Morning
I'm not sure what kind of milking sheds/parlours you lot have over there, I assume something a bit more sophisticated than old herringbones & a single set of cups.
Anyway, this is the setup I'm currently working with - 22 cup herringbone with an in shed feed system (continuous bin, not individual bins per "bail", automatic cup removers and automatic teat sprayer. One person can put about 130 cows through per hour at this time of the year (mid summer).
Here's the issue: cups come off, the gate opens, a couple of cows walk out, the third or fourth one can't leave crumbs behind in the feed bin and ths cow holds up the whole row. Cows behind get grumpy, start shittting everywhere, the milker has to leave cupping the cows on the opposite row and move the cows out one by one. Similarly, once you've got the row cleared out, you've got to move every cow into position coming in because they stop and nibble on leftovers from the previous row. It doesn't seem to matter what product or what amount is being fed, there's always something left somewhere. The only way to stop this happening is to completely stop feeding, (which allows me to push over 200 cows through per hour).
I've talked with local parlour builders and feed system installers - no one is really interested in provding a solution, they're too busy making money fitting new systems to care about a small job like this.
My options so far are:
1 - Hinged bins that will fold up out of the way when the gate opens, using vacuum actuators (complicated)
2 - Hinged covers that fold down to cover the bin when the gate opens, using vacuum actuators (complicated)
3 - Flood wash system that clears the bin when the gate opens (easy to make and install but will result in some feed loss)
4 - High voltage chain or wire above the meal bin which energizes when the gate opens (it seems like a bad idea - would probably be a bit of fun though).
Thoughts? I'm leaning towards option 3 at the moment unless there are better options out there.
I'm not sure what kind of milking sheds/parlours you lot have over there, I assume something a bit more sophisticated than old herringbones & a single set of cups.
Anyway, this is the setup I'm currently working with - 22 cup herringbone with an in shed feed system (continuous bin, not individual bins per "bail", automatic cup removers and automatic teat sprayer. One person can put about 130 cows through per hour at this time of the year (mid summer).
Here's the issue: cups come off, the gate opens, a couple of cows walk out, the third or fourth one can't leave crumbs behind in the feed bin and ths cow holds up the whole row. Cows behind get grumpy, start shittting everywhere, the milker has to leave cupping the cows on the opposite row and move the cows out one by one. Similarly, once you've got the row cleared out, you've got to move every cow into position coming in because they stop and nibble on leftovers from the previous row. It doesn't seem to matter what product or what amount is being fed, there's always something left somewhere. The only way to stop this happening is to completely stop feeding, (which allows me to push over 200 cows through per hour).
I've talked with local parlour builders and feed system installers - no one is really interested in provding a solution, they're too busy making money fitting new systems to care about a small job like this.
My options so far are:
1 - Hinged bins that will fold up out of the way when the gate opens, using vacuum actuators (complicated)
2 - Hinged covers that fold down to cover the bin when the gate opens, using vacuum actuators (complicated)
3 - Flood wash system that clears the bin when the gate opens (easy to make and install but will result in some feed loss)
4 - High voltage chain or wire above the meal bin which energizes when the gate opens (it seems like a bad idea - would probably be a bit of fun though).
Thoughts? I'm leaning towards option 3 at the moment unless there are better options out there.
. But that's a whole different discussion!
either way for the first 8kg I would say an average of 15-16 litres return would be reasonable
