Magnetic Separation for Cattle and Bull Fattening

In modern cattle and bull fattening, automatic feeding systems are used to distribute mixed feed or silage via a mixer wagon along the feeding alley, with animal feeding stations arranged on both sides. The feed is dispensed in doses into the trough zones via the system's discharge chutes. Magnetic plate separators from Alexander GmbH Magnettechnik are integrated into these discharges to reliably clean the feed of metallic foreign bodies during the free-fall process. Typical contaminants include nails, wire pieces, screws, fragments of machine components, or rusty iron particles that can enter the silage or mixed feed during harvesting, transport, or storage. These foreign bodies pose a significant risk: they can cause mechanical damage to mixers, screw conveyors, and discharge gates, and, if ingested by the animals, lead to injuries of the digestive tract and diseases such as traumatic reticuloperitonitis (hardware disease). Magnetic separation directly in the feeding stream significantly reduces this risk and sustainably improves animal health, performance, and plant availability. Typically, two plate separators are arranged in series per discharge to achieve high separation efficiency even with high throughput volumes. The magnetic plates are positioned so that the feed stream is specifically guided over the active magnetic surface without hindering the material flow or encouraging bridge formation. The geometry and spacing of the plates are matched to the respective feed structure (silage, TMR, structured roughage) to ensure the highest possible probability of contact between the feed and the magnetic surface.