Happy Cow Enterprises

1
Happy Cow Enterprises

• Team 14
• Kelly Sheehan
• Jonathan Jaschen
• Virginia Westlie
• Neil Rickeman
• Sarah Gillen

2
Overview

• Cow Comfort
• Feed Nutrition
• Milking
• Calving/Transition
• Reproduction

3
Management

• Strengths
• Extensive protocols written
• Opportunities for Improvement
• Communication between employees
• Employee training
• Train all employees to detect issues
• Herdsmans duties
• Discrepancies between DHIA, PCDart, and protocol
  
• Cows leaving herd
• Voluntary waiting period
• Enforce protocols

4
Reproduction

• Strengths
• Sire selection criteria
• Good calving interval 13.6 months

5
Reproduction

• Opportunities for Improvement
• Heat detection
• Detect heat more than once per day, including
  early and late in the day
• Train all employees to detect heats
• Utilize dry erase boards

--- observed --- successful
6
Feeds

• Strengths
• Using facer on corn silage bunker
• Well balanced ration evident by BCS and
  production
• Noted that paper ration was slightly different
  than actual ration fed
• Safety Considerations
• Post signs near bunkers warning about collapse
• Install rail on loading dock

7
Feeds

• Opportunities for Improvement
• Invest in cement floor and walled bunkers
• Too much waste, reduce feed costs
• Calculate refusal rate
• Save on feed costs
• TMR particle size should be reduced
• Change mixing order
• Label bulk bins and commodity storage
• Keep more of haylage pile covered
• Use a facer on haylage piles

8
Calves and Transition Cows

• Strengths
• Close up cows brought to farm early enough to
  transition easily
• Good colostrum feeding protocols
• Also have good protocols for dry cows and calf
  illness

9
Calves and Transition Cows

• Opportunities for Improvement
• Use plastic dividers for calf pens
• Can be easily cleaned and sanitized
• Calves should have free choice water and starter
• Dont chop straw for calf bedding
• Creates dust leading to respiratory problems
• Set protocol for when to pull a calf
• Create separate calving pen that can be regularly
  cleaned and sanitized
• Reduce stocking density
• Bed pre-fresh cattle more frequently

10
Calves and Transition Cows

• Safety Concerns
• Should have signs that warn of step in calf barn
• Remove broken gates and boards
• Adequately fasten all gates
• Fix broken fence along silo
• Auger sticks out
• Breaker box without cover
• Future Expansion Considerations
• Build adequately sized facility near free stall
  barn with calving facility attached and separate
  maternity pens for calving. Attach to free stall
  barn with cow lane.

11
Milking

• Strengths
• Cows were calm
• Workers were quiet
• Milking units and platform were clean
• Majority of cows were clean

12
Milking

• Opportunities for Improvement
• Increase parlor turnover
• Check cows to see if they are completely milked
  out when milkers fall off
• Faster response to squawking and fallen milkers
• Install rubber mats on platform and holding pen

13
Finances

• Working Capital to AGI 13
• Debt Assets- .64
• Debt load is fine considering the farm is new
• Feed costs are rising
• 56 increase from year prior
• Consider other options for ration

14
Cow Comfort

• Stall size
• Stalls were 3 6 and should be 4
• Not enough lunge space
• Broken boards

15
Facility Safety

• No first aid kits visible
• Storage room was cluttered
• Engine room breakers were missing covers
• Tin needed to be fitted around bulk tank
• Spreader was missing rear shield
• No fences around the pit

16
Conclusion

• Cow Comfort
• Feed Nutrition
• Milking
• Calving/Transition
• Reproduction