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.

Hoard's Dairyman Handy Hint: November
Nov. 5 2010
Handy Hint: November 2010 Cow Shower Clay McQuiddy, Mountain Grove, Mo., rigged an inexpensive cow shower for his pastures. He taped a 3/4-inch plastic polypipe to a 3/16-inch cable that loops over the...
Hoard's Dairyman Handy Hint October 25, 2010
Oct. 18 2010
Handy Hint: October 25, 2010 Neck rails that give A local builder created a neck rail that has some extra give to it. As shown in the photo, the rail is mounted above the feed aisle and equipped with a...
Hoard's Dairyman Handy Hint October 10, 2010
Oct. 7 2010
Handy Hint: October 10, 2010 Colored buckets identify calf sex We have finally found an easy way to identify the sex of our calves when they are in hutches. Heifer calves are given a pink water bucket,...
Hoard's Dairyman Handy Hint September 25, 2010
Sept. 15 2010
Handy Hint: Sept 25, 2010 Easy access four-wheeler battery Rather than replacing the hard-to-reach battery that's under the fender on our farm four-wheeler, we made our own battery bracket by welding angle...
Handy Hint September 10 2010
Sept. 3 2010
Handy Hint: Jan 10, 2010 Recalibrated seeder saves time We decided to recalibrate our seeder so we wouldn't have to pour excess alfalfa seed into it. Additionally, we could ensure that we were getting...
Trailer built for easy fresh cow travel
Aug. 24 2010
August 25, 2010 Handy Hint Trailer built for easy fresh cow travel Fresh cows are ferried back to the milking string with this low-rider trailer. Designed by Lorin Berge, Valders, Wis., the tractor-drawn...
Brush-moving attachment
Aug. 9 2010
August 10, 2010 Handy Hint Brush-moving attachment For trimming and hauling brush, this device, which fits on my skid steer, is by far the best labor- saving item I have ever constructed. It could be almost...
Durable esophageal feeder
July 15 2010
June Handy Hint: Durable esophageal feeder We made this esophageal feeder from a one-gallon mayonnaise plastic jar. There is a hook on the lid that holds a leather neck strap (freeing your hands). On the...
Hoard's Dairyman: When to breed heifers
July 15 2010
July Handy Hint: When to breed heifers At the Hoard's Farm, we created this quick detection method when a heifer is in the chute to determine if she is eligible to breed. A line was drawn on a 2 x 4 at...
Whiteboard tracks ketosis testing
June 16 2010
May 25 Handy Hint: Whiteboard tracks ketosis testing At Summitholme Holsteins in Lynden, Ontario, a simple dry erase board is used to track ketosis testing for fresh cows. The whiteboard is labeled with...
Train wheels pack bunker
June 1 2010
May 10 Handy Hint: Train wheels pack bunker We made a silage packer from 10 old iron train wheels. It works very well when packing our corn silage and haylage bunkers. The total weight of the packer is...
Handy Hint April 10, 2010
April 19 2010
April 10, 2010 Handy Hint Sliding doors offer light, ventilation Instead of installing several large windows, the Kremers at Donkelman farms in Tillsonburg, Ontario, installed large sliding glass doors...
Handy Hints January 25, 2010
April 19 2010
January 25, 2010 Handy Hint Text cows and heifers in heat We issued cell phones to all our employees. As part of the agreement with our employees for using the farm-issued cell phones, we want employees...
Handy Hints February 25, 2010
April 19 2010
Feb 25, 2010 Handy Hint Best milk replacer mixer I use a 12-inch milk filter spring to mix batches of milk replacer, and I've found the spring is the best mixer ever; it's stainless steel so it's easy...
Sliding doors offer light, ventilation
April 19 2010
Sliding doors offer light, ventilation Instead of installing several large windows, the Kremers at Donkelman farms in Tillsonburg, Ontario, installed large sliding glass doors along the perimeter of their...
Handy Hint April 25, 2010
April 19 2010
Easy and clean way to move newborn calves I wanted an easy and clean way to move newborn calves to our hutch area which is on the other side of the farm. I cut off the top of a 250-gallon portable water...
Handy Hint Jan 10 2010
April 19 2010
Handy Hint: Jan 10, 2010 Colored Tape Marks Distance During the winter months, my employees are so bundled up that they have a hard time turning around inside the skid loader to see behind them. This led...
Handy Hints March 25
April 19 2010
Handy Hints March 25, 2010 Top Hint: Durable, rust-free stall scraper After having yet another "quality" free stall sand scraper rust, fatigue, and come apart, I built this lightweight, yet extremely strong,...
Handy Hints February 10
April 19 2010
Feb 10 Handy Hint: PVC Pipe Keeps IV in Place Sometimes to start an IV on a standing cow in a headlock can be a two-person job (one person to hold the bottle, the other to insert the line into the needle)....
Handy Hint March 10, 2010
April 19 2010
Handy Hint: March 10, 2010 Place Water Lines Within Tile Lines Whenever we replaced or put in a new water line, we ran the plastic water pipe through a 4-inch drainage tile. Doing so allows us to replace...
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