Consistent Feeding, Healthier Calves: The Value of a Milk Taxi

Using a Milk Taxi to feed dairy calves offers several practical and animal-health benefits compared to traditional bucket feeding and many of these apply generally, including on dairy farms in British Columbia where producers are increasingly focusing on calf comfort, higher milk intakes, and efficient pre-weaning management. (UBC Dairy Education and Research Centre). It’s important to recognize the variability in climate across the various geographical regions in the province. The Milk Taxi is one piece of equipment that is not affected by calve housing and Climate challenges, it’s versatility and mobility is unique to any other system.

Key Benefits of Using a Milk Taxi for Dairy Calves

More Consistent and Accurate Feeding

• A milk taxi mixes milk replacer or whole milk consistently and at the right temperature, reducing the risk of poorly mixed replacer or milk that’s too cold or too hot.

• The Milk Taxi also can also pasteurize whole milk. Giving the extra piece of mind to producers.

• You can dispense exact volumes tailored to each calf’s needs without guesswork Helping ensure calves get the nutrition they need. Healthy calves become high producing milk calves.

• The “SMART ID” option! It removes the guess work and allows for a much smoother weaning process regardless of who is responsible for feeding calves day by day.

Major Labour and Time Savings

• Compared with carrying buckets or manual mixing, a milk taxi significantly cuts the time and labour required to feed calves. Producers report feeding dozens of calves much more quickly using mobile systems.

• Being mobile, you can feed calves wherever they are housed — in hutches, barns, or pens — without lugging equipment back and forth.

 Better Hygiene and Health Management

• Many milk taxis include semi-automatic cleaning cycles and stainless-steel construction, facilitating hygiene and lowering disease risk from contaminated feeding equipment.

• Units with pasteurization or cooling help manage pathogen loads in whole milk, which can improve calf health compared with raw, unevenly cooled milk feeds.

 Support for Calf Growth and Welfare

• Calves fed consistent, correctly mixed milk at proper temperatures are more likely to have stable intakes and better growth early in life — critical given BC trends toward higher milk allowances in the first weeks. (UBC Dairy Education and Research Centre)

• Rapid and accurate feeding helps maintain energy levels, which contributes to higher average daily gain and better overall health than inconsistent routine photos.

 Economically Practical Between Manual and Fully Automated Systems

• A milk taxi “bridges the gap” between manual bucket feeding and expensive automated calf feeders offering many benefits of automation at a lower cost, while keeping control in the producer’s hands.

• For producers not ready to install stationary automated devices, a milk taxi provides flexibility without large capital investment.

 Why It Matters in British Columbia?

In BC, dairy calf rearing practices is evolving with greater milk allowances and group feeding becoming more common reflecting industry moves toward welfare and performance-oriented feeding (UBC Dairy Education and Research Centre). A milk taxi supports these practices by enabling controlled, uniform feeding in alignment with provincial and national codes of practice which emphasize proper milk nutrition, feeding techniques, and calf welfare.

For more information, contact your local WCR Sales Rep for a discussion about whether a Milk Taxi is the right fit for your Farm.