The daily routine of a dairy cow should be as follows: 12 to 14 hours resting, 9 to 10 hours ruminating, 2 hours of socializing and walking, 2.5 to 3.5 hours in the milking parlour and the remaining time feeding and drinking.

Rest is tremendously important for milk production. When a cow rests for long periods, milk production can increase by up to 6 kilograms of milk a day.

Therefore, good-sized bedding packs and stalls, ventilation and a good flow of the animals through the various areas of the barn during milking are undoubtedly very important for cow comfort.

A common aspect of all barns in all climates and housing is the environmental flora that covers the top layer of the bedding packs and stalls.

With poor management that fails to achieve a good balance of pathogens (such as environmental Staph and Streps or fecal gram- negative bacteria) and humifying micro-organisms, the cows are at great risk every day.

When a cow lies down, udder, teats and feet are concentrated in the last third of the stall. In this part there are up to 60 billion bugs per cubic centimetre, which will jump at any opportunity to attack the cow.

The presence of dangerous environmental pathogens in the barn, such as E. coli, Klebsiella sp., Streptococcus sp., Staphylococcus sp. and Prototheca Zopfii, is a common cause of environmental mastitis and a high somatic cell count (SCC). Covering materials that are not used properly and poor cleaning are open doors for them.

The environmental pathogens feed on organic matter, be it straw, sawdust, shavings, soybean leaves, etc., used as covering materials or the feces from animals. They can also proliferate on inorganic surfaces, such as rubber mats or sand.

Organic covering materials, moreover, can undergo putrefaction directly beneath the animals, if a correct humification process is not in course.

Humification is a process where mineralizing bacteria take the place of putrefying bacteria in transforming the complex sugars of the organic matter. The advantages of a humified bedding pack or freestalls are the following:

• Less variation in temperature

• Drier and cleaner animals (humus can absorb up to 20 times more moisture than straw)

• Less production of ammonia let off during putrefaction, which is toxic for animals, people and the environment, as it is one of the greenhouse-effect gasses.

Calves are particularly sensitive to ammonia because their pens are often small with low ceilings and because their immune system is not yet fully matured. Ammonia can jeopardize their health and, in some cases, also their growth.

Ammonia also attracts flies, which are a bother for animals and workers and can be another cause of mastitis.

The use of common disinfectants may be effective against pathogens on clean surfaces, which are impossible to obtain when organic material is constantly produced. But disinfectants also destroy all the useful micro-organisms.

Bio-hygienizing products, developed through a unique frequential nanotechnological process, work on a different principle.

Their action is selective, offering long-term opposition to the activity of the environmental pathogens (cause of environmental mastitis and high SCC) and stimulation of the growth of the humifying micro-organisms, creating a different and stable equilibrium of the bacterial flora in the barn.

This leads to drier bedding and cleaner cows. Flies, ammonia and bad smells are reduced, both in the barn (especially in the calving pen) and while spreading manure over fields.  PD

For more information on bio-hygienizing products, contact Canadian distributor GenerVations or (905) 873-8700.