GLENKYLIE FARM
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Southland Electrical and Refrigeration’s Gerhard Lategan.
The cows line up to use the barn’s eight Delaval Swinging Cow Brushes.
Once the site was developed, Wreys Bush Concrete undertook concreting of the barn’s dual level concrete floor and yards. Milne Building Contractors constructed the steel framing and yarding, roof (which has an 18 degree pitch to facilitate air flow) and stalls complete with eight Delaval Swinging Cow Brushes and 12 water troughs. The barn is closed at one end with curtains on the western side, providing shelter from the prevailing wind.
Investment payback The fit-out of the stalls, water pipes, mattresses, DeLaval Swinging Cow brushes and effluent system was undertaken by Southland Farm Services. BB Cunningham applied a coating of Acraflex paint to the concrete floor where silage is deposited by the tractor to prevent scratching of the cows’ noses and mouths and to protect the concrete from erosion. Southland Electrical and Refrigeration’s Gerhard Lategan says the electrical componentry in the new barn is ‘state of the art’. “We installed induction lines in the concrete – close to each side of the central aisle – which guide the DeLaval OptiDuo Robotic Feed pusher that refreshes and repositions silage for easy access by the cows,” says Gerhard. “The roller door at the closed end of the barn has photocell technology, which detects when the robotic feed pusher is activated, opening and closing the door
A cow drinks from one of the 12 water troughs in the barn.
Cows relaxing in the DeLaval Staff Dividers on the DeLaval Cow Mattresses.
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The DeLaval OptiDuo Robotic Feed Refresher (dubbed ‘Joe’ by the Stevenson family) remixes, refreshes and repositions silage to predetermined timings each day.
to allow it to enter and leave the barn. “The interior of the barn has 22 high bay lights, plus eight red lights which provide low impact light, which is barely visible outside the shed, for the cows at night. “Southland Electrical and Refrigeration wired the eight DeLaval Swinging Cow Brushes whose sensors turn on when touched by the cow.” Rex and Audrey are delighted with the new barn. “It was a big investment but, one year on, we are getting payback,” says Audrey. “We’re not paying for winter grazing and are milking for longer. We dry off in batches according to calving dates, aiming for a 50 to 55 day dry period for all the cows. “The cows are warm and content and our production has improved, currently averaging 550kgms per cow. “On the environmental side, we are now able to accurately manage our nutrient loading,” says Audrey Stevenson.
Happy stock Craig Stevenson says the cows settled quickly to the new environment. “We start calving on July 25; in early May the cows come in at night but by midway through the month they are in full-time until the end of August, subject to the weather. At other times of the year we bring them inside when we get extreme weather. “We don’t calve in the barn because of the chain
Proud to be supplying quality certified ready mix concrete for this project.
2259 Winton Wreys Bush Hwy • 1 R.D. Otautau, Southland Email : admin@wreysbushconcrete.co.nz Free phone 0800 225 850 • Phone plant (03) 225 8503
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Milkers are fed silage three times a day, and dries once a day. scrapers – springers are drafted out and moved to a covered pad where they calve. “The mattresses are scraped manually but, other than that, the barn is low maintenance. It’s had an appreciable impact on animal health with no
lame cows last winter, and mastitis isn’t a problem because they always have a warm, dry bed to lie on, where before they’d be outside in all weather. “No farmer likes seeing their stock out in the worst of weather; now we don’t have to.”
