Question 1: How do your
cows get up in your free stall facility?
- Is the outside wall stopping their ability to front lunge?
- Is the bottom rail of the loop in the way for side lunging?
- Are the loops being damaged by cows?
- Are the cows being injured by the loops?
- Is it necessary for the cow to back up to get up in your stall?
- Is the dairy cow able to step her front foot forward when
getting up?
If the answer is
YES to any of these questions, please
watch the Video below which compares a cow with these problems
against the way a cow gets up naturally in pasture. Play it
a couple of times and watch how long it takes the cow in the
barn to get up versus the ease in pasture.
Play
Video - Trouble Getting Up
Now watch a cow
in the Cow Comfort Zone.
Play
Video - Excellent Cow Getting Up
Getting up is but
one facet a stall design must achieve though. We have found
that getting a cow to lie down the right way is as or more important.
Watch the next video to see how a cow gets down when the stall
has enough room. Watch her nose touch the wall as she uses the
entire stall to get down.
Play
Video - Cow Down
Question
2: Does your existing free stall facility have these dimensions?
- Is the neck rail lower than 50 inches off a consistent base?
- Is the overall platform length less than 16 feet head to head?
- Is the overall platform length less than 9 feet 6 inches on
the outside row?
- Is the stall width less than 48 inches?
If the answer
is YES to any of these questions,
please watch the NEW Problem Barn Video by clicking the
link below. Windows Media Player 7.1 is needed to view the video
- to download click
here
Play Video
When watching any
of these videos, please pay careful attention to the behavior
of the cows. The cows are trying to tell us something.
If you see long stretches of cows standing half in and half
out, behavior is NOT NATURAL. This behavior is due primarily
to poor stall design.
This video is the
way cows should naturally act in a free stall if everything
is properly designed. Again, watch the cow behavior!
Play Video
Contact us for
further information about the Cow Comfort Zone.
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