How to calculate stock solutions for the Gator
Here is how to work out how much chemical you need to add to your bucket to get the correct dose through to your animals. Lets assume that you have a herd of 100 head cattle, and you need to add a soluble medication to the drinking water at a rate of 2.5mls per animal.
Here is the simplest way to work thing out
- To work out how much your cattle will drink in a day, set up your Gator into the water line, then fill a container of known volume with water, and then put the Gator suction hose int the container,and set it going.
- At the end of the day, measure ( or weigh) how much water has been pumped out of the container. You now know how much chemical mixture your Gator is going to pump in a day. Lets say this came to 30 litres pumped in the day.
- You have 100 head of cattle and they need 2.5mls of minerals each, so add 2.5mls x 100 = 250mls of minerals, then fill with water to 30 litres in your chemical bucket.
Another way to get the answer
- On average, all animals will drink approximately 10% of their body weight per day. This figure will be higher in the summer and lower in winter, but it averages 10%.
- Lets assume that the average weight of your 100 head of cattle is 300kg. This means on average they will drink 30kg ( = 30 litres) of water each per day.
- Total water consumed by the whole herd of cattle that you want to treat is therefore 30 litres x 100 = 3,000 litres.
- We know that the Gator is a set rate 1% pump. Therefore if it has 3,000 litres of water going through it in a day, it means 30 litres will be pumped from the container in a day. Therefore your stock solution needs to be 30 litres.
- Your chemical ( or mineral) needs to be added at a rate of 2.5mls per animal per day. Add 2.5mls x 100 = 250mls then top up with water to 30 litres in the chemical container.
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