There are some tools we can use to make training heifers easier. Some are very inexpensive while some are a little more involved. Some can be adapted to almost any barn, others won’t work with some barn designs. Anything we can do to get heifers ready for the robot barn will make the transition easier. Some of these can also be used before starting a new barn.
5 GALLON BUCKETS
This may be a little too easy and a little too obvious, but it should not be overlooked. No matter how good the robot pellet tastes and smells, cows won’t dig into it if they have never seen it before. Use a 5-gallon bucket to sprinkle pellets over the feed in the bunk for a week before introducing cows to the robot so they recognize the pellet. Sprinkling is better than mixing because cows need to put their noses in the pellet. It may take a little planning to get the pellets out of the feed system.
FINGER GATES
From the time calves are born, they learn to respect gates and go a different direction (unless, of course, they are Jerseys). Then one day we bring them to a robot barn and expect them to challenge the finger gates. Training gates can help. One farm put D gates in the parlor exit lanes before startup. Another has false finger gates that swing in either direction in one of the cross alleys in the pre-fresh pen. Either helps cows understand that they can go through these new gates.
FEEDING STATIONS
Farmers have devised ingenious ways to get cows into a robot stall while they are in the fresh pen or dry pen. There are commercial feed stations designed just for the purpose. Used robots can have the milking equipment removed and be outfitted to dispense pellets and open and close the gates. I have a customer who created a simpler solution. He put a lick tank in a used robot. Cows go through the stall but there is no need for automation to dispense pellets and open and close gates.
THE BARN
Some customers have had success pre-training heifers in the milking pens. They move springers to robot pens for 1 to 2 weeks to allow them to learn the barn, feed, and robots, before calving. Heifers need to move back to the pre-fresh group early enough to make sure they don’t calve in the milking pen. If you are considering this, work with your nutritionist to avoid metabolic problems. This is not recommended for mature cows because the milking ration puts them at a higher risk of metabolic problems.
Have you seen or used other devices for training new cows? Please share them with me by email or through the “Contact” page at https://www.cow-corner.co/contact.
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