Skellerup built its Thriver calf teats around what rearers had been asking for: one that does not leak, stays reliable, and lasts from a calf’s first feed through to weaning.

Rebecca White, Australasian Sales Manager for Dairy at Skellerup, says the teat had to do two jobs at once.

“We really wanted to make a teat that was nice and soft and inviting, but also stood up to the test when you’ve got 100kg weaners,” she says.

Keeping design and manufacturing in New Zealand let the team turn the range around in under nine months, running versions out on farm as they went.

Coaxing a newborn onto the teat is where the vanilla comes in. Skellerup embeds it in the compound to play on a calf’s attraction to sweet smells, a trick it had already used in teats for the US market.

“I was probably the most surprised about the vanilla, about how much people really love it.”

She says the effect carries into feeding.

“People are saying they’re tubing less calves because they are taking to the teat straight away.”

The teats are tuned to feed at a pace that keeps calves suckling and supports rumen development without frustrating them.

“So not as slow as some on the market, but also not as fast.”

The first season turned up a fault: some pull-through teats were splitting where they seat into the feeder. For this year, Skellerup has made the compound 20% stronger and doubled the rubber thickness at that point.

White says five technical specialists work farms nationwide, passing problems like that straight back to the team.

The Thriver brand is building a global presence, with the teats already being exported.

“We’ve sent them into Australia, so they’re giving them a nudge, and feedback’s been really good from them.”

She says rearers should budget for and expect one teat per calf per season.

Learn more about Thriver by Skellerup, including the Pull-Through and Screw-In calf teats, at skellerup.com, through your local Skellerup Dairy Technical Specialist, or at all leading rural supply stores.

CountryWide CONNECT with Andy Thompson & Sarah Perriam-Lampp is our daily rural show livestreamed from 11am-1pm. Visit country-wide.co.nz on how to watch/listen or download the CountryWide CONNECT mobile app, available on Apple iOS and Android.