Riceton
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Registered: 04-2010
Location: NE Ohio
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Re: Riceton Cow pictures
quote: PADairymen wrote:
Hey Riceton - I am wondering what bulls you used in the past that worked really well for you aside from the ones pictured? And I am wondering what bulls you are using now?
Mark worked well for us as did a bull by the name of Duncan Black Romeo. Encore, Leader, and Lee also did a good job. We have alot of good young Roy`s, probably the most consistent bull we have used, use him on a strong cow with good feet and we get great results. Micheal Storm Avalanche and Damion have some nice young cows here. I think Damion may end up being my favorite bull, I really like the 2nd calvers we have, look like the kind that get better and better with age(If he wasn`t so bad for fat%, I would have half the herd bred to him).Now using Damion, DeAnn, Acme, Bolivia, MrSam, Million, and just got a little Plato for some virgin heifers.
--- "Where Lifetime production matters"
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28/6/2010, 15:23
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Craigalea
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Re: Riceton Cow pictures
quote: Riceton wrote:
We have alot of good young Roy`s, probably the most consistent bull we have used
Now thats an interesting quote, guess he really worked on some herds. Probably depends on the type of sires used in the past as to whether this bull really did a good job.
--- Cattle art and bad cow puns: http://sketch-a-bull.tumblr.com/
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12/7/2010, 4:51
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PADairymen
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Re: Riceton Cow pictures
Hey Riceton - what are your stall dimensions? We are looking into a freestall, and I was just wondering your thoughts on what you build.
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24/7/2010, 15:38
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Riceton
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Location: NE Ohio
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Re: Riceton Cow pictures
quote: PADairymen wrote:
Hey Riceton - what are your stall dimensions? We are looking into a freestall, and I was just wondering your thoughts on what you build.
Most of our stalls are 48" by 7'. We have a group with 50-52 inch stalls for big cows, make sure you don`t put heifers in these as they tend to turn around in stall and lay backwards. 7' length probably not ideal for your cows but can work for sure. We have stalls dividers that are wide in front and most cows lunge to side to get up. 8' might be ideal but more than that I feel is a waste of space. Either way the most important part of a freestall is neck rail location.
--- "Where Lifetime production matters"
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25/7/2010, 2:42
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PADairymen
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Re: Riceton Cow pictures
Ahhh.. I see. See the design as of now is all 52 inch stalls, and I'd almost rather not do groups. So you do groups then I'd assume. Hmm.. will have to sit and think on that one. And the stalls are supposed to be 8 feet long, Burdette's are 7.5, and I'm kind of not sure what I think about stall length.
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25/7/2010, 2:47
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Trident DCWI
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Re: Riceton Cow pictures
My preference is quite different. We have a 4-row barn with the inner row of stalls 9 foot long and the outer row 10 foot with no brisket boards - the width is 48 for the lactating cows and 50 for the dry with a section of 53" in the close up pen.
After a year in our new barn I now wish we had everything 10' long with a higher curb in front so we could bank the sand higher in front. Our sand starts at the rear curb and slopes up to the front the butts are almost always at the curb and our cows are as clean as Riceton's. Someone warned me about the 53" stalls that springers would lay sideways but it has not been the case here.
Our animals are average sized certainly not as big as WKV's. BTW Are WKV's cows still wet from me drooling over them at Expo?
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25/7/2010, 14:03
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JonnyLungs
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Re: Riceton Cow pictures
PAD,
Are you familiar with Dr. Nigel Cook's work? I saw him speak over a month ago and he said they are putting together a central website on stall and facility design.
Can't find it yet, but I'd consider some of Dr. Cook's ideas on stall design.
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25/7/2010, 15:15
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PADairymen
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Re: Riceton Cow pictures
My guess is that Burdette's washed the drool off immediately - happens all the time. They don't even have to wash them out at the was rack - they just get people to walk by and they're already wet. lol. I live about an hour from them and sometimes I feel this magnetic pull that drifts me towards their barn - but then I realize I have to get the work done, and snap out of it. It is amazing what they have done - I am so impressed, and envious of what they have been able to do. From a 70 pt cow they bought, 3 generations later - 94 pt Pala and the beginning of one of the best cow families around. I love their cows, they aren't just show cows either, they are tremendous milk cows. When I got a tour awhile back, we walked into the freestall and right there lied a 93 pt Rubens, and a 92 pt old cow in the freestall, it was amazing - I never thought I'd see such a thing to be honest, because I've always thought good type cows like that wouldn't be in freestalls. They have changed my perspective on a lot of things, and that's what I am looking into the sand bedded freestall (wouldn't do it without sand though).
So are your stalls so long because you like to bank the sand? So you just push a bunch of sand in the front of the stalls and then slowly use it until you need to add again. Neat idea. But if you didn't bank sand, you would only need like an 8 foot stall right? What do you use to level the sand? If you ever get time, I'd love to see pictures. Our stalls for the design do not have brisket boards in them, and I don't know that I feel they are necessary, to be honest, I kind of hate brisket boards because I've seen them done wrong enough times that cows hate lying in the stalls.
Last edited by PADairymen, 25/7/2010, 16:16
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25/7/2010, 16:15
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Trident DCWI
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Re: Riceton Cow pictures
Our stalls were designed to Nigel Cook's specs. Johnny, you probably know he does a lot of video work to observe cow behavior and he videoed cows as they lay down and stood up out in pasture - he then superimposed this into a freestall and came up with the dimensions.
We don't necessarily bank the sand for later use (we refill once a week) the intent is for the sand to act as a brisket board (for cleanliness) and, secondly, to have the cows lying uphill (for health purposes).
PAD, I was impressed when I visited Sandy-Valley the first time for the same reason. I know it's not a show herd but the highest profile animals are right in the freestall barn with everyone else. It is incredible how our knowledge of cow comfort has changed in ten years - their barn was built to the latest "cow comfort" specs and it is 12 feet narrower than our new barn - both 4-row.
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25/7/2010, 23:56
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JonnyLungs
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Re: Riceton Cow pictures
quote: Trident DCWI wrote:
Our stalls were designed to Nigel Cook's specs. Johnny, you probably know he does a lot of video work to observe cow behavior and he videoed cows as they lay down and stood up out in pasture - he then superimposed this into a freestall and came up with the dimensions.
Correct, he did some video work on our farm earlier this decade and we were also one of the farms involved in his lameness study.
Dr. Cook's work has done wonders for animal welfare, shame outsiders wouldn't recognize his work. Of course that's something for a different thread.
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26/7/2010, 0:06
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