Keeping hooves drier, harder, and cleaner is better for cows, dairy farmers, and the environment.
Animal comfort specialist Bioret Agri believes it’s checked all these boxes with its new Magellan self-draining rubber flooring, which is designed to improve drainage, provide greater traction for cows, and reduce ammonia production.
Adam Steward, business development manager for Bioret Agri, says the new Magellan flooring is a lot different than rubber flooring previously seen in dairy barns. The flooring closely resembles a tire tread to improve drainage and keep cow hooves drier and harder. Steward notes that the floorings’ rubber grooves carry a six percent slope, which helps immediately initiate the drainage process, carrying liquid into drainage grooves as soon as it hits the rubber.
In this interview from Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show, Steward says the rubber compound, which carries a 15-year warranty, is much softer than recycled rubber used in other dairy flooring. With greater rubber softness, cows’ hooves sink deeper into the flooring, giving them greater traction, and the animal’s weight is better supported across the hoof. (Story continues after the video.)
Liberated from the risk of slipping, cows are more confident, and heats are more obvious and easier for herds-people to detect. Cow health also improves with less dermatitis and lameness, notes Steward.
Dairy producers who install Magellan self-draining rubber flooring can also expect to reduce ammonia production by 40 percent, says the company. Steward notes that the ammonia reduction is a direct results of immediately draining and separating urine from the manure. “They don’t get the chance to sit together, synthesize and create ammonia emissions,” he adds.
Click here for more coverage of Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show.
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