Handy Hints

Do you have an idea you’d like to share with other dairy producers? Send it our way! We pay $50 for Handy Hints printed in the magazine.

To be considered, all submitted hints must include a clear, print quality photo (at least 240 dpi and approximately 4" by 6” in size). Please send items to Hoard’s Dairyman, Handy Hints Department, P.O. Box 801, Fort Atkinson, WI 53538. You can also email your Handy Hints to editors@hoards.com. Please include your name, full mailing address and a short description of the handy hint with each submission.


Click here to order our Handy Hints Book,
a collection of Handy Hints from our readers.



Here are a few Handy Hints from fellow readers.

Handy Hint: October 25, 2012
Oct. 15 2012
Handy Hint: October 25, 2012 Caps Identify Colostrum Quality We use half-gallon jugs to store colostrum on our farm. Using a 2-liter soda crate to hold the jugs upright in a freezer, we can quickly identify...
Handy Hint: October 10, 2012
Oct. 9 2012
Handy Hint: October 10, 2012 Tote Bag Unloaded We used to have a lot of problems unloading heavy tote bags full of supplements. This plugged the augers and spilled when it was windy. I took an empty teat...
Handy Hint September 25, 2012
Sept. 18 2012
Handy Hint: September 25, 2012 Vapor lock saves feed To prevent grain from spoiling on the concrete floor of my calf shed, I made a vapor barrier by laying 2-inch treated lumber down and fastening a piece...
Handy Hint September 10, 2012
Aug. 31 2012
Handy Hint: September 10, 2012 Move six calves at once This device was built to move calves from the calf barn to the heifer barn safely and easily. The device is built from plywood, 2- by 2-inch tubing,...
Handy Hint August 25, 2012
Aug. 14 2012
Handy Hint: August 25, 2012 Jetter cups change bulbs On our farm, safety and time are always concerns. To save time and be safe changing lightbulbs over our straw packs, we took an old jetter cup and taped...
Handy Hint August 10, 2012
July 30 2012
Handy Hint: August 10, 2012 Counter replaces silage scale We found this manual counter very useful to keep track of loads of silage when a scale is not always en route from field to pile. We weigh a couple...
Handy Hint July 2012
July 11 2012
Gravity-flow disinfecting hose Buckets with a small amount of disinfectant solution often don't last in narrow chutes. We elevated a 55-gallon drum above the palpation chute. Then, we attach a hose with...
Handy Hint June 2012
June 1 2012
Rotary feed pusher keeps feeding safe This feed pusher makes pushing feed cleaner, faster, safer, and quieter. The materials include some 2- by 2-inch tubing, 4- by 4-inch tubing, a skid-steer adapter...
Handy Hint May 25, 2012
May 15 2012
Polish seals marker We found that magic marker often wore off our tools. To permanently mark our things, we use ear tag markers, then cover it with clear coat nail polish for a durable finish. Ethan
Handy Hint April 25, 2012
May 4 2012
Alarm rings when water pressure is too low Using a water pressure switch and a used bell from an old crowd gate, we installed an alarm that alerts us if the fountains in the free stall barn have low water...
Handy Hint May 10, 2012
May 4 2012
Steel pieces improve palpation rail My palpation rail holds about 10 cows at once, but I normally need to manage five cows or less. My new device holds them in place. I made a bar out of a scrap piece...
Handy Hint April 10, 2012
March 28 2012
Portable Electric Panel If you need a temporary place to plug in a lot of cords, this panel comes in handy. Your cords stay out of the snow or mud, it's portable, and it stores easy. Isaac Hackel
Handy Hint: March 25, 2012
March 20 2012
Silage roll-up We created a homemade roll-up with 1-inch cable and a piece of pipe bent into a crank, then welded the cable to the crank. The cable length depends on the size of the bag. We use a 12-foot...
Handy Hint: March 10, 2012
Feb. 27 2012
Use curtain strapping in front of stalls We use 2-inch strips of curtain strapping to keep cows from going forward in the face-in free stalls at the Hoard's Dairyman Farm. This polypropylene strapping,...
Handy Hint: February 25, 2012
Feb. 23 2012
Dry erase hutch map One of my jobs is to feed baby calves. I found this dry erase board handy to map calves in hutches. This system works very well when others need to feed calves if I am not available....
Handy Hint: February 10, 2012
Jan. 26 2012
Improved whey coverage We started feeding whey upon the recommendation of our nutritionist. After pumping whey into our TMR mixer and not getting good coverage of the feed, we added this 6-foot horizontal...
Handy Hint: January 25, 2012
Jan. 13 2012
No more spilled milk We took a 12- by 15-inch piece of plywood and cut four holes in to fit a 3-quart milk replacer bottle. Then we screwed a 12-inch 2 by 6 on both ends. Now the bottles don't tip
Handy Hint: January 10, 2012
Jan. 5 2012
Quick-attach feed pusher At Boucher Family Farm, Highgate Center, Vt., Denis Boucher was looking for a way to push up feed using an existing skid-steer loader attachment. Using the bale fork, he made a...
Handy Hint: December 2011
Dec. 12 2011
Electric String Winder To solve my problem of used string storage, I took old electrical wire reels and wound the string on them with a drill. I used a 1/2- by 6-inch bolt with a couple of nuts as
Handy Hint: November 2011
Nov. 8 2011
Easy system to refill dip cups Everyone knows that postdipping is one of the most critical steps in bolstering milk quality. At the Larry and Brent Simon farm of Westphalia, Mich., they partnered with...
« Prev 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Next »