Clean or CALF CLEAN?
Cleaning feeding equipment is tedious. It has to be done at least twice a day, 365 days a year, and it has to be done right, every time.
There are many methods out there for feeding equipment cleaning and sanitation, but not all protocols are created equal. That doesn't mean that they won't work, but you have to consider all factors when it comes to cleaning and sanitation.
First and foremost, does it work? When you ATP swab your clean buckets, bottles, and other feeding equipment, what are you getting back for a reading? If it's not 0 you should be digging deeper. If it's not 0 that means two things, your sanitation process isn't working, AND you are slowly creating a biofilm, which is going to be challenging to get rid of if you leave it like that for too long.
Secondly, how much time are you spending on cleaning? Does it take you more than 30 seconds to wash a bottle and nipple? If so, you may want to rethink your strategy. Cleaning can be done well and quickly with the right set up and the right chemicals.
For feeding equipment that is only cleaned periodically, we like to pre-soak everything in DK-ll and water. It makes the cleaning process a breeze. We typically presoak for things like grain feeders, individual grain buckets, buckets after weaning a group of calves, and other things that have stuck on grime. We use our dropline to soak these items 1-2 hours before we start washing. We also pre-soak our pens before we pressure wash to help loosen up the manure. Presoaking has decreased our washing time by 30%, which in return allows us to get other important calf barn business handled!
Secondly, we use DK-ll to clean daily items like this:
Rinse with warm water.
Do any light brushing with soap and water to get any leftover organic matter off.
Rinse with water.
Final rinse with DK-ll
Hang to dry.
That's almost too easy right?
That's because it is! We have been following this protocol for 3+ years now and won't go back to our old way.
Lastly, DK-ll , makes an AWESOME "in-between" spray.
We periodically spray down our buckets in use, taking them from 210 on the ATP meter to a measly 7 with a quick spritz of DK-ll and water. If I'm struggling with scours in a group of calves I will take the dropline into the pen and spray it down. In 24 hours scours will be cut in less than half just by helping those calves by knocking down the environmental disease pressure.