A farmer from Manawatū has appealed to his Kiwi prowess to ensure that his dogs receive good food while fishing.
After a long day on the farm in 2016, Gerard Richards and his partner were eager to drop a line, but the trip was canceled because he could not find anyone to feed his dogs.
That was enough to give rise to an idea for the Turitea sheep and beef cattle farmer, who was introduced five years later, in May this year, as DuraFeed, an automatic dog feeder for all weather.
Although automated pet feeders are nothing new, they tend to be designed for cats and small dogs, who have relatively little appetite compared to Richards’ hard-working companions.
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Manawatū sheep and beef cattle farmer Gerard Richards with Pip, his chief tester.
He said he could not find any heavy-duty feeders that would survive on a farm, in terms of both the weather and the portion sizes needed to satisfy large breeds such as hunters, German Shepherds and Labradors.
“It took me time to do research, because I took it as a hobby and only worked on it on weekends.
“During my research, I found out that most feeders are made of plastic, and I knew they would not withstand New Zealand’s harsh weather conditions.”
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Gerard Richards loads dry and wet food into the device, which has a capacity of four liters.
Owners simply load food – be it biscuits or meat – into the stainless steel appliance, turn on the power, select the desired time delay, and when the timer goes off, the feed drops free.
“While farmers work on the farm, they do not have to worry about feeding their dogs and puppies in the middle of the day.”
Richards said there are so many daily tasks that bind farmers to the property, and taking one of them away can have an impact.
“Such products can improve the mental well – being of farmers as they can come from the farm and change scene quickly.”
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The supply is powered by four AA batteries, and has six different timer delay settings, ranging from three hours to 24 hours.
Manawatū farmer Leyton Gledhill III has been using the automatic feeder for three weeks.
“I always struggled to get away from the farm. I think the product is life-changing. ”
After coming up with a solid design, Richards teamed up with a steelmaker in Dannevirke.
He has been assisted by Callaghan Innovation and the Central Economic Development Agency (CEDA) for research and development, to raise funds and to liaise with intellectual property attorneys.
CEDA’s business growth adviser Peter Ellingham said DuraFeed was probably one of the first dedicated working farm dog feeders available in the market.
“It’s a simple design that’s automated, but only uses a set of batteries, a timer and a bit of steel. Simple designs are often good ideas as long as people out there are ready to buy your idea.”
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Dog owners are encouraged to use the feeder with an adequate supply of clean drinking water.
The feeder costs $ 375 and is available online. Richards has so far supplied 50 of the dog handlers to people across New Zealand.
While developed for and tested on dogs, owners of other pets and pets have also shown interest.
“I get requests from pony owners to design something big.”
Richards aims to develop a feeder that will provide multiple feeds per day.
The farmer who became an entrepreneur participated in Innovate 2018, and his feeder was on display at Mystery Creek National Fieldays in 2021.