A couple of months ago I met with a farmer to prepare for a panel discussion. I asked if there were any questions he did not want me to ask. Way at the top of his do-not-ask list was, “How many cows do you fetch?” His point was, the number doesn’t mean much because different people fetch different cows for different reasons. For the record, I did not ask, but someone in the audience did. Sure, a fetch cow is a cow that you bring to the robot because she does not come when she should - but cows are brought to the robot because they are overdue for milking, because they need training, because they might be overdue at some point in the future, or because they are having a bad day. Are they all fetch cows?
When is a cow overdue for milking?
I have adjusted milking permission and cleaned up the red list with about 5 clicks of the mouse – but I really didn’t change anything in the barn. The point is that the definition of an overdue cow varies from farm to farm, and with stage of lactation. Furthermore, it is not necessary to fetch every overdue cow. Lazy cows in late lactation probably don’t need to be milked every 12 hours. They probably are not going to learn to come more frequently just because someone went to get them. Farmers have told me over and over again that many of those cows will come on their own if given a little more time.
Is training the same as fetching?
The most effective way to get fresh heifers to visit more than 3 times a day is to train them. Research in both parlors and robots shows that cows that are milked more often in early lactation peak higher and continue to visit more frequently later in lactation. Training heifers might be part of your fetching routine but the heifers you are training are not really fetch cows. Bringing fresh cows to the robot 3 or 4 times a day does not have to be done at 8- or 6-hour intervals. Heifers can be trained at the beginning of the day, middle of the day, and last thing in the evening. I prefer to start the barn moving in the morning with something other than fetching - dumping feed, pushing up feed, or even scraping stalls can get cows coming to the robot on their own, and eliminate some of the fetching.
Cows that might be overdue in the future?
I have created reports to identify cows that are under 20 days in milk and over 5 hours since the last milking. Someone checks this list before they leave the barn in the evening, and maybe in the middle of the day or even at the end of morning chores. This list includes cows that don’t know the barn and are likely be overdue long before anyone comes back to the barn. Bringing these cows to the robot or even steering them towards the robot will teach them to come more often and avoid the need to add them to the fetch list when the robots are busier.
What about that new fetch cow?
If a cow that always comes to the robot suddenly becomes a fetch cow, she is probably trying to tell you something. Maybe it is a sore foot, mastitis, pneumonia, or just an upset stomach. Sometimes customers ask me to help them figure out why a cow “Just stopped coming to the robot.” Usually the records have an answer – maybe a sudden drop in milk production, or rumination, or activity – maybe a spike in conductivity, bloody milk, or SCC. Don’t ignore that new fetch cow.
What if you have too many fetch cows?
Once you have sorted out which cows are true fetch cows and which cows are not, you can set realistic goals. Achieving those goals involves a complete review of the system settings, feeding program, barn routines, and capacity. Sometimes it helps to get a fresh set of eyes on the problem. Contact me to schedule an evaluation.
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