The University of Idaho recently completed its first feeding research trial under a newly renovated facility. In December, the Palouse Research Center near the university campus in Moscow installed 16 new tiestalls and renovated six existing stalls with new stall dividers and rubber mat bedding.
The new stall hoops were a 100 percent donation from Hatfield Manufacturing in Gooding, Idaho. The rubber matting was a 50 percent donation from Agromatic of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.
A cohort of cows just completed the first of a three-stage feeding trial, which was the first research to be completed in the facility since the renovation.
“This has created a very nice environment where we can conduct intensive metabolism research while maintaining cow comfort and well-being,” says University of Idaho assistant professor Pedram Rezamand.
University dairy faculty members, including Rezamand, Mark McGuire and Amin Ahmadzadeh and university dairy manager Josh Peak, designed and supervised the project, which was funded by the university’s Animal & Veterinary Science Department and the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences.
Rezamand says the renovation now permits trials to include up to 24 animals at one time and will expand the center’s research capability. PD
PHOTOS
New stall hoops and rubber matting were installed at the Moscow, Idaho, research facility in December. Courtesy photo by University of Idaho, Pedram Rezamand.
