Keeping Livestock Happy and Healthy

In my other blogs I talked about smart systems used to improve the quality of a farmer's life but also increase the efficiency of the farm in general. However, most farmers are more concerned about the well-being of their animals over their own health so they happily grind out the hours on the farm to make their animals happy. Well why can't we have it both ways? Why not a happy farmer and happy animals? Surely there is a way to minimize to work done by the farmer while maximizing the health and happiness of the animals. This is where Lely's "Calm" calf feeder comes in. 

When a calf is with its mother in a field, the calf will drink the mother's milk in adequate proportions spread over the day. However in the dairy industry the calves are not with their mothers and are fed manually which is restricted to twice a day. So Lely's Calm calf feeder is introduced which supplies the correct portion and concentration of milk spread over the day, which is more like a calf's natural feeding behaviour. The Calm calf feeder gives the calves the best start as the accurate and small portions throughout the day enhance substantially the development of the digestive organs of the calf. [1]

How the Lely Calm works:

The Lely Calm automatically mixes a measure of milk powder and hot water (drinking temperature 39°C /102.2°F) to make one portion of milk. The automatic feeders can recognize an animal by reading the transponder around its neck as each calf will have a different transponder reading. As a result the Calm calf feeder will mix a certain amount of milk for the calf, no more or less than what the farmer has predefined for each calf. Due to each calf having its own transponder, calves of different ages can all be part of the same group and they will all only get the amount of milk they are meant to get. The Calm calf feeder also keeps track of things like which calves have and haven't fed, how long they took to feed, whether they left the feed station before drinking all of their milk, etc. The farmer can check this list and see if/which calves he/she needs to give attention to. [2]

Lely Calm Calf Feeder

Its not just about nutrition as the animal's comfort is also key to its health. I get an itch on my back from time to time as I'm sure you do but we can scratch ours with ease. A cow can't, at least not easily, which must be very uncomfortable. To help fix this issue DeLaval created the Swinging Cow Brush SCB. The video below shows the SCB in action. The brush rotates at an animal-friendly speed and can swing freely in all directions to provide comfort all around the cow. The SCB is also energy saving as it only starts rotating on contact with a cow and will stop rotating 10 seconds after use. You don't need to worry about your cows damaging the SCB as its construction is extremely strong and durable. The use of the SCB gives a proven decrease in clinical mastitis, an infection that occurs in the udders of cows causing inflammation and can be fatal, and an increase in milk production.  Happy cows make more milk. [3]

DeLaval Swinging Cow Brush SCB

by Thomas Murphy

[1] Lely Calm Calf Feeder

[2] Calm Calf Feeder - How It Works

[3]DeLaval Swinging Cow Brush SCB