Through the last couple of years, I have given speeches on how to increase milk production in cows at greater dairy cattle farms, at agricultural colleges, in agricultural organizations, et cetera. It has primarily been in Canada and the USA, but also in Germany, China, Japan and France among others.
I work in a lot of different countries and have won several awards for the way our products is securing the well-being of the cows and their comfort in the barn. I believe, that with simple means, it is possible to increase the milk production in cows, while increasing their living standard and decreasing the time the farmer needs to be in the barn.
When talking about how to increase milk production in cows, the tendency is very similar everywhere you go; everyone focuses on the feed and how we get the cows to give more milk. To me, there is too little focus on HOW the cow eats and HOW MUCH the cows are lying down afterward.
What 30 seconds means to the increase in milk production
What would happen to the yield if all cows lie down 30 seconds faster than they are today?
A fit and healthy cow stands up and lies down around 12 to 15 times a day. The settlement price for conventional milk in August 2016 is around 0,65 $/l according to CME Group.
To figure out how much longer a cow would lie down if it lies down 30 seconds faster than it is today should look like this:
0.5 (30 seconds) X 12-15 (I use 13.5) (times the cow gets up and lies down) X 365 days a year:
0.5 X 13.5 X 365= 2,463.75 minutes ⇒ divided by 60 = 41 hours
For a cow to produce one liter of milk it needs 400 to 500 liters of blood to pass through its udder. If the cow is lying down, the circulation is typically 25-30% faster according to science. Lying down one more hour equals 1.7 kg of milk in the tank at the end of the day.
If a cow increases its lying down period by 41 hours, it will produce roughly 68 liters of milk on top of what it already produces. If you have 100 cows in your livestock, that is an impressive 6,800 more liters in the milk tank annually. If you times that with the settlement price of 0,65 $/l it amounts to $4,420 USD per year. It’s not going to make you super rich, but this is achieved by only enhancing the lying comfort of the cows.
When it comes to enhancing the lying comfort of the cows, Cow-Welfares FlexStall™ is very superior to normal free stalls. As it is flexible, we can allow the neck rail to be dragged 10 cm farther out and 5 cm longer down than a normal free stall, which secures that the cow is guided up and down in the correct position.
In so many farms around the world it is possible to increase the lying time with at least half an hour – in many others, we can do even greater.
As a further upside, the longer the cows are lying down, the more rested it is, as well as sinews and muscles is better relieved. The cow is showing better estrous signs, the hoofs are dried faster and the pressure on the hoofs are lowered.
If you want to know more about why cow comfort is so important for productivity, here is a very interesting piece on the subject.
How to increase milk production in cows is not rocket science – make the cows happy, and they will give back to you two-fold in return.
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The cows are really good, but how can I get that breed here in kabale Uganda
Hi Fred.
Glad you liked it 🙂 Unfortunately we don’t sell cows, so I wouldn’t know, but for your information the breed in the picture is Holsteins.
how I increase milk production of my cow
I,ve really liked your piece of advice. My jersey cow produces 10 litres of milk. Is it worth of it?
Hello Ongeri Vincent
We have good experience with all types of cows; also jerseys. I’m sure it will be worth it 🙂
We are not only increasing the milk yield, we are also increasing the life-span of the cows, so you don’t have to get new cows into the herd. So there is both an increased production and reductions in savings.
Is increasing of milk harmful for the cow?…can it reduce the quality of the milk?
Hi Tapan Jyoti
Thanks for your question. I would say it depends on how the increase is reached. If you increase the milk yield with welfare products, the quality of the milk will also increase.
If the cow is in a better shape, it can easier fight diseases. It will be able to digest its food better. It will be able to live a better life.
All of this contributes to a better milk yield and a better milk quality.
How can improve cow’s lying down time.
Hi there I have 4 cows and 2 calf. my caw produced the milk by hand. how can i get the machine.
Hi Zerubabel
Thanks for your question. Unfortunately, we are not selling milking machines. You should check out DeLaval, Lely, SAC or similar.
I was told that if you have music while they are about to take the milk from them they will produce more , this true?
It is true according to this research study: http://www.le.ac.uk/press/press/moosicstudy.html ? Put on REM’s “Everybody Hurts” and the production will go up by 3%, according to the scientists ??
Hi Kim,
Average how much litters a hf cow will produce per day
Hi Amith
It’s hard to say. It depends on many factors. Race, weather, mattress, free stalls, water availability, just to name a few.
But you will get more liters, the more comfortable you can make the cow feel.
Salt.and calcium should be given daily if yesquantity may please be explained for milking cow
It depends very much on where in the world you are. Yes, in some parts of the world you need to supply extra salt and calcium but not everywhere.
Hi Kim, how can I get the Holstein breed here in Uganda
Hi Asiimwe Henry
Unfortunately, we don’t sell cows, and I don’t know where to buy it in Uganda. I have tried googling it for you: https://www.google.dk/search?q=holstein+cow+in+uganda&oq=holstein+uganda&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0.5591j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Hello…!!
How to improve milk production in HF breed
Now we got 11 ltr per time ..!!
Hi kim
How can i get flexiable cubical of yours in india and what it will cost me
Dear Mr. Jadhav
I will have my office send you a mail about it.
Hi which kind of feeds and supplements can I administer to my one month incalfed dairy cow that is producing 4 litres a day with projection of restoration of its milk production of 27 litres a day.
Can you till me your experience. If you increase the milk of cows or Buffalos ?????
hi Kim,I want to boost and maximize lactation levels of my cow ,am currently getting 4 litters a day.
I am a bit new in dairy farming. Most of the time I purchased a cow the owner often lie that the cow milk this much amount. So how can I increase the milk production I just want that my cow give me 16 to 20 litres milk per day for that I look forward for you suggestions thanks.
Nice and helpful. Thanks.
Hi what to feed for my milk cow to get more milk
Am in ethiopia
hi,
Can you tell me how much percentage of increase it will be? As you didn’t mention it? As you mentioned it that with music it will increase by 3% then what about your method?
Hi Hiral Patel
It’s between 6-10%, depending on how much your cows are already producing.
Does each cow has a natural scale of milk production or can it be increased by good
Hi
Each cow race has its own limits to how much they can produce.
Hi sir how to increase milk production any feeding
Milk increasing methods
Hi Viresh
Unfortunately, I am not the expert on that matter. We only give advice on equipment in the barn, not the feeding of the animals.
Hostan cow gives 20 lit of milk it will how increase
so inviting and interesting because i have cows but so funny that i have learnt something i did not know, that is about the lying of cows, as this will cause them to give more milk. thank you for that knowledge.
You are very welcome 😉👍
Hillo kim
what amount of tempereture is required to keep them healthy
Hello Wangchuk
I can’t find the information anymore, but I once heard that the optimum production temperature was around 5° celsius. I can’t find any research to back it up, though.
I did find this piece from New Zealand, giving you a good hint: The comfort zone for a cow is 4-20°C (https://www.dairynz.co.nz/animal/cow-health/heat-stress/).
So you should definitely keep the temperature around the cows below 20° celsius to minimize heat stress.
Hello,
What are the advantages and degeneration advantages of the current product compared to metal stall iron?
Hello Gökhan
There are really no disadvantages of Flex Stall compared to the “normal” iron stalls. The price might be a little higher in some places, but since there are so many advantages to the Flex Stall, the payback time is less than 6 months. We achieve this result because the cows are in better shape, lies down faster, and thus make more milk. We have a guarantee that any cow will produce a minimum of 2 liters more milk per day when being in Flex Stall compared to iron stalls.
Hi
Flex stall in Turkey ‘s How can I obtain
Hi Hasan Ekiz
You can send a mail to info@cow-welfare.com, and we will help you get it to Turkey!