Here are all the cows in the holding area. The holding pen can fit in one pen at a time from the barn. The barn is broken into four major groups, the groups basded upon the number of days the cows have been milking.
After a cow first calves she goes into group 1A. There she is kept with other mothers who calved within three weeks of each other.
Next the cow will go into group 1B. There she will be with mothers who don’t need as much attention, or as special of a feed ration as the just calved mothers. Then a cow will progress into group 2, then 3.
Group four is for mothers who are expecting to calve once again, and now are giving less milk then once before.
Also in the barn in the treatment group. These are the cows who are on medication and their milk can not be saved. These cows receive special treatment and are watched very closely, but are still kept in the big barn.
Finally, there is also the vet room, not located in the big barn, but on a special wing from the holding area, the vet room only has space for a few cows. The vet room is where emergency operations take place and cows have surgeries. The vet room is even heated in the winter. Like I said, at Dairyfield Farm we strive to provide for maximum cow comfort.
© 1997 volkmann@prairie.lakes.com
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