Ventilation, cooling, bedding, lighting, feed and water access are the main foundations of cow comfort. Focusing on these aspects when designing and building your dairy barn will greatly enhance cow comfort, leading to better milk production, reduced health issues and overall improved welfare.

There is a trend toward increased stocking density in automated milking barns. Quite a few farmers have made it work and made it look easy. It has worked for them because they have the fundamentals right.

In a conversation with Matthew and Mike Flaman of Chris-Adie Holsteins, it’s obvious that their cows are top priority. Terms like “cow flow” and “cow comfort” pepper their descriptions of the operation. With an average of 38-40 litres of milk per day, the Holsteins of Chris-Adie are well cared for.

Locomotion and hock scores, along with resting time, are indicators of the quality of the lying surface and bedding choice. With many bedding options available, this article provides recommendations for how to optimize each of them to improve cow comfort.

Dried manure solids are one of the most common bedding materials used on dairies today. Farms choose to use them because they also have several distinct advantages over other bedding types. However, no management decision comes without trade-offs, and farms using dried manure solids bedding must take steps to minimize their potential disadvantages.

Discussing cow comfort, genetics, succession planning and social media presence, brother and sister Tyler and Mackenzie Reynolds join host Matti McBride on this episode of the Progressive Dairy Podcast. Learn how a new barn has resulted in increased production, how three siblings returned to the western New York dairy, the impact genetics has had on Reyncrest Farm’s herd and the opportunities that come with showcasing dairy farming on social media.

The Novus C.O.W.S. Program has helped dairy farmers unlock bottlenecks in cow comfort and productivity across North America for over 12 years.

How do you choose the best bedding for your cows? Obvious considerations include bedding cost and availability, but there are a few less obvious considerations that will help you make the best decision for your farm. Take a look at them and discover which bedding fits your farm’s cow comfort goals.

Heat stress has been estimated to cost the dairy industry $897 million, and one of the most effective methods to alleviate heat stress is to cool the cow directly using low-pressure soaking. This article will focus on feedlane soaking but will also touch on other areas where soaking is used.

Proper ventilation not only ensures the health and well-being of your cows but also contributes to the overall efficiency and productivity of your dairy operation. In this article, we will delve into five essential aspects of dairy barn ventilation that every dairy producer should be well versed in.