Batchelor Enterprises Ltd
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| Parlour review from a satisfied customer |
3rd April 2008 To whom it may concern Two years ago we invested in a new 260 cow cubicle shed at Stockland Lovell Manor, Coultings, Fiddington, Bridgwater, Somerset, to house our high yielding Holstein Friesian dairy herd. We also upgraded our collecting yards, disposal yards and handling facilities together with excellent foot bathing facilities. Included also in the upgrade was a Fabdec backing gate. The parlour, a 24:24 herringbone had been upgraded a few years ago. We always have had a problem with the cows coming into the parlour, in the old system the cows had to turn through 90 degrees to access a small collecting yard hence we thought this was the problem. The situation did not improve at all with the new system which had a straight line access with a wide exit area. The cowman had to leave the pit for each batch of cows. It has been noted for some time that the cows, once in the parlour, were not at ease and fidgeted and moved about during the milking. This resulted in a lot of cluster loss and difficult milking for the cowman. Since we have had the new shed we have had quite a high incidence of heal ulcers, which we put down to new concrete. As the concrete aged this situation did not improve. Over this time I have had lengthy discussions with our consultant Diana Allen about the above matters. On her advise it was decided to rubber mat the parlour, the exit area and a proportion of the collecting yard. I approached Batchelor Enterprises who assured me that had done similar work on other units with great success. My order was placed and very quickly the 20mm matting was fitted together with a thinner mat in the milking pit. The cowman was very concerned that the cows would not come into the parlour but his fears were completely unfounded. From the first milking, with the mats fitted, the cows entered the parlour freely, quickly and did not require the cowman leaving the pit at all. The fidgeting and unease when being milked stopped making a far more pleasant job for the cowman. On entering the parlour it is not unusual to see 80-90% chewing the cud. The foot problems have not vanished but we are seeing a 30-40% reduction in ulcers since the mats have been fitted. All in all the parlour/collecting yard matting is one of our best investments and when funds become available I would envisage doing more of the collecting yard and perhaps some of the feeding passages. |
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