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: A little door for cold weather
Nov. 20 2024
I put a smaller door into a big one so during the winter months, I can use the small one and not let all the warm air out of the barn
Handy Hint: Blender cups serve another purpose
Oct. 21 2024
My wife recently upgraded her Ninja blender, which she uses for cooking all sorts of tasty country desserts
Handy Hint: A recycled calf pen
Aug. 20 2024
Handy Hint: A recycled calf pen
Handy Hint: A stand for this brush
July 12 2024
We recently bought a cattle brush and needed a good way to put it up, so I built a stand out of recycled materials
Handy Hint: A versatile feed pusher
June 10 2024
We built a feed pusher that can fit onto any tractor or loader on our dairy
Handy Hint: A disposable way to organize ear tags
May 30 2024
When you’re out on the farm updating identification tags on animals, it can get disorganized when you’re looking through a pile of ear tags that you’re pulling from your pocket
Handy hint: A spring for pliers
March 12 2024
If you like tools that help you work faster, then this trick is for you
Handy Hint: A movable fence post
Feb. 14 2024
Do you want to be able to move your fence posts around?
Handy Hints: A Quick Hydraulics Fix
Jan. 23 2024
My hydraulics quick attach kept getting pinned between the grapples and spears on my loader, so I made a bracket with three holes that match the pins on the quick attach
Handy Hints: A spot to dry bottles
Jan. 5 2024
As someone raising only a handful of calves at a time, I was looking for a way to air the bottles out between feedings
Handy Hint: A better way to clean bottles
Dec. 13 2023
I found a fast and efficient way to clean calf bottles
Handy Hint: A Rack for Tire Sidewalls
Nov. 14 2023
To better organize our tire sidewalls used to cover the silage pile, we built this rack out of I-beams and 2-inch tubing
A smooth ride for calves
Oct. 17 2023
Sometimes our newborn calves don’t want to walk in from the field
Handy Hints: A Homemade Tractor Counterweight
Sept. 13 2023
We needed a counterweight for our tractor
Handy Hints: Bucket hooks always available
Aug. 15 2023
Instead of searching for a place to fasten our chains, we welded three hooks along our skid steer bucket
Handy Hint: Don't let the pump float away
July 12 2023
My family farm has a pump that floats on a raft in the middle of the manure lagoon
A quick exit for flies
May 15 2023
I had a lot of flies in the barn during the summer months, so I had an electrician install night lights next to the exhaust fans
A working strength pencil
April 25 2023
I was looking for a strong, durable pencil with an eraser
A colostrum heating device
April 10 2023
We needed a more reliable way to thaw and heat colostrum, so I took a 15-gallon plastic barrel and cut it to the correct height so the heating element wouldn’t touch the bottom
Hold down the bunker plastic
March 15 2023
On our silage bunkers, we bolt 2-foot pieces of 1” by 4” boards using concrete anchors every 12 feet to hold down the vapor barrier plastic. This way, the wind can’t get a hold of it,...
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