to the limited loafing area compared to pasture, we had to tune the feeders initially but once they were set, they performed consistently through the housing period. Monitoring growth rates is an important part of our system to make sure heifers achieve their target weights at breeding. The Advantage Feeders was adjusted upwards by 1kg/head/day and they comfortably grew at over 1kg/day over the next 4 months. This was achieved without a change of routine, a change of diet or re-training staff. I am delighted to put my name against Advantage Feeders.

Before we had Advantage Feeders, consistent ration feeding was very difficult resulting in inconsistent birth weights and milk production from twin and triplet bearing ewes. We used the 800HD model feeders for groups of 70–80 twin ewes or 40–50 triplet ewes. Initially we trained the ewes with sugar beet nuts fed at full ration for a few days. After about a week the ewes were trained and we rationed the intake of our triplet ewes to 250 grams/day and the twin ewes to below 200 grams/day. Tailoring the ration enabled us to save on feed costs compared to previous years. One of the biggest changes we noticed was in the mentality of the ewes, they stopped chasing for feed and fighting at feeding time. Generally, they were very content. All groups with Advantage Feeders lambed much better with far fewer prolapses and no twin lamb disease. Given that it was a wet winter we saved a huge quantity of feed that would ordinarily be wasted on the floor. The feeders were really easy to move each day, so poaching wasn’t a problem. After lambing, we then used the feeders for creep feeding. To date, we have not had a ewe or a lamb injured in one. Because the ewes were using the feeders at lambing time, the lambs didn’t need any training to start eating from them. Advantage Feeders have made managing pregnant and lambing ewes much more manageable. You can’t ‘set and forget’ but we don’t think you could ask for a better tool in our management system.

We have used the 3800HD Advantage Feeders on the farm since its establishment in 2016. We chose these feeders over any other because of the unique ability to ration the feed, which we thought would be extremely beneficial for our rearing and finishing unit. The feeders fit well with our overall objectives of Animal Welfare and controlled feeding plays a part in the financial one as well. We find the adjusters extremely useful for weaning our 3–6 month Aberdeen Angus calves off pellets, as we can ration the feed to suit the age of the calves over a given period. Having a large 2.4 ton hopper also saves time and easily copes with our group sizes.

Prior to purchasing an Advantage Feeder I was mostly feeding blocks and crystalyx buckets, with a small amount of ground fed concentrates. The feeders provide me with the ability to feed a much more cost-effective ration, often with better ingredients than the blocks and buckets and without the need to feed concentrates on the ground daily. Filling the feeders, even at peak use times, is often just a once-a-week job. It offers me the ability to feed whole grains with absolute minimal waste, because of the design. Using the feeders allows me to tailor rations and intakes to specific groups of stock, without the need to feed daily in troughs or on the ground. The design of the feeders means we have multiple uses for them throughout the year: feeding ewes pre/post lambing, creep feeding early lambs and hogg feeding the later lambing flock. The feeders are particularly good for feeding twin-rearing ewes post lambing, rather than disturbing them with daily concentrate drops or using extremely expensive blocks/buckets.

I initially purchased my 3800HD feeders during the drought in 2018 to take the backache out of filling and hauling meal. Consequently, I found them an excellent way to train calves and keep feed fresh, while keeping the correct volumes fed to large groups. Based on the success of these feeders I purchased the 150HD model as a calf feeder to feed bigger batches of younger calves on milk. Farming is a labour-challenged environment, and the grain feeders give me the peace of mind of not having to trough feed daily. Once filled, I know that the feeders will continue to provide a constant source of feed for many days. Not only does it take away the chore of daily feeding but the stock are much more pacified than with trough feeding. The overall health of my herd is now excellent. The animals are more docile, and the feeders have removed feed stress completely. I have never had better replacement stock! In summary, Advantage Feeders are a great way of managing concentrate feeding on grass and an excellent management tool to stretch grass. The feeders as a calf feeder also give our young stock a great foundation for the future. Advantage Feeders are now essential on my farm going forward.

We purchased a Mobile 1800HD Feeder in spring 2017 to use with our Pressure flock (Triplet-rearing ewes and ewe lambs rearing twins as well as any problem stock). We set up the feeder so the ewes could get 0.5kg/day of whole barley for 5 weeks post lambing and, as the feeder has a division in it, we were able to lower the Creep Panel and set up the second side to creep feed the lambs with a highly palatable starter creep. This works very well for us with many triplet ewes able to wean over 100 kgs of lamb at 12 weeks. Post weaning, we also use the feeder to supplement soya hulls (Digestible Fibre) to our finishing lambs on Rape and Redstart at 0.1–0.2 kg/day which also works very well. In the Autumn/Winter period, the feeder is used to supplement ewe lambs at grass with 0.2 kg of whole grain/day, and post scanning the triplet ewes at grass are also supplemented using the feeder, which we then move into the shed for them pre-lambing. This allows us to do only 1 mix/day with the Diet feeder. Unlike a traditional creep feeder, we can regulate the intake, and this means that our Advantage Feeders works virtually all year round for strategic supplementation. Being so impressed with it, we purchased a second feeder to help in the summer drought last year.

We first used the Advantage Feeders in a bad spring to feed ewes. We found that as a result of having the feeders permanently in the paddock, there was no pushing or shoving at a trough. There is no waste of feed on the ground, and every ewe got a fair share. Consequently, we found that all the stock are very relaxed and it cut down the workload as the feeders only need to be filled every third day. The stock does seem to do better on the controlled access to feed that these feeders offer.

The big advantage for me is the labour-saving element. I can fill my 1800HD Feeder once per week and then I only have to check on the stock, instead of feeding daily. The calves have flourished on the feeder, and the issue of weaker stock is eliminated as all stock have equal access.

We began using Advantage FeedersMineral Lick Attachments 3 yrs ago to assist in time saving and reduce product wastage. The benefits were noticed immediately. Once our sheep had access to ad lib minerals it assisted to stimulate feed intake in both the ewes and lambs. Combined with the lick feeders we have been able to wean our lambs earlier with increased average weights. Using the mineral lick attachment instead of the previously used lick blocks we have significantly reduced our product wastage by keeping the minerals off the ground, away from the mud, and out of the weather.

The stud purchased 12 Advantage Feeders to reduce the amount of time spent trail feeding and to provide constant access for sheep to supplementary feed rather than trail feeding every other day. Initially we found it difficult to believe that sheep could access grain through such a restricted outlet. However, after monitoring grain usage over the first couple of weeks, it was clear that the feeders were indeed capable of controlling the consumption of grain, at a predetermined rate. Each month the sheep are condition scored and the feed rate adjusted to suit their supplementary feeding needs. Once set up, it’s too easy.

I would absolutely recommend Advantage Feeders to any livestock breeder. The grain feeders with the creep gates have allowed the weaners to easily access the grain and not be pushed out by the larger cattle. These feeders have significantly reduced the amount of wastage due to the lick restriction of the 3-Way Restriction System. This adjustment system also restricts the cattle from gorging on the grain. The design of the feeders allows us to easily tow them across paddocks.