Are your cows visiting the feed bunk and the milking robot often enough to meet your goals for milk production? Cow flow describes whether cows are moving around the barn as much as we would like them to. Cow flow is affected by feeding at the bunk and the robot, barn design, cow training, and the things people do in the barn.
Before trying to manage cow flow, we need to be able to measure it. The number of milkings gives us some idea, but milking is only one of the things that happens when a cow moves around the barn, and milkings may be forced by fetching. Gate passages include milkings and trips to the feed bunk. In a guided flow barn, we need to get cows to the feed bunk. If cows make enough trips to the feed bunk, milkings will follow.
WHAT IS A GATE PASSAGE?
The guided flow system counts a gate passage every time a cow is identified at a gate. Cows are identified at the sort gates that let them into, and possibly out of, the commitment pen. Each trip to the sort gate is a gate passage. Going through the robot is usually not a gate passage. The robot can be a gate passage if there is a sort gate connected to it, using robot identification. The cow does not have to go through the gate to count a gate passage. If she backs away after she is identified, it is still a gate passage, which the system will mark as “Did not pass.” If the photocells do not see the cow, the result is also, “Did not pass.”
HOW MANY GATE PASSAGES TO EXPECT?
Each barn will have a unique number of gate passages. Suppose the software shows 10 gate passages. If cows enter the commitment pen through one smart gate and leave through another, each milking will include 2 gate passages. If this farm is averaging 3 milkings, then there are 6 gate passages related to milking. Theoretically the other 4 gate passages are extra trips to the feed bunk. Actual trips to the feed bunk will be a little less because of “Did not pass” results. Think of another farm with 7 gate passages, but on this farm, cows go from the robot to the feed bunk without going through a sort gate. In this case, there is one gate passage per milking. The 7 gate passages on this farm result in the same 4 theoretical trips to the bunk as the farm with more gates and 10 gate passages.
HOW ARE GATE PASSAGES USED?
Gate passages can be used for short-range and long-range decision making. In the short run, a day to day drop in gate passages may reflect another change in the system. For example, if a ration change results in less gate passages, consider reviewing the ration change or re-evaluating new forages. In the long run, gate passages can give us insights into the number of milkings. Again, the goal is more trips to the feed bunk. If cows are making enough trips to the feed bunk but not being milked enough, evaluate milking permission and stocking density. If cows are not being milked enough because they are not making enough trips to the feed bunk, evaluate things like cow training, forage quality, and barn routines.
Cow Corner can help you analyze the gate passages and cow flow on your farm. Call, email, or leave a message in the contact section at www.cow-corner.co for more information.
Comments