Cow Mats as Bedding
An Effective way to Higher Dairy Cow Productivity, Modern Dairy Farm Best Practices. Dairy Industry has been around for several hundred years now and is continuously changing the shape with the latest improvement in dairy equipment and technology.
One of the recent changes is with dairy farm flooring or more specifically the bedding/resting area. Bedding areas can largely influence a cow's well-being. Cow produce most their milk while resting and thus encouraging them to lie down for longer period increases milk yield substantially.
Findings by research centers in Dairy Farming show that farms with Mats had higher productivity levels compared to ones without mats.
How Cow Mats are Useful?
Most of the Dairy Farms traditionally have been using sand, straw, or brick concrete as bedding or floor surface.
EVA Cow Mats are been used in India for around 7-8 years now. Various types of mats are been manufactured ranging from low quality to highly durable ones.
Typically a soft surface enhances cow comfort contributing to the overall well-being of Dairy Cows.
Cow Mats provides that soft bedding surface required as they are made of Microcellular EVA Rubber which acts as the mattress. The key property of elastic re-bounce is responsible for this mattress like behavior. Cow Mats are made of Closed Cell Structure which encapsulates millions of tiny air bubbles covered with a polymeric phase that do not absorb liquids and acts as a cushion.
Mats maintain these properties over a reasonable period underuse so they remain as effective yet durable bedding for Dairy Cows. The rubber surface is skid-resistant which prevents slipping of Cows on wet surfaces encouraging cows to walk without stress.
Channels on mats help to drain excess water keeping surface dry. The small amount of straw or a mixture of lime powder with wood flour makes mats more attractive to cows.
The mat comes with interlocking edges so they could be linked to each other seamlessly providing continuous bedding covering the resting area. One of the essential properties of EVA Rubber mats is the load-bearing capacity. Or it is how much weight a mat can hold without losing its rubbery properties over its life.
Cheap mats have no rubber content which makes them a poor performer to EVA Rubber Cow Mats.
Mats are considered to be a smart investment considering its benefits over with an increase in milk yield, less labor, and improvement in cow’s health.