Slippery barn floors can make it quite the challenge to keep your cows on all fours.
Concrete surfaces become smooth over time because of general wear. On hot summer days, floors caked with manure can lead to cow accidents and harm. The manure seems to just stick to the surface, rendering it as slippery as a skating rink. Still, there are solutions to control and avoid unpleasant occurrences.
Dairy herd owners can solve the problem of manure-caked floors by keeping them wet. Obviously, they will be walking a fine line to balance hot weather, adequate ventilation, and prudent water usage.
Yannick Blanchette has found a way to reduce slipping in the barn.
“Daily spraying of the floors with our John Deere rig helps our cows to stay mobile and confident.” -Yannick Blanchette of La Presentation Holsteins, Quebec.
Yannick’s team uses the John Deere Gator daily in the summer. This, in turn, helps them reduce the build-up of manure on the floors. It also keeps the grooves clean and Agri-Traction open to provide adequate traction to the animals.
“This John Deere Gator has been a great tool for preventing cows from going down.”
5 Steps to Trim Cheat Sheet
A lame cow on a slippery floor is double trouble!
For achieving optimum results, you should trim your cows regularly. This will keep additional troubles at bay.
Producers can visit our trimming page for more information on hoof diseases and trimming. For you, as a producer, understanding the different hoof diseases is obviously important to prevent any hoof care and lameness problems.
Meet Yannick Blanchette
Yannick operates his 200-cow dairy farm together with his wife Eve and their family partners. Their farm is in La Presentation, Quebec (Canada).
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