6 DIY Livestock Hacks for Your Farm

Farmers take ideas and inspiration from fellow farmers all the time. Use these farm inventions and solutions to fix issues before true problems arise. These ideas around livestock and ranching were featured in All Around the Farm® in Successful Farming magazine.

Cattle Side and Back Scratcher

To make a cattle scratcher, I welded together two old coil springs from the front-end suspension of a truck. To gain some adjustability, I welded them to an old sprocket at a slight angle, and I mounted the sprocket to the side of an old silo. Because of the sprocket spacing, I can rotate the gear and angled spring to adjust it to the correct height, whether the cattle are taller or shorter. I mounted the head of a stiff-bristle broom to the bottom of the spring. On the side of the silo, I mounted the tread of a tire, and now the cattle can rub both their sides and back all at the same time. -Tyler Schmidt, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin

Ice Breaker Bar

I found that a tire slide hammer bead breaker works well for chipping ice off concrete or for breaking ice in a water tank. This tool concentrates all the force of a sledgehammer to the fine edge of the bead breaker. Dollar for dollar, this is the best way to go. -Jacob Berntson, Valley City, North Dakota

Feed Bunk Cable Tightener

Keeping feed bunk cables taut can be time-consuming and frustrating. I came up with the idea to use old cultivator springs to help alleviate the problem. I used 3-foot x 5/8-inch Redi-Bolts to achieve my goal. Using dual eyebolts to run the cable through, I only need to tighten the nuts down to give complete tension to the cables. As the cables stretch, the springs continue to keep the cables tight. -Brian Keiner, Chamberlain, South Dakota

Leak Finder

If you are like most people, you have probably had an unexpected leak in a buried water line. With the leak hard to locate, I decided to try using air pressure to replace the water in the line, hoping I would hear air coming from the leaking area. It worked incredibly well! I made an air chuck adapter and attached it to a water spigot. I used a pressure regulator to avoid putting too much pressure into the water lines. If the ground is saturated from the leak or from rain, the results should be more quickly noticed. -Robert McKinney, Walla Walla, Washington

Easy Inlet Bin Fan Covers

We found plastic trays sold as floor protectors (available in two sizes) for under Christmas trees work great to cover our bin inlets when fans are not in operation. In the winter, they keep snow and sleet from freezing on the fan blades, which can cause fans to get out of balance and create premature failure. In the summer, they prevent insect activity under binfloors by disrupting warm airflow into that open area. The protectors also prevent wind from causing the free-wheeling fans undue wear year-round. -Ben Kollis, Inwood, Iowa

Chute Gap

To prevent the legs of livestock from getting stuck in the gap between the trailer and the loading/unloading chute, I bent a sheet of metal over the 3-inch tubing that is already there. I attached the oversized, angle-iron-like piece of metal to the center of the 3-inch tubing. Now when we back up the trailer to the chute, the metal attachment evens out with the trailer, eliminating gaps. -Boaz Wipf, Winfred, South Dakota

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