The Batard Brothers farm is located in the village of Saint-Aybert in the north of France, right next to the Belgian border. They own 90 dairy cows and about 50 Belgian Blue cattle. Each year, they feed out 1200 to 1500 bales with their Hustler CH2000 bale feeder (this model has now been replaced by the Chainless LM104 bale feeder) that they absolutely love!

Bruno and Daniel feed out a large variety of bales as dairy and beef livestock don’t have the same nutritional needs.

“We feed out meslin baleage, which weighs between 1000 and 1200 kilos, and we also feed out ryegrass, which weights between 500 and 600 kilos.”

For them, it was also very important to find a machine able to keep the feed intact, unlike most of the bale processors available on the market which tend to chop the hay. Using hay rings wasn’t an option to consider because it created too much competition, while the Hustler bale feeder allows them to feed out a thin windrow along the headlocks.

Most of Batard Brothers’ livestock is housed indoor, especially during winter. In the barns, even the slightest noise resounds a lot, which can cause stress for the animals. As stress has a lot of impact on the quality of the meat or the quality of the milk, Bruno and Daniel want to respect the well-being of their livestock as much as possible. The Chainless bale feeder is ideal as it offers a quieter operation.

“Seriously, if we had an electric tractor, we wouldn’t hear any noise at all,”

Bruno joked.

“Another huge benefit of this machine is that you can do everything with just one tractor: loading and feeding out,”

Bruno continued. With integrated tynes, the Hustler Chainless bale feeder is self-loading but also very easy to use and cheap to run: no need for an additional piece of equipment to buy or to run, which would ultimately impact investment or fuel expenses.

Bruno and Daniel are very organized as they have no time to waste. Their Hustler perfectly fits their feeding routine:

“I feed out the silage first with my telehandler, then Bruno feeds out the hay straight after me. In two or three minutes, the bale is fully unwound”,

Daniel explained.

Bruno and Daniel bought their machine from a nearby Hustler accredited dealer, Messeant. All Hustler bale feeders are backed up with a four-year warranty so it was convenient for them to be able to buy the machine from a local dealer, just in case. However, they have never experienced any break down with their Hustler bale feeder even though it works hard every day!

Source: Hustler

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