The loose keeping the cattle is the future of dairy production in the United States and Europe. There is an amazing fact: 40 or more years ago, people used to place cows in their homes, paddock, in a stable, which was a part of the home, and people managed to warm their houses in this way thanks to the heat of their animals. And one day, for some reason, people decided that cattle needed a cowshed with temperatures that were close to those in residential areas. This was how the system of tethered keeping of the cattle was created, which was used by most farms. Such maintenance is outdated and reduces the productivity potential of the cattle, which it has due to its genetic characteristics.
The loose keeping of the cattle was introduced by two countries -the USSR and the USA. At that time, 5% of cows were transferred to such a system of breeding in our country. Today in the USA, 85% of cows are kept loose, and in Russia the value is 4%, even less than 40 years ago!
The experts believe that loose keeping of the cattle reduces labor costs, requires 20-30 people per 1 cow per year, and 70 people are needed to take care of the cattle in the best farms of tethered cattle. In Germany, for example, a loose method is used even on small farms with 20 heads of cattle. Currently, in European countries, the loose keeping of the cattle on the bedding is an obligatory condition for obtaining a certificate of environmentally friendly products. The cows are able to walk freely at any time of the day.
For Russian livestock breeders, it is interesting to keep cattle loose on the bedding with sloping floors, which are cleaned themselves, and the manure flows into the middle. This technology does not require a lot of investments, it can be installed when upgrading old cowsheds. The loose cattle keeping has three types of technology. The first type of the technology means that the cattle is kept all year round on pastures, cows are milked in special halls, and animals sleep in rooms on the thick bedding. The second type of the technology means that the cattle rests in an individual stall, and feed boxes are located in the room. The milking is carried out in a certain room. The third type of the technology means that the cattle eats hay under canopies on the pasture, sleep in stalls or on the bedding. The milking takes place in a special room.
It is quite common to keep cows loose in special stalls for rest, they are away from feeders, and the wastes are removed in this case by delta scrapers. The floors in the stalls can be made of wood, asphalt, expanded clay slabs. The floor of the stalls is covered with sawdust or straw when storing the manure in underground storage. It is extremely necessary for the livestock keeping loose that a sufficient amount of bedding, silage, and coarse feed is available. The experts believe that if you combine loose keeping of livestock and suckling of calves, abortions among cows are reduced, and postpartum complications of animals are minimized. This system of maintenance significantly reduces the cost of production.
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