Thunder Bay, Ontario, Great White North | The cows have freedom to do whatever they want - sleep, eat, be milked, groomed by the cow brush or just wander around. I had them up to 3.7 visits per cow in the spring, individual cows have access anywhere from 2.5 to 6 milkings per day depending on stage of lactation and production level. Cows rarely need fetching, we have gone for weeks without fetching a single late cow - usually the only ones who need to be reminded to go to the milkers are fresh heifers - most catch on in a few days to a week but the odd one takes longer. Currently I have two heifers about 3 weeks fresh who are being fetched for milking a couple times per day, but it is not any extra labor because my barn design allows for fetching cows as you clean stalls, only takes an extra few seconds to swing a couple gates as you move through the barn. |
Robot Barn pics
