Dairying System Lets Cows Feed Themselves

Dairying System Lets Cows Feed Themselves DAIRY EQUIPMENT & IDEAS Dairy Equipment & Ideas 19-2-26 Dairy cows feed themselves in a new labor-saving feeding system that's catching on fast in Europe. Once a week, silage is loaded into a feeding alleyway with movable stalls on each side. As cows eat into the silage pile, the feeding stalls, driven by electric motors, are moved forward. "With a conventional stall system serving 100 cows, one person working alone spends about an hour a day on feeding chores. With our system, he gets the job done in only one hour per week," says Frits Bennink, sales manager of the Weelink Co,, headquartered in Holland and one of several companies selling the new-style system. Individual cows can eat any time they want day or night. There's always an empty stall. "Because cows don't all eat at once, you only need to provide one feeding stall per 2.5 cows," explains Bennink. "A dairy-man adapting our system to an existing barn can increase herd size 25 to 30% without increasing size of the building." Maximum capacity for a single Weelink system is 36 stalls ù 18 on each side. It handles 120 to 130 cows. Additional full or partial-length movable stall sections can be installed as needed.. "The largest we've installed to date is a 320-cow system in East Germany," notes Bennink. Doing the daily feeding chores is as simple as going to the barn once or twice a day to push the switch to start the electric motors which move the feeding stalls on each side forward a few inches. When standing in a feeding stall, the cow's front feet rest on a 3-ft wide plat-form. It separates feed and manure, helping to keep feed fresh and clean. If cows are feeding when you want to move the panels, they can stay put. In Europe, silage for dairy animals is generally grass silage put up in trenches or bunkers. It's tightly packed and re-moved in huge blocks up to 8 or 10 feet wide. "Dairymen in North America could feed alfalfa silage but it would be less compacted and you'd have to haul in silage more often ù probably two or three times a week," says Bennink. For more information on the popular new feeding system, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Weelink Co., Tynaarlosestraat 58a, 9481 AD Vries, Holland (ph 003105921-428129). FARM SHOW F011owup, Wopa, E.T. Malt & Son, Elm Farm, Shiipdham, Thefford, Norfolk, England (ph 0362 820254). FARM SHOW Followup, Meekes Groenlo, Industrieweg 7, 7141 DD Groenlo, Holland (ph 05440-65180).

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