High traffic areas like the fetch pen, the commitment pen, and the robot entrance can become crowded any time but the crowding can be a bigger problem when the weather gets hot. Keeping cows comfortable in guided flow commitment pens is important because cows can't leave. Free flow fetch pens are similar. With either guided-flow or free-flow, cows spend significant time waiting in front of the robots. Bunching in any those areas can limit access to the robot for cows that need to be milked. How can we keep cows comfortable at the robot?
Start with the Basics
For a cow, probably the only thing worse than heat stress is heat stress with flies. It seems you can’t have one without the other. But you can reduce the fly pressure with good sanitation around the robot. Remove all feed residue around the robot regularly to reduce fly breeding. Keep the area well lit to reduce bunching. There are many reasons why cows bunch up in hot weather and we certainly don’t understand all of them. Cows do tend to bunch in the darker areas of the barn. Some say cows associate the darkness with shade, so they move to darker areas even if air movement is better in brighter areas. Good lighting around the robots may reduce bunching.
Control the Traffic
In hot weather, it is even more important to have your milking permissions right. Milking permissions and gate decisions control the number of cows waiting in line at the robots and cows are more comfortable if you keep the line short. A good rule of thumb is to try to keep 30-40% of cows eligible for milking at any time. This will keep the line short and avoid inefficient milkings. Make sure fetching protocols don’t crowd the robots during the hottest hours of the day. Consider whether the timing and frequency of feed delivery are adding to congestion at the robot.
Fans and Sprinklers
Cooling cows in the commitment pen can be about as controversial as religion and politics - combined. It is not a good idea to keep the commitment pen so comfortable that cows don’t want to leave. Many farms avoid rubber flooring, fans, sprinklers, and waterers near the robots because they don’t want cows to hang out there. The area in front of the robots should not be the most comfortable place on the farm – but that doesn’t mean it has to be the least comfortable. Robot rooms are notorious for interfering with barn ventilation. Consider adding fans if air movement is restricted in front of the robot, so the area is almost as comfortable as the rest of the barn. In guided flow barns, a timed sprinkler on the entrance gate can give cows get cows wet on the way into the commitment pen to keep them more comfortable while they wait to be milked. It may also encourage extra trips to the bunk if they also get wet when they are sent to feed. The sprinkler would need to be introduced carefully and positioned correctly so it does not slow traffic through the gate.
Remember to make heat abatement at the robot part of the plan for the whole barn. There are a few simple adjustments that can be made anytime. I am always anxious to share ideas. Contact me and tell me what is working, or not working, for you.
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