The Rural Voice, 2004-05, Page 18Safe & Professional
Dismantling of Barns & Wooden Structures
• Insured •
NOSTALGIC SALVAGE INC.
Danny Farrow
519-323-0175 565 Perth St. N., Mount Forest 1-888-643-8410
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14 THE RURAL VOICE
when they later met the engineer at a
community gathering and mentioned
they hadn't received his bill yet, he
said they wouldn't be getting one.
Normal delivery for trusses is six
to eight weeks but their trusses were
delivered in two or three days after
they ordered them — and at the
Christmas period too.
They decided to go to a naturally -
ventilated, partially curtain -wall
design. They raised the roof to allow
better ventilation. The new barn was
linked directly to the heifer barn.
They dug out a portion of the
floor of the old barn to allow slatted
floors to be installed in the freestall
holding areas. The heifer barn
already had slatted floors so the barn
is now all on one manure -handling
system instead of two as before.
"We didn't want alley scrapers,"
Nancy says during a tour of the barn.
"We've fixed enough machinery over
the years."
The floors are covered with mats
that seem to make a big difference in
reducing foot and leg injuries among
the cattle, Gary says.
Utilizing used equipment they
installed a •double -five
herringbone parlour with
automatic takeoffs. The parlour has
cut milking time but clean-up takes
up most of the time saving, Gary
says. The parlour needs to be hosed
down after every use.
The start up of the parlour
operation in April 2003 was not easy.
Two-thirds of the herd had spent
their time since the fire on farms
with parlour operations so the
Beckers thought they might be
trained, but that was a forlorn hope.
"The first two weeks were
absolutely terrible," Gary recalls of
the constant tugging and pushing to
get the cows into the parlour. It took
the better part of six months for the
cows to get comfortable with the new
system.
The bulk tank is the same one that
had been installed shortly before the
fire. The roof caved in on top of it
but the tank could be salvaged,
through the reconditioning wasn't
cheap.
Construction went on throughout
the arctic -cold conditions of the
winter of 2002-2003. Gary helped
out whenever possible and
neighbours and friends came in to
lend a hand. If it was colder than