The Rural Voice, 2001-05, Page 24THE
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20 THE RURAL VOICE
signs of heat more noticeably,
increasing breeding performance and
profitability for the farmer.
But some farmers are hard to
convince, he says. He recalls at one
barn meeting where the host fanner
had put in some tie rails at a higher
level and some'at a lower level. After
the host farmer had extolled the
values of the higher rail, a producer
in the crowd said his cows liked the
lower rail because they stuck their
head under the rail to help them get
up. Anderson says he didn't have the
heart to say that if this was the case,
every cow in a pasture would look
for a tree or fencepost to sleep
beside.
Similarly, he says, some
producers in free stalls pile
sand, sawdust or straw at the
front of the stall to make it
"Even giraffes drink
water at ground
level"
convenient for later spreading. It
means the cows has a hump under its
chin when it lies down. But
watching cows in a natural setting
like a pasture shows that cows chins
go completely down to ground level
when they leverage themselves to a
standing position. Giving the cow a
"pillow" may discourage her from
getting up and down as much and
may actually create extra labour by
having the cow not get up to manure.
If cows really wanted a pillow they'd
seek out ant hills in the pasture to lie
on, he laughs.
Similar revelations have come
with the height of waterers. It's
become a tradition to put waterers at
a 48 -inch height and even put a curb
around the waterer to ensure the
water stays clean. But cows don't
like drinking at the 48 -inch height —
in nature they have to bend down to
drink. When water is at a high level
they tend to lap at it and splash it
around. Some observant farmers have
put the waterers in at a two -foot
level, high enough not to be splashed
by manure and urine but low enough
that cows are comfortable. Water
consumption has increased and
wastage has dropped. "Even giraffes
1