Milking Cows with Robots, 2x GEA Monobox , New Shed layout on greenfield site
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- Опубліковано 6 жов 2024
- Dairy farmer from Northern Ireland
Milking 110 cows with 2 GEA monobox (R9500) robots. A brief overview of the new shed layout which was built on a greenfield site.
We also milk another 160 + cows through our 32/32 Delaval Milking parlour
We have installed 2 Lely Discovery Robots and a GEA feed pusher robot.
Great video, watching from lachute Quebec Canada 🍻
Great video, thanks for sharing! Very impressive setup, I was wondering why you didn't go for Delaval as you mentioned in the description that you have a Delaval milking parlour.
instaBlaster...
Those are some very short beds they are laying on. And the cows are pretty dirty!! Love the robots though!!!
We run with the rule if a third of the cubicles have dung pats on them then the cubicles are the correct size. Cows seem to love them, if I could upload a photo from this morning of only 1 cow standing in cubicles, all others laying down. We are happy with them and feel it was the best alternative to sand which would not work for us. Cows are slightly dirty. We find the robot actually makes them dirty as the 'cow toilet design' leaves the cow with a very dirty back end and we do not have a cow brush installed.
@@titeoutfit if it works for you then cool. I am just saying i would personally add about 4 to 5 in of space. We all have our own opinions and preferences! I am not in anyway saying yours is wrong just simply saying not for me personally. Your cows seem happy and at the end of the day that is all that really matters!!! Sorry if that comment seemed as if i were attacking you.
@@daphnietudor2953 Don't be silly, all opinions welcome. Just explaining our reasoning.
@@titeoutfit right and as a viewer i appreciate that thank you!!! Again love the robots and those cows are beautiful!!!
Great video, looks a good setup. How much cake do you feed in the robots?
We are feeding up to 10kgs per head per day but that is for cows producing 60+kgs milk
@@titeoutfit great job there. How can i get the the project of that dairy farm? So i can built one in my country!!!
Thankyou for your reply.
If you were to build the shed again or build a shed for cows that are milked through a milking parlour would you still feed on the outside of the shed or feed down a central drivethrough feed passage?
I wouldn't be concerned about feeding outside the shed. We wanted to be able to run the cows as one group so didn't want to split it with a feed passage. Also didn't want to have to reverse the feeder up a passage as most people can't reverse. In our other shed with the milking parlour we move the cows and drive through the shed to feed into a trough. So we wanted to feed on the outside so it was simple. No moving cows, no reversing etc. One side is closed as that is the direction our weather comes from but very happy with feeding on the outside.
So if for example you had a greenfield site to build a new dairy on and it was for 150 cows split into 2 groups maybe more and milked through a parlour, would you feed on the outside of the shed because of better ventilation, less gates/doors to open and close, less disturbance of cows and no exhaust fumes in the shed or would you feed down a central drivethrough feed passage?
100% around the outside. Much faster and less hassle. Not worrying about if staff left the gates right etc. Wouldn't be concerned about the exhaust fumes but agree with all the other points.
Unless its straight through up the middle the full length of the shed. With no gates etc. Then I would have no preference and do what ever suits the farm yard best. Still good to keep at least one side open though for ventilation.
Thanks for making the video! How much of a yield increase did you see moving onto the robots?
I can not say for certain. We are already a high yielding herd but have definitely noticed higher cow lactation totals. A fair few Cows exceeding 15000 litres. Robots are a serious way to take milk from cows. Probably getting slightly more milk with alot less cake being fed.
_joncam nice. We’re you on 3x day milking before robots? Great looking shed by the way 👍
@@gethinjones7501 No twice a day before robots. So a good help to the cows to get on the robots. Most of them love the robots. We still milk most cows twice a day in the parlour. 190 twice a day in the parlour. 108 3.1xday in robot.
_joncam oh right ok. Are you planing on more robots and stop the parlour? Good to see so many dairy farmers posting on here now.
@@gethinjones7501 Its not in the plans yet. Maybe in the Future. We have a good few older cows with low udders that would not be robot friendly. And to be honest they are the cows making the money so would not make sense to cull them. And it would take a huge investment. Other priorities first such as update calf housing etc
There is i wish I had time to do more editing takes too long. What would you like to see more off?
Love the setup👌🏻what size is the shed?
Cheers. It's roughly 100ft x 200ft
Just came across this video now, super stuff. Gave you a sub. Couple of questions if you don’t mind. Are your cows in full time? What made you choose GEA over Lely? Especially when you already had the discovery?
Hi yes the cows are in full time. Though we hope to get them out to a lounging paddock behind the shed in the future.
There was a good price difference in the Gea and Lely. Also we wanted a guided system which lely would not do. The local Gea service team is very good so that was a major pull towards Gea. Don't get me wrong I like the Lely A5s. We have 2 Discoveries in they are great machines.
What brand of mattresses did you go for and are you happy with them?Cheers.Really enjoy your videos
Hi
We went for Bioret Agri water mattresses supplied and fitted by Teemore Engineering in Fermanagh. Yes happy enough with them. Cows seem to like them. The flexible plastic cubicles are the best investment thought.
@@titeoutfit thank you so much.In the process of building a new shed & looking at water mattresses & flexible cubicles.Just need to decide between Condon or easifix.
@@katieoneill5357 Easy fix all day every day. No brainer.
Le guidé..... C'est tellement stressant que les vache n'y vont pas c'est une catastrophe en terme de circulation
How do you find feeding on the outside of the shed, do you get a lot of wastage etc compared to a drivethrough central feed passage?
Now with the feed pusher in there is very little wastage. Even with the heavy rainfall we get.
Before the feed pusher there would have been more waste on the outside of the shed. Mainly caused by birds pulling the silage out and it getting wet.
Sir please I really need to know how much does one monobox robotic milking system costs I have 50 cows now I really need to switch to robotic milking so please leme know the price
You should contact your local GEA dealer
What would be the differences between the gea and lely systems? Obviously you’re in the minority in NI with gea - what made you go that way?
Well we have a Guided system in to avoid fetching cows. Lely does not offer a guided system. Gea do both free access and guided. We like the manual Attach option and the pit behind the robot to work with the cows. The Local Gea service guys are very very good which was a big part of the decision.
@@titeoutfit thanks for the response. Would I be right in saying that GEA allow milk separation for individual teats, meaning that you only dump milk from the infected quarter in the case of mastitis? I don’t think Lely do this, although I’m not certain.
@@titeoutfit also one more question: who is the local dealer?
@@notsofancyfarming You are right. And no lely can not do this. Although personally I don't use it for the risk of the robot getting the wrong teat and just dump all 4.
Probably more useful if you want to dump a cow with a very high cell count in 1 quarter where its not a big issue if the mistake is made.
The Gea also does cell count individually on each quarter so can tell you which quarter is giving giving cow a high cell count and does not require any chemicals topped up like the lely one.
Though Gea do not have fat and protein sensors in the robots yet. Which I would like.
McKnights Dairy Services are the dealers.
@@notsofancyfarming gea has less cross contamination. After cleaning teath have no chance to get dirty with lifted legs. Real post dipping. Real somatic cellcount per quarter and every milking without user cost. Threated quarter can be dumpt and the other 3 seperated for calves. Guided exit and robot in 1 line so you get one robot room
Because the cups are up right do you get any muck in them Do the cups have to be trained to go on teats
Very occasionally a bit of dirt can fall in and block a pipe. Maybe 4 or 5 times in 2 years? Are most robot systems cups not upright?
No training or pre set up at all. Just stick the cow in.
I seen a robot in Kyabram australia I thought they could make the cups slant away from the cows leg before the go on teat
You need a cow brush
Pas terrible comme circulation
sorry, not my favourite...the cows are very dirty...the bedding looks not good. Sometimes you see how one leg of the cow is not in the bed. Also the tail is often out of the bed...
No problem. Agreed the cows are dirtier than we would like. We do not run a brush S it would rub off tail paint.
Sand bedding would be the answer but it would not work with our slurry systems. Sometimes when the cow is very comfy she lays out flat and throws a leg out.
If 1/3 of the cubicles have dung pats then the cubicles are the correct size.