In the barn, concrete is no friend to cattle feet. This type of surface tends to attack the sole of the foot and increase lameness, one of the leading causes of early culling in dairy cows. Concrete often remains soiled by dejecta, making it difficult to maintain healthy feet and hooves. And when floors become slippery, cows are less serene and less able to express their heat.
Gravity effluent management
The installation of Magellan rubber drainage mats on stable floors, in traffic and waiting areas, on concrete or slatted floors, offers animals hygiene, comfort and safety.
In fact, the Magellan liner is furrowed with grooves for natural evacuation of liquids by gravity. The system comprises fine channels that fluidize the droplets, followed by median channels that direct them towards deep collectors that store the slurry until it passes through the scraper.
This continuous evacuation limits contact between feet and effluent, and reduces ammonia emissions from the farm.
For the farmer, the worry of scraping and maintaining the surface is also eliminated. In a healthier environment, the risk of dermatitis and lameness is reduced, and with it veterinary costs. With no locomotor problems, the animals eat more often and for longer, which benefits milk production.
An anti-slip coating to reassure pets
With its sculpted profile and lugs, the Magellan anti-slip mat offers flexibility and grip for safe movement across the entire building surface. In fact, it was a problem with slips that led Christophe Favreau, a breeder in the Deux-Sèvres region of France, to switch to this system.
" I no longer have any problems with slipping. As the cows aren't afraid of slipping on the barn floor, they overlap more. Heat is more visible," says the breeder. It makes my work easier. The carpet not only improves cow comfort, but also keeps the corridors clean. The slope makes the back of the cubicles cleaner. When it's time to lie down, the tails don't get wet.
Combine comfort and health
The Magellan mat is compatible with all scraper systems. For perfect floor maintenance, simply add rubber combs to the scrapers to clean the grooves. This is what Patrice Busnot and his partners have done on their 140-cow dairy farm in Calvados.
In their new building, a rope scraper is used to remove manure from the traffic areas. To adapt our system to the carpet, we had to fit small rubber combs to maintain the grooves," explains the breeder. This system limits the film effect and all the droppings are well cleaned, which is beneficial to the health of the hooves. "
Immediate positive effect of pavement on cattle traffic
Although he had recently moved into a new barn, the farmer had to contend with hygiene problems due to poorly grooved concrete. " In the old building, we had carpets. For the new one, we wanted to limit the investment. We told ourselves that with new concrete, we shouldn't have any problems with paws," says Patrice Busnot. But dermatitis and lameness soon set in. When the problems became more serious, with cows slipping and being torn apart, the breeders decided to replace the floor mats. In spring 2021, mats will be installed Magellan. In just one week, we've seen a positive effect on traffic," says Patrice Busnot, "with cows moving around more, without fear. It's true that installing a mat costs money, but if we have less lameness and fewer injured cows, we'll recoup that in milk. A cow with sore legs eats less, and therefore produces less. The comfort of the floor is all the more important for high-production cows, as they have less fatty mass in the heel, so less cushioning.
