Heat stress on animals comes with a range of impacts including lower production (and therefore income) and decreased cow fertility, welfare and health that lasts well beyond the hot season.
Research shows that when the temperature around cattle exceeds 350C it results in reduced feed intake. If this rise in temperature continues, dry matter intake can decrease by 50% and stress levels will become significantly prominent amongst livestock. This decline in their food intake and increased stress levels will correspond with a decline in the quality of yield in which they are producing and be a contributing factor to decreased milk production, poor reproductive performance, increased incidences of mastitis and uterine infections along with various other health problems.
With heat stress being such a big problem with our hotter summers, there is an increasing demand for solutions within both the dairy and livestock industries.
The first step in reducing heat stress is building an understanding of the heat exchange processes and how temperature is affecting your cattle.
Conduction is the transfer of heat through direct contact. When hot cows want to avoid contact with one another. Where this is not possible we need to increase airflow to reduce the heat passed between animals.
Convection is the transfer of heat through actual movement of matter. Hot cattle will look for ways to cool themselves during hot days so again increasing airflow will significantly assist this process.
Radiation is the last way heat can be exchanged and is the emission of heat to and from a cow and its surroundings. Cattle will try and position themselves away from direct sun and hot objects eg. fences.
With this in mind, some possible solutions or improvements that can be considered include:
Provide cattle more/easier access to clean drinking water e.g. installing additional troughs for summer. This will help reduce heat stress levels and keep cattle in paddocks longer to graze.
Install shade structures. Providing your animals with a shade structure will provide them with a space they can enter on hot days, helping to reduce the heat stress but also being a place, they can go to escape rain and unpleasant weather during winter.
Install a ventilation system. Airflow is so important – particularly where cows are crowded. Increasing air circulation helps to maintain healthy air supply while also bringing down the temperature. Fans can be installed to tilt, maximising the air that is being blown between and underneath cows enhancing whole body cooling. Systems can also be set up to be intertwined with sprinklers and even controlled through technology.
The final recommendation to help reduce heat stress is to implement sprinkler or evaporation systems. They both encourage heat loss through the process of evaporative cooling and are effective in cooling large numbers in little time. Cooling just prior to milking for instance helps to lower breathing rates. If cows are cool after leaving dairies they will eat more over night.
By adopting one or more of these solutions for controlling heat stress, your farm stands to reap the benefits in productivity while your animals health and wellbeing is vastly improved.
Please call us @Eagle Direct if you want to discuss any aspect of cow cooling. #farmingforthefuture
Cow Brushes
Cow brushes are a relatively low cost way to improve animal welfare and promote correct cow traffic in your barn. While cow happiness may never be scientifically proven, US studies have shown that the simple addition of one or more cow brushes to your barn helps to increase cow health, cow comfort, animal welfare and overall performance.
The brush helps by increasing blood circulation while keeping the cows clean, busy and happy in their environment which, by anecdotal assumption, will lead to better milk production. A small investment could pay big dividends for your farm so call us today to arrange a quote.
Good cow health starts from the ground up. Maintaining hoof health in your herd is one of the most important, but often overlooked, factors in maximising your returns. Wet & sloppy conditions underfoot exacerbate hoof problems and can make your herd more susceptible to injury and microbial entry. From cracked hooves to foot rot, poor hoof health takes a toll on your livestock, no matter what the species.
Good nutrition and ongoing hoof care are the best preventative measures a farmer can take. Eagle Direct works very closely with Comfort Hoofcare – arguably the global leaders in good hoof health. We stock a range of hoof health products in our online shop but it all starts with the animal chute which we can deliver direct to your farm saving you time & money.
Your calves represent your future herd and future income. When a calf is born it does not have a developed immunity system so keeping these calves safe & healthy in the first 6-8 weeks of life is critical to ensure it can go on to become a healthy productive animal for many years. Our calf pens or hutches give calves the perfect start to life allowing one to one bottle feeding several times a day, individual health monitoring and a degree of isolation while their bodies develop and outgrow the newborn susceptibilities.
Research has shown that a well-lit barn can both boost your bottom line by reducing energy costs and increase milk production. The manipulation of day/night rhythm to achieve a longer-period of light can have significant positive effects not only on productivity but also on health and fertility. Studies out of the US & Europe found that a 16-hour “photo-period” boosted milk production by up to two litres per day more than cows on a natural 8-hour “photo-period”.
Sourcing suitable lights and optimising them for your farm is where Eagle Direct can help. We work with the leading suppliers from around the globe and have access to experts in barn lighting that assist all our customers to find the right solution for their enterprise. Drop us an enquiry today to discuss your requirements.
In warm weather, cows adjust their behaviour and physiology in an attempt to cope with the heat load. Cows will seek out cooler microclimates or protection against the sun which will often reduces their lying and feeding times and can increase their respiration rates. Production losses and elevated body temperatures can occur and sometimes result in infertility.
Along with fans, soaker lines installed along feed bunks or bedding areas are a very successful way of bringing down cow’s body temperatures and ensuring their comfort. The frequency & location of spraying is an important factor to keep cows at the feed bunk longer and to ensure they are comfortable during rumination periods. Improved cooling translates to better milk production and healthier animals.
Ventilation in barns, particularly where cows are tightly packed eg. holding yard/s, should always be considered a priority in any infrastructure planning. Good facility design will create the most effective air movement. Fans will then increase this air movement – moving warm air away from cows and creating air movement over the cow’s skin to enhance evaporative cooling through sweating during warm-hot days across Spring, Summer & Autumn.
Placement, angle and size of fans are all important considerations and will need to be taken into account when designing an improved cow cooling solution for your farm. Used together with soaker lines will have an even greater cooling effect for your animals. Call Eagle Direct today to discuss where your farm is currently at so we can assist you in designing a system that will maximise your investment from both a productivity and cow comfort standpoint.
Silage rakes and facers can provide greater consistency in feed quality and ration composition for farmers handling lots of feed daily. Losses through mismanaged silage can easily mount up and with feed being such an expensive commodity, it’s a critical aspect of farming that you simply can’t afford to get wrong.
We all know that the less exposure silage has to air, the better preserved it will be. Silage facers, with their rotating beater, powered by a hydraulic motor, leaves a face that is still tight & even. Using a silage facer or rake avoids unnecessary wear & tear on other farm equipment eg. skid steer & bucket or tele handlers. Facers & rakes also ensure consistency no matter who is doing the job of getting the feed.
Mixing feed has advantages for both the farmer and livestock, as uniformly mixed feed components provide better nutrition, improved feed efficiency and cost, and the opportunity to reduce wastage.
In dry times, when much of the feed is purchased off farm with higher costs, wastage and efficiency are even more critical. Improved nutrition benefits milk yield or weight gain, and contributes to animal health and fertility.
Eagle Direct works closely with Canadian based Loewen Manufacturing who are one of, if not the most trusted brand when it comes to manufacturing quality and reliable feed mixers. The Loewen Vertical & Horizontal Feed Mixers come in a range of sizes (12m3 to 60m3) with tandem or single axle undercarriage. If you’re considering investing into feed mixing equipment, make sure you talk to us so we can show you a Loewen mixer in action on farm.
Presenting feed to your livestock in such a way as to increase dry matter consumption and the production of milk while minimising associated costs is nirvana to the farmer. At Eagle Direct we’ve done a lot of work with ValMetal and specifically their Pro-Feed 2020 which is a self propelled feed pusher which uses an auger to push the silage or hay back to the animals increasing odour and palatability.
A robust, waterproof controller with a 10’’ (254mm) touch screen is very easy to use and can save a heap on labour costs. The menu is simple and user-friendly – the feeder can also be controlled from your computer, tablet and cell phone; no matter where you are.
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Sand & Manure Separation System by McLanahan
McLanahan Sand & Manure separation systems are used to settle out and wash bedding sand, and can be set up in multiple ways depending on the type of manure conveyance system on the dairy. In some cases, the sand-laden manure from the alleys is loaded directly into the separator, where bedding sand is settled out and washed. On a dairy where flush water is used to move the manure and sand bedding, the separator is used to wash the sand after it has been settled out either in a McLanahan Channel System or scooped from a sand lane. In all cases, the Sand-Manure Separator produces a clean, reusable sand bedding product with minimal organic content, suitable for reuse as recycled sand bedding.
MANURE & WASTE WATER SCREEN SEPARATOR by US Farm Systems
The US Farm Systems Separator Screens come in several sizes ranging from 5′ X 6′ to 8′ X 12′. The appropriate size is selected based on the type of waste being separated and rate processing requirements; Eagle Direct can help you find the perfect combination to process your waste water and manure efficiently and economically. Our v-wire screens come with a wide range of opening spacing, 0.010” to 0.060”. Moisture contents of 85% are attainable for separated solids with a separator screen alone.
Waste water and manure screen separator are not only useful at dairies, they perform in a variety of situations and waste materials.
