Brisket Locator and Neck Rail Positioning for Cow Comfort

Tender Loving Care Consulting with Tom Lorenzen will lead us through common questions about brisket locator and neck rail positioning for cow comfort.

Whether you're remodeling, building a barn or just want to do a quick check of your current set up, you can take a look at your neck rail and brisket locator positioning. Perhaps a few adjustments could make for an even more comfortable space for the cow and avoid any unnecessary perching.

For a copy of the free stall design recommendation seen on the video, email us at support@advancedcomforttechnology.com or visit: https://www.dccwaterbeds.com/techinfo.

Cow Comfort Leads to Milk Production and Cow Longevity

Tender Loving Care Consulting with Tom Lorenzen will lead us through common questions about how stall comfort for your dairy cows leads to milk production and cow longevity.

"Cows position themselves in every valuable inch of the stall," Lorenzen says.

STOP, look and listen to your dairy cows

Tender Loving Care Consulting with Tom Lorenzen will lead us through common questions about stall comfort for your dairy cows so you have the most success in remodeling or building your next dairy barn.

We focus on discussing the need to "Stop, Look and Listen to the cows," Lorenzen says. "Success of the stall is measured in inches NOT feet."

Cow Water Beds Make For Sweet Dreams And More Milk→

Source: Scott Poock, 573-882-6359; Stacey Hamilton, 417-466-2148

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Water beds for cows improve comfort and milk production at the University of Missouri’s Foremost Dairy Research Center near Columbia.

MU Extension veterinarian Scott Poock and dairy specialist Stacey Hamilton are part of the Foremost team that researches how the beds improve herds. They monitor cows on cameras and record data about resting times and milk production.

Foremost began using the new beds in fall 2018. Cows adapted quickly, Hamilton says, with an estimated 75 percent of the herd using the beds by the second day.

The amount of rest a cow receives affects the quantity of milk she produces. In freestyle barn operations, dairy operators want cows to lie down 12-14 hours per day to prevent lameness and increase milk production. With the water beds, cows stay longer in stalls and lie down sooner, Poock says. Before the water beds, cows lay down an average of 8.5 minutes after entering a stall. They now lie down within five minutes.

The dual-chamber beds offer extra support for the cow’s knees. Once the cow kneels, the pillows offer a cushion for pressure points with gentle support. Strong joints provide better stability and prevent leg and foot injuries, sores and infections that can reduce mobility.

It is “all about cow comfort” and profit for the herd owner, says Hamilton. “Comfortable cows are happier and make more milk.”

Foremost staff put wood chips in the stalls to cover the water beds and catch waste. If Foremost used sand, it would take 50 pounds of sand per day per 160 stalls. The water beds are an easier option, Hamilton says.

The bovine beds cost about a third more than beds previously used at Foremost. Those beds, made of interlocking chopped rubber pieces, deteriorated with time and use.

Many dairy farms still use sand, straw, wood shavings or grass to keep stalls dry and comfortable for cows. Foremost Dairy is among a growing number of dairy farms using the new technology.

Last year, the BBC reported that cows at Queen Elizabeth II’s farm at Windsor Castle enjoy the luxury of water beds. Queen Elizabeth also pampers her cattle with green pastures and automatic brushes that remove dirt and relieve stress. The queen’s dairy uses robotics to milk cows and clean barn floors.

Meanwhile, across the pond, Foremost cows receive the royal treatment too.

Learn more about the Foremost Dairy Research Center at ForemostDairy.missouri.edu.

FROM: http://www.mycaldwellcounty.com/farm-agriculture/cow-water-beds-make-sweet-dreams-and-more-milk

3 tips for improving cow comfort without adding cost

PUBLISHED BY PROGRESSIVE PUBLISHING

[Article link here.]

July 18, 2018

By now, your crops are fully planted, and you’re into rounds of cutting hay. Summer is in full swing. Days and nights are continually getting warmer.

And like you do year-round, you’re thinking about ways to maintain comfort for your cows.

While there’s often opportunity for investing in improvements for your barn, there are things you can do now that might take a little time but won’t require a big out-of-pocket expense.

1. Keep your stalls clean and dry every day

You already have the expense of people, equipment and bedding – just make sure cows are getting what they need. Make sure stalls are kept bedded and cleaned. Cows want a comfortable lying surface.

The better you do, the better your cows will do. If stalls are deep-bedded, keep them full and regularly raked. If using mattresses or waterbeds, ensure there’s enough bedding to keep the surface dry.

The cleanliness of the bedding material is another area to focus on. With mattresses or waterbeds, the cleanliness of the stall surface is easy to see. Any waste matter in the stall is visible on the surface of the bed. In deep-bedded stalls, that same waste may settle down into the bedding, creating a bacteria-rich environment that puts cows at risk of infection.

Perhaps include digging out this bedding during spring cleaning, but focus every day on keeping stalls clean to ensure your cows are not only comfortable but healthier, too.

Is it time to revisit your stall bedding and maintenance procedure? Is it time to retrain? Or is it just time to refocus?

2. Check the condition and setup of your stalls

Whether cows moved them, skid steers hit them, or they’ve rusted away, the stall dividers might be crowding your cows. You’ve seen this before. Some stalls get narrowed. Loops are missing or lying in among the stalls. Maybe the neck rail or brisket locator is mispositioned. A little housekeeping and repair can help get your stall numbers back to what they should be.

Cows have changed. Barn design has improved. And along the way, as attention to cow comfort has increased, recommended stall sizes have changed, too. It can be difficult to change the size of existing stalls. If the loops are post-mounted, then there’s no changing the width without a reinvestment.

If that’s the case, focus on adjusting the neck rail or brisket locator to give cows more space in the stall. If the stall system allows for width adjustment, consider making those changes based on the size needs of your cows. This, too, may be a difficult decision if the result is ending up with fewer stalls. But as you manage your cow-to-stall ratio, remember: Proper stall sizing is an important component of cow comfort.

Fixing the loops and moving the neck rail isn’t easy work, but it’s necessary. If your cows can’t fit easily and comfortably in the stalls, their lying time is affected. Making steady progress on these repairs will have a lasting improvement.

3. Use your resources

Certainly, you’ve set expectations for what needs to be done around the dairy. Maybe it’s time for a little retraining and refocus. How’s air flow in the barn? Were the fans cleaned like they needed to be? How do those waterers look?

Are they being maintained so your cows get the fresh water they need? What are the condition of the curtains, misters, footbaths and gates? You paid for good systems. Is your team keeping them working?

You also have plenty of experts and suppliers ready to sell you things. Take this time to get some “free-of-charge” help. Ask them to help you see some things you might be overlooking. And keep them focused on helping you make changes and adjustments that don’t require new capital.

Your veterinarian will have ideas. Your nutritionist surely has an opinion. And dairy equipment suppliers, near and far, should be able to help you make better use of what you already have. Sure, that’s going to take time and probably some small expense, but once you have a list of ideas, you can prioritize them to get the greatest impact where you need it most.

As with good breeding and managed nutrition, cow comfort is an important piece of your dairy puzzle. Done right, you get a healthy and productive herd. And while there may be plenty of areas to invest in improvements, the day-to-day focus on better maintaining what you have should give the results to get you through today so you can plan for tomorrow.