In the barn, concrete is not foot-friendly for cattle. This type of surface tends to damage the plantar sole and increase lameness, one of the leading causes of early culling of dairy cows. Concrete often remains soiled by excrement, making it difficult to maintain healthy feet and claws. And when the floors become slippery, the cows are less relaxed and express their heats less.
Gravity-fed effluent management
The installation of Magellan draining rubber mats on the floor of the barn, in traffic and waiting areas, on concrete or slatted floors, provides animals with hygiene, comfort and safety.
Indeed, the Magellan covering is grooved for natural drainage of liquids by gravity. The system includes fine channels that thin the droplets, then medium channels that direct them to deep collectors that store the slurry until the scraper passes.
This continuous removal limits contact between the feet and effluents and reduces ammonia emissions from the farm.
For the farmer, the concern of scraping and maintaining the surface is also eliminated. In a healthier environment, the risks of dermatitis and lameness decrease, along with veterinary costs. Without locomotor problems, the animals will eat more often and for longer, which is beneficial for milk production.
A non-slip surface that reassures animals
With its sculpted profile and studs, the Magellan non-slip mat offers flexibility and grip for safe movement throughout the building. It was, in fact, a slipping problem that led Christophe Favreau, a farmer in the Deux-Sèvres region, to switch to this system.
« I no longer have problems with slipping. Because the cows are not afraid of slipping on the barn floors, they mount each other more. The heats are more visible, testifies the farmer. This makes my job easier. The mat improves the comfort of the cows but also the cleanliness of the aisles. The slope means that the back of the stalls is cleaner. When lying down, the tails no longer get wet. »
Combine comfort and health
The Magellan mat is compatible with all scraping systems. For perfect floor maintenance, simply add rubber combs to the scrapers to clean the grooves. This is what Patrice Busnot and his partners, who farm 140 dairy cows in Calvados, have done.
In their new building, a cable scraper ensures the removal of manure from traffic areas. « To adapt our system to the mat, we had to install small rubber combs to maintain the grooves, » explains the farmer. This system reduces the film effect, and all waste is thoroughly cleaned, which benefits hoof health.
Immediate positive effect of the flooring on cattle traffic
Because, although in a recent free-stall barn, the farmer was faced with hygiene problems due to poorly grooved concrete. « In the old building, we had mats. For the new one, we wanted to limit the investment. We thought that with new concrete, we shouldn't have any leg problems », recalls Patrice Busnot. But dermatitis and lameness quickly appeared. When the problems escalated, with slips and cows doing the splits, the farmers decided to put mats back on the floor. In the spring of 2021, Magellan mats were installed. « In a week, we saw a positive effect on traffic, appreciates Patrice Busnot, with cows moving around more, without fear. Of course, installing a mat represents a budget, but if we have less lameness, fewer injured cows, we will recover it in milk. A cow that suffers from leg problems eats less, therefore produces less. Floor comfort is all the more important for high-yielding cows because they have less fat mass in the heel, therefore less cushioning. »