Picture one
This is the exit side of John and David Finn’s milking parlour. Cows turn the corner and enter the drafting race which is located against the side of the building. They immediately pass through the reader which lets the animal walk straight on or drafts it out to the right.
The right hand side of this yard contains the AI unit and a general purpose crush. In the middle we see a slip through gap – about 33cm wide – for the farmer or AI technician to easily access the handlin
Picture two
The cows walk this race four times a day every day. It is the route out to both the cubicle house and to paddocks. The race is 36 inches wide - enough to allow cows walk at full speed but narrow enough to keep them in single file and to minimise washing time. Dung and urine are confined by low walls on the left and right.
Picture three
If drafted out for AI a cow will leave the drafting race, enter the handling unit, be turned back to face the direction she came from and enter the AI stalls. There are four stalls here which can hold eight cows - sufficient for a herd of up to 200 cows. Again, we see the slip through gap for the AI technician to access the unit.
Picture four
Each stall holds two cows. Each cow is held at the front by a hinged gate, at the rear by a chain.
This passage in the middle of the eight cows allows the AI technician do his work more safely and quickly that would be the case if the cows were in a crush.
Once finished in the AI stalls cows are let back into the open yard and once again enter the drafting race and pass by the reader panel and this time straight through the drafting gate and rejoin the herd.
Picture five
As well as insemination, cows will also be drafted into this handling unit for treatment for lameness, tail painting, etc, and for these jobs are directed down to this general purpose crush.
It is long enough to hold five cows and has a headgate. Beyond this is a crate fitted with a foot lifter. The Finns carry out herd testing, scanning and vaccinating in the long drafting race. While it’s wide at 36 inches the job is generally done quickly and without trouble.
Picture six
Strategically placed slip through gates are necessary to make any handling unit efficient.
These units generally contain a chute and crush with extras such as foot lifters, etc. For large herds there is the option of putting in AI stalls to make insemination quicker and safer.
Recently I looked at stalls in a handling unit on the farm of brothers John and David Finn of Kildorrery, Co Cork, who operate as milk production partnership.
The brothers saw stalls in use on farms in Britain and decided to include them in a new set up they were building which now has cubicles, holding yard and parlour under one roof, as well as the Al unit. They went to O’Donnell Engineering based in Emily, Co Tipperary for design and installation. The AI unit is in place a few years and works well.
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Automatic drafting works when it plugs into the cows’ daily route to and from the parlour. An animal can be drafted out of the bunch, directed into a crush, treated as required and then returned to join her colleagues, with minimal stress all round.
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These units generally contain a chute and crush with extras such as foot lifters, etc. For large herds there is the option of putting in AI stalls to make insemination quicker and safer.
Recently I looked at stalls in a handling unit on the farm of brothers John and David Finn of Kildorrery, Co Cork, who operate as milk production partnership.
The brothers saw stalls in use on farms in Britain and decided to include them in a new set up they were building which now has cubicles, holding yard and parlour under one roof, as well as the Al unit. They went to O’Donnell Engineering based in Emily, Co Tipperary for design and installation. The AI unit is in place a few years and works well.
Automatic drafting works when it plugs into the cows’ daily route to and from the parlour. An animal can be drafted out of the bunch, directed into a crush, treated as required and then returned to join her colleagues, with minimal stress all round.
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