In our experience tilling 2x per day and deep is very important for keeping cows healthy, cell count low , and making the bedding last. Also we keep our curtins at least partially open all year when not raining or snowing...its a cold barn... if you get condensation dripping off ceiling open the curtins. we dont chase our cows off to tull but do when we spread.
@HollcanaFarm cows handle the cold better than the people. Watch the barn and the pack to know how to ventalat. Composting pack is more art than science and every climate is different. Pack and robots are alot to learn at once. Hoping you have good heat in your robot room. I'm sure it gets colder up there than it dose here in pa
You guys need a 6' commercial rototiller for the back of your tractor to work it up. Ten generation dairy farmer use one on his compost bed works great.
Looking good, talking about cowcomfort you got it, ever hear from klebsillia bactery, mayby look it up on the internet, thanks and greetings from a Dutch dairyfarmer
@@kylekoster7270 Well, we hope that is it for bringing a full truck load in until we clean it out in the spring or fall. We will be bringing top ups in every 5 days with the manure spreader. A load is supposed to last a month now. I guess we will see.
Your cows are cleaner than they were in the stalls and I’m sure feet and legs will be healthier. I would probably stretch an electric fence to keep them off the pack while working on it.
@@geraldsieber7266 Yes they are cleaner. There are a couple cows with sore feet but they say that is from the new concrete. Even though they aren't on it all the time. We have been able to train the cows to leave the pack while we cultivate and spread. It has taken us a bit of time though. We are still waiting for the electrical to get finished. We need an outlet for the fencer. We have to put a wire up to protect the bird netting too.
I don’t know anything about a compost pack. How deep are you supposed to till it? And I agree with the other people maybe put the cows in the feed alley while spreading saw dust. Are your screens still open?
@@david19659 We were told to work it 12" but only lately has it been deep enough to till it that deep. We're not sure our cultivator can manage that. Yes, the cows go on the feed alley now but it has taken a bit to get them to go on and stay there. It's a game to them to want to run around and play while we do this. The curtains are open as weather allows.
I think Ron looks like one of the dwarves from Lord of the Rings with his long coat, boots and beard. I feel a littke bad saying that but I remember he said his girls looked like druids with their hoods on so I shouldn't feel too bad. 😆
@@garymork1380 We live in Canada!! They have to be inside from September till May. Even if the weather is nice the grass stops growing or having enough nutrition.
You should wear a respirator and goggles. Sawdust is full of moisture, in which fungal spores frolic. My dear neighbor, who was educated in and has worked as a seller of seeds and feed in his working life, had a small forest property, where he cultivated and planted in his spare time. He had bought a small sawmill and sawed timber and special cuts for furniture. He was attacked by toxic fungal spores from sawdust and suffered permanent damage to his respiratory tract and reduced lung capacity. He became vulnerable to lung infections and died a few years ago. The sawdust you use in your composting manure mat is incredibly dusty. Maybe it doesn't mean that much to the livestock in their relatively short lifespan, but for people in a significantly longer lifespan, it means a risk of potential health problems. A full-face fresh air mask with filters is a minimum work environment preventive measure, especially when receiving and processing the manure mat, or alternatively a driver's cabin with a filter system. Think about the concentration when delivering and processing sawdust, but on a daily basis the dust is also in the barn, just in lower concentration.
This is dried sawdust. No mold hopefully then. It is dusty but I think the worst is when we are starting the pack. We should have all been masked when the truck was dumping and we were spreading it out. You are right! Now my son is in a tractor cab when he spreads it with the manure spreader. Working it in doesn't seem very dusty just steamy. I will look into it some more. Thanks for the concern. @@perkirkegaardlemming720
@ There can also be fungal spores, just like in dried hay. Fungal spores are everywhere in the air and just by humidity, spores can form and the cows also add moisture. You can have the sawdust analyzed. Your son and daughter-in-law will enjoy the beautiful barn for perhaps thirty years in good health. In Denmark, wood chips were banned on playgrounds due to the working environment of the staff and the health of the children.
@@bodiehot I really do!! I hope to appreciate it more and more as the cows get better at the robot stuff. There are many hidden treasures that we didn't even think of as we built it. 😊
@HollcanaFarm we alway mix straw with are shaving and lime we never considered are barn as a composting pack but just pack barn only considering cow comfort the composting for us was the next process out side of barn nasty bacteria are being made when thinking you can compost the pack in barn .
@DanielProsek-xw6dg It is composting but it doesn't finish it. According to the composting experts, we can't add too much straw maybe a 1/3 it it is rained on barley or canolla straw that is finely chopped. In the corners where it doesn't get tilled well you can see that it is not good. The tilled stuff is beautiful! It is supposed to work but only if managed really well. I hope we can get it right. So far so good.
@HollcanaFarm yes sir we alway had soybean trash or corn stalk or poor straw to starthe pack and then add the better straws chopped like barely oats with shaving lime .keep cost down I do believe in the end we didn't that much quilty bedding than with freestyle with mattress .all the best .your cow will be happy just sharing are experiences .
@@garymork1380 sorry to hear that. If you saw how much the cows enjoy laying in the pack and how safe and easy it is for them to manoeuvre, you might appreciate it more. Straw packs are really bad for spreading infection and sand only works in stalls and it is hard on their feet. Straw can also be really dusty. Before this our cows were in a stall all winter. Now they are free to move and stretch. I am so happy for them!
@garymork1380 You could be right. We have started training them to leave the pack while we cultivate. They are learning. So many changes and it keeps changing as we adjust to the schedule of robot milking. We moved feeding time to the middle of the day to help encourage milking overnight so we couldn't work the pack when they were eating anymore. That forced us to train them to leave the pack twice a day. It is working better.
I believe this family knows what they are doing and where they are going! 👍👍
Beautiful trees, thanks for sharing your journey
In our experience tilling 2x per day and deep is very important for keeping cows healthy, cell count low , and making the bedding last. Also we keep our curtins at least partially open all year when not raining or snowing...its a cold barn... if you get condensation dripping off ceiling open the curtins.
we dont chase our cows off to tull but do when we spread.
@@jessebitler8956 Thanks for the information and the encouragement. We are nervous about how cold it might be but hopefully we prepared well.
@HollcanaFarm cows handle the cold better than the people. Watch the barn and the pack to know how to ventalat. Composting pack is more art than science and every climate is different. Pack and robots are alot to learn at once. Hoping you have good heat in your robot room. I'm sure it gets colder up there than it dose here in pa
Love family farms. You guys are the bomb
@@stevenmercer708 Thank you!
Very interesting!!
You guys need a 6' commercial rototiller for the back of your tractor to work it up. Ten generation dairy farmer use one on his compost bed works great.
Looking good, talking about cowcomfort you got it, ever hear from klebsillia bactery, mayby look it up on the internet, thanks and greetings from a Dutch dairyfarmer
@@mennoreuten1563 Thank you! I have not heard of it. I will look it up.
By the way love the barn
@@stevenmercer708 I'm glad! We really laboured over how to build it and are really happy with it so far.
How often are you gonna have to add a load of shavings to the pack?
@@kylekoster7270 Well, we hope that is it for bringing a full truck load in until we clean it out in the spring or fall. We will be bringing top ups in every 5 days with the manure spreader. A load is supposed to last a month now. I guess we will see.
How many square feet per cow do you have? Looks great.
@@wilburmast1998 125
Your cows are cleaner than they were in the stalls and I’m sure feet and legs will be healthier. I would probably stretch an electric fence to keep them off the pack while working on it.
@@geraldsieber7266 Yes they are cleaner. There are a couple cows with sore feet but they say that is from the new concrete. Even though they aren't on it all the time. We have been able to train the cows to leave the pack while we cultivate and spread. It has taken us a bit of time though. We are still waiting for the electrical to get finished. We need an outlet for the fencer. We have to put a wire up to protect the bird netting too.
You need to get Uncle Jeff from Sonne Farms. The cows pay attention to him, i guess they know he's bigger than them.
@@madhungarian3024 Yes, it is a toss up, tame cows or cows that get out of your way.
I don’t know anything about a compost pack. How deep are you supposed to till it? And I agree with the other people maybe put the cows in the feed alley while spreading saw dust. Are your screens still open?
@@david19659 We were told to work it 12" but only lately has it been deep enough to till it that deep. We're not sure our cultivator can manage that. Yes, the cows go on the feed alley now but it has taken a bit to get them to go on and stay there. It's a game to them to want to run around and play while we do this. The curtains are open as weather allows.
I think Ron looks like one of the dwarves from Lord of the Rings with his long coat, boots and beard. I feel a littke bad saying that but I remember he said his girls looked like druids with their hoods on so I shouldn't feel too bad. 😆
You need a roto tiller for behind the tractor
@@greghollingsworth1321 might be something to look into. We had these implements already so wanted to give it a try.
How many cows are you having to fetch?
@@jerryalexander1895 We are on week 5 and are fetching 15 cows now. This past week has gotten all of the sudden better.
@@HollcanaFarmgreat to hear!! Cows look very happy, so much nicer for them and you guys!
@heatherrobertson4601 We are happy with how it is turning it out. It is going better now.
I don’t think you guys thought the shaving process through enough they had pasture before why not now
It's winter
@@garymork1380 We live in Canada!! They have to be inside from September till May. Even if the weather is nice the grass stops growing or having enough nutrition.
You should wear a respirator and goggles. Sawdust is full of moisture, in which fungal spores frolic. My dear neighbor, who was educated in and has worked as a seller of seeds and feed in his working life, had a small forest property, where he cultivated and planted in his spare time. He had bought a small sawmill and sawed timber and special cuts for furniture. He was attacked by toxic fungal spores from sawdust and suffered permanent damage to his respiratory tract and reduced lung capacity. He became vulnerable to lung infections and died a few years ago. The sawdust you use in your composting manure mat is incredibly dusty. Maybe it doesn't mean that much to the livestock in their relatively short lifespan, but for people in a significantly longer lifespan, it means a risk of potential health problems. A full-face fresh air mask with filters is a minimum work environment preventive measure, especially when receiving and processing the manure mat, or alternatively a driver's cabin with a filter system. Think about the concentration when delivering and processing sawdust, but on a daily basis the dust is also in the barn, just in lower concentration.
This is dried sawdust. No mold hopefully then. It is dusty but I think the worst is when we are starting the pack. We should have all been masked when the truck was dumping and we were spreading it out. You are right! Now my son is in a tractor cab when he spreads it with the manure spreader. Working it in doesn't seem very dusty just steamy. I will look into it some more. Thanks for the concern. @@perkirkegaardlemming720
@ There can also be fungal spores, just like in dried hay. Fungal spores are everywhere in the air and just by humidity, spores can form and the cows also add moisture. You can have the sawdust analyzed. Your son and daughter-in-law will enjoy the beautiful barn for perhaps thirty years in good health.
In Denmark, wood chips were banned on playgrounds due to the working environment of the staff and the health of the children.
do you like the new barn?
@@bodiehot I really do!! I hope to appreciate it more and more as the cows get better at the robot stuff. There are many hidden treasures that we didn't even think of as we built it. 😊
Better put in shed and add little every week
@@DanielProsek-xw6dg That's the plan now
@HollcanaFarm we alway mix straw with are shaving and lime we never considered are barn as a composting pack but just pack barn only considering cow comfort the composting for us was the next process out side of barn nasty bacteria are being made when thinking you can compost the pack in barn .
@DanielProsek-xw6dg It is composting but it doesn't finish it. According to the composting experts, we can't add too much straw maybe a 1/3 it it is rained on barley or canolla straw that is finely chopped. In the corners where it doesn't get tilled well you can see that it is not good. The tilled stuff is beautiful! It is supposed to work but only if managed really well. I hope we can get it right. So far so good.
@HollcanaFarm yes sir we alway had soybean trash or corn stalk or poor straw to starthe pack and then add the better straws chopped like barely oats with shaving lime .keep cost down I do believe in the end we didn't that much quilty bedding than with freestyle with mattress .all the best .your cow will be happy just sharing are experiences .
I don’t like what I am seeing
@@garymork1380 sorry to hear that. If you saw how much the cows enjoy laying in the pack and how safe and easy it is for them to manoeuvre, you might appreciate it more. Straw packs are really bad for spreading infection and sand only works in stalls and it is hard on their feet. Straw can also be really dusty. Before this our cows were in a stall all winter. Now they are free to move and stretch. I am so happy for them!
@ I understand that but I think you should have moved the cow to another area while your spreading the shaving
@garymork1380 You could be right. We have started training them to leave the pack while we cultivate. They are learning. So many changes and it keeps changing as we adjust to the schedule of robot milking. We moved feeding time to the middle of the day to help encourage milking overnight so we couldn't work the pack when they were eating anymore. That forced us to train them to leave the pack twice a day. It is working better.
Just seems very dusty. Hopefully things get easier for you. I know cows don't like dust. Hope your herd stays healthy.
@MarkEagleson Thanks