Rubber mats prevent slips and injuries
For all farmers, it's the worst way to start a day: entering their barn and finding a cow that has slipped and cannot get up. On wet concrete, often polished by scraper passages, the floor can become slippery. During mounting, surprised by the passage of the scraper, cows slip. The waiting time on the ground before being rescued and the severity of the injuries mean that many will not recover.
Finding cows comfortable on their feet
The installation of rubber mats significantly reduces this risk of slipping. The non-slip surface replicates the flexibility and stability of a meadow. Non-slip mats secure movement. Cows will move more to drink and eat, which will benefit their milk production. The patterns on the rubber mats make its surface non-slip, improving the safety of the animals. Even on a wet surface, the risk of falls is reduced, including in the event of jostling.
A problem with recurring slips and falls prompted Christophe Favreau, a farmer in the Deux-Sèvres region, to install Magellan mats. "Since then, I no longer have problems with slipping or cows doing the splits," he says. The same approach was taken at Gaec des 4 lieux, in Vendée. "Our old mats were 12 years old and had become slippery. Since we replaced them with Magellan mats in all the scraped corridors, we have found that the cows are much more sure-footed. They run on them as if they were in the meadow," says Damien Soulard, one of the partners. Recently, one cow did the splits, but thanks to the structure and grooves, she managed to get up without any damage.
Another advantage of this stability is that, without fear of slipping, cows will better express their natural behaviors, such as estrus. With more frequent mounting, it will be easier to detect cows in heat and therefore inseminate them at the right time. The expression of natural behaviors is also one of the criteria of animal welfare. A sign that your cows feel safe is that they dare to lift a leg to lick themselves.
When animal welfare meets workplace safety
This stability provided by the rubber mats also ensures safety for the dairymen. "It's also more comfortable for us," Damien Soulard jokes. "Even with wet boots, we no longer risk slipping and getting injured."
