GB2133266A - Milking parlours - Google Patents

Abstract

A method of mitigating the nuisance of flies in a milking parlour containing a plurality of cows or other mammalian animals comprises directing a stream of air at the udder region of each of the animals by fans 19, 20. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Milking parlours This invention relates to a method of mitigating nuisance from insects in cow and other milking parlours and to milking parlours for use in that method.

Nuisance from insects, particularly the domestic fly, has long been a problem in structures in which cows are milked (referred to herein as "cow parlours"), both to the animals themselves and to the milkers. This problem has been exacerbated in recent years by changes in dairy practice. The size of the herd is, in general, greater than hitherto and the cows of the herd are introduced in separate successive batches into the cow parlour for milking. This results in a steady increase in the temperature in the parlour during the milking session so that the temperature rises to uncomfortable levels, especially towards the end of the session. The high temperature met in cow parlours in current practice attracts increasing numbers of domestic flies which are a nuisance both to the animals and to the milkers.

With a view to combating the fly nuisance dairy farmers have resorted to using chemical fly repellants but in order to be at all effective these have had to be used in in large quantities. Not only is this practice expensive but it presents a risk of contamination, and the steadily rising standard of hygiene required in cow parlours has made the use of chemical fly repellants undesirable.

There is now provided according to the present invention a method of mitigating nuisance from domestic flies and other insects in milking parlours, which is not only very effective but hygienic and simple to use.

Accordingly, in one aspect the present invention provides a method of mitigating the nuisance of flies in a milking parlour containing a plurality of cows or other mammalian animals, which comprises directing a stream of air at the udder region of each of the animals.

In a second aspect the invention provides a miling parlour having means to accommodate a plurality of cows or other mammalian animals for milking parlour having means to accommodate a direct a stream of air at the udder region of each of the animals when the parlour is in use.

Although the invention is applicable to the milking of mammalian animals other than cows, for instance goats, the invention is described below with particular reference to cows.

Although the current, flow, blast or other stream of air used in the invention must be directed at the udder region of the cows it can, if desired, be part of a larger stream coming into contact with other parts of the cows besides the udder region. However, in general, the fans or other means used to provide such a larger stream of air need to be larger and more expensive and the additional benefit obtained, if any, is not commensurate with extra expense (compared with that of directing a stream of air at the udder regions only of the cows).

The method of the invention can be applied to cow parlours of conventional design in which cows to be milked are disposed in one or more rows, normally with their heads facing the adjacent side wall; the cows can each be disposed substantially at right angles to the side wall or inclined at an angle thereto. This latter arrangement is known as a "herringbone" arrangement where the cow parlour follows the now conventional practice of housing two substantially parallel straight rows of cows the heads of the cows of each row facing the respective adjacent side wall. It is to this latter form of cow parlour that the following description particularly relates.

The stream of air used in the method of the invention is conveniently introduced into the cow parlour in one of the end regions thereof and directed along a zone extending longitudinally of the cow parlour, said zone including the udders of all the cows in that row. Where the cow parlour is of a herringbone or other type having more than one row of cows, each row can have its own means for directing a stream of air along the row.

The means for providing the steam of air is conveniently a powerful fan mounted inside the cow parlour at one end region thereof and arranged so that the stream of air it provides flows the length of the cow parlour and exits at the other end thereof.

It has been found according to the present invention that the stream of air directed at the cows udders causes air turbulence which normally has the effect of deterring flies from entering that zone. Even if some flies do enter the zone it has been found that, provided the stream of air is sufficiently great, the flies do not come to rest either on the cows or the milkers. It is, however, important that the stream of air should be sufficiently great to have the desired fly-dispersing effect. We have found that a satisfactory stream of air for use with a row of five to fourteen cows arranged at conventional spacing is in the range 4,000 to 6,000 (for example 5,000) cu. ft per minute, this being sufficient to dispel about 90% of the flies from the udder regions of the cows.

Such a stream of air can be obtained, for example, using a 7-bladed fan operated at a speed in the range 1,200 to 1,400 (for example 1,300) rpm. If desired, the air-stream can be even greater.

The actual volume of air and its velocity used in the method depends to a large extent on the degree of effectiveness required. In general, the greater the velocity of the airstream the greater the effectiveness. On the other hand, if a lower degree of effectiveness can be tolerated it is possible to use less expensive fans of lower power providing a lower throughput of air and lower emergent velocity.

The velocity of the stream of air is conveniently in the range from 24 to 36 feet/second (7.31 to 10.97 metres/second, especially in the range from 28 to 32 feet/second (8.53 to 9.75 metres/second, for example 30 feet/second (9.14 metres/second), as measured at the exit face of the fan.

There is now described, by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawing, a cow milking parlour according to one embodiment of the invention.

This parlour is designed to house for milking two parallel rows of cows each having five cows and two fans one for each row.

In the drawings: FIGURE lisa diagrammatic plan view of the interior of the milking parlour; and FIGURE 2 is a diagrammatic section on the line Il-Il of Figure 1.

The drawings show two rows of cows in their milking position, the cows being arranged substantially parallel to one another and inclined at an angle to the adjacent side wall (the "herringbone" arrangement).

The cow parlour in its general construction is of a conventional roofed, rectangular design having two parallel side walls 10, 11 closed by two parallel end walls 12, 13. Side wall 10 has in one end portion thereof a doorway 14 for entry of cows to be milked and in the other end portion a doorway 15 for exit of cows after having been milked. A central area 1 6 of the floor of the parlour is at a lower level than the remainder of the floor, this lower level area providing a working space for the milkers. Flights of steps 1 7, 1 8 provide access to area 1 6.

At the sides of steps 1 8 there are mounted on supports (not shown) two fans 19, 20 arranged so that, in use, they direct respectively a stream of air substantially along the line of the udder regions of each row of cows. Figure 1 shows by means of arrows that the streams of air provided by the fans are inclined slightly to the exit faces of the fans; they are not at a right angle to the sides walls 10, 11 but are at a slightly smaller angle (for example 75 to 880 and especially 80 to 850 to the respective wall. The reason for this preferred arrangement is that the stream of air emitted by each fan diverges or spreads as it moves away from the fan and its effect along the lines of udder regions tends to diminish along the length of the parlour. But this disadvantage can be mitigated by arranging the fan as described above.As shown in Figure 1 , the streams of air are directed at a small acute angle to the walls 10, 11, thereby limiting the inward "spread" effect inwards into area 16; the outward "spread" effect is not serious because it results in reflection of the air streams from walls 10, 11 back towards the udder regions. Further or alternative control of the direction of the airstreams by means of louvres or like means is described below.

Suitable fans are Ziehl fans of the type ECDO 501/4 sold by L. H. Sleightholme Limited. Salient details of these fans are as follows: Speed -- 1,300 rpm Airflow - (0 inches from outlet) -- 5,000 cubic feet/min (8,500 m3/hour) Power input - 0.53 kw (maximum) Current consumption at 240 V - 1.85 amps Noise - dBA 74 (at 1 metre) Area of exit face = 314.6 sq. inches (197135.71 sq.mm) The amps referred to above is the current consumption measured at free air. Fans of the ECDQ type are described in a technical publication of Ziehl fans under reference "AL 2.80 Great Britain".

There now follows a description of the use of the fans, which constitutes an embodiment of the method aspect of the invention. The two fans are conveniently switched on before any of the cows for milking enter the parlour. The first batch of ten cows is then brought in through doorway 14 and arranged (in a conventional herringbone fashion) at each side of the parlour. The position of the cows of one of the rows is shown in Figure 1 in which the rearmost leg of each cow 21 is adjacent a side rail 22 running around working area 16.

With the cows in this position, a blast of air, at ambient temperature, is directed longitudinally of the parlour along an elongated path or zone containing the udders of each of the cows on the respective side of the parlour.

The capacity of the fan (5,000 cu. ft/minute) is such as to provide turbulence along the length of the zone referred to above. The result of this turbulence is to deter most, if not ali, of the flies in the cow parlour from entering the zone; and it is found that any flies that do enter the zone do not alight either on the cows or adjacent milkers.

When the first batch of cows has been milked, they leave the parlour by way of the exit doorway 15, and a succeeding batch of cows is allowed in through the entry doorway 14 to occupy the milking positions vacated by the first batch. If the maximum cooling effect is to be obtained in the parlour it is preferable to keep the fan running continuously during the whole milking session.

Although the foregoing description with reference to the accompanying drawings relates to an embodiment in which there are used two fans (usually of the same type), a single fan can be used in certain circumstances. First, a single fan only would normally be required where the cow parlour has only a single row of milking stalls.

Secondly, in some instances a single fan or other air-injection means can be used even where there are more than one row of milking stalls. A single fan can be utilised for this purpose by arranging for it to be movable as between a position in which it can provide a stream of air to a first row of cows and a position in which it can provide a stream of air to another row. The movement of the fan can be in a direction transverse to the rows of milking stalls, for example, by movement along a track, but in other instances it is sufficient for the fan to be rotatable to the necessary degree, usually about a vertical axis, but without lateral movement of the fan. For this purpose the fan can be mounted on a turntable or other suitable base.

In this latter mode of use the stream of air can be controlled, for instance by use of vertically disposed louvres, so that the stream reaches the udder regions of each of the cows in the row. The use of a single fan operated as indicated above, can be used satisfactorily with two rows of cows spaced apart, one row from the other, by distance of not more than 4 feet. However, where said distance exceeds about 5 feet it is generally not satisfactory to use a single fan mounted for rotation. Of course, a single fan can normally be used if the mode of movement is by means of a transverse track as referred to above.

If a fan or other air projection means is used without louvres or like control means the stream of air emitted from it has normally a wide angle of divergence. However, this angle can be narrowed substantially by the use of louvres or like control means so that the effective range of the stream of air for dispersing flies from the cows' udder regions is increased. Preferably, vertically disposed louvres are arranged in at least two sets whereby louvres to one side of the vertical centre line of the fan can be controlled independently from those disposed on the other side. In this way, it is possible not only to concentrate, that is, to reduce the angle of divergence of the airstream but to reduce the divergence by different amounts on the two sides of the stream.Where a single fan is used using the rotation technique described above, it is normally preferable for the vertical louvres on that side of the fan closest to the row of cows being milked to be arranged so as to obtain a larger degree of deflection of the airstream than the louvres on the other side of the centre line.

If desired, the fan can also have horizontally disposed louvres to control divergence of the airstream in a vertical plane but such control normally is less important than the control of the airstream in a horizontal plane described above.

Where, for example, two fans are used they can each be mounted with its vertical centre line substantially in line with the rear legs of the cows when they are in the milking position. The fans can be supported, for exmaple, from the roof of the parlour by means of chains attached to eye bolts in the upper parts of the fan casings.

If desired the fan or other air projection means used in this invention can have a heater so as to provide warm air during cold weather. Owing to the high degree of humidity normally met in cow parlours the materials from which the air projection means is constructed are preferably water-resistant.

Claims (27)

1. A method of mitigating the nuisance of flies in a milking parlour containing a plurality of cows or other mammalian animals, which comprises directing a stream of air at the udder region of each of the animals.

2. A method according to Claim 1, in which the animals are arranged in a row substantially parallel to one another so that their udder rgions are substantially in alignment.

3. A method according to Claim 2, in which the stream of air is provided by an air projection means located within the milking parlour in one end region thereof so that the stream of air is projected substantially along the line of the udder regions.

4. A method according to Claim 3, in which the air projection means is a fan.

5. A method according to Claim 3 or 4, in which the air projection means has louvres to facilitate direction of the stream of air.

6. A method according to any of Claims 2 to 5, in which the number of animals in the row is in the range five to fourteen and the initial velocity of the stream of air in the range from 24 to 36 feet per second.

7. A method according to Claim 6, in which the animals are arranged at an interval spacing of approximately 48 inches and the distance between the fan and the next adjacent animal is approximately 30 inches.

8. A method according to any of Claims 2 to 5, in which the number of animals in the row is in the range five to fourteen and the initial flow of the stream of air is in the range from 4000 to 6000 cubic feet per minute.

9. A method according to any of Claims 2 to 8, in which instead of one row of animals there are two or more rows substantially parallel to each other.

10. A method according to Claim 9, in which a separate stream of air is provided for each row of animals.

11. A method according to Claim 10, in which there are two rows of animals and said separate streams of air are provided by two fans located in one end region of the parlour.

12. A method according to Claim 10, in which there are two rows of animals and the air projection means is such that a stream of air can be directed along one or other of the lines of the udder regions, as desired.

1 3. A method according to Claim 12, in which the air projection means is a single fan mounted for rotation between a first position in which it can direct a stream of air substantially along the line of the udder regions of one of said rows and a second position in which it can direct a stream of air substantially along the line of the udder regions of the other of said rows.

14. A method according to Claim 1, substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 5. A milking parlour having means to accommodate a plurality of cows or other mammalian animals for milking, the parlour being provided with means to direct a stream of air at the udder region of each of the animals when the parlour is in use.

16. A milking parlour according to Claim 15, in which the stream of air is provided by an air projection means located within the parlour in an end region thereof.

17. A milking parlour having two side walls closed by two end walls and at a first end region thereof a way in for animals to be milked and at the other end region a way out for animals after they have been milked; a plurality of milking stalls arranged along at least one side wall so that when said stalls are occupied respectively by animals to be milked the udder regions of the animals are disposed in alignment; and air projection means located in one of the end regions of the milking parlour for projection of a stream of air substantially along the line of the udder regions.

18. A milking parlour according to Claim 17, in which the air projection means is a fan.

19. A milking parlour according to Claim 17 or 18, in which the air projection means has louvres to facilitate direction of the stream of air.

20. A milking parlour according to Claim 1 7, 18 or 19, in which the number of milking stalls is in the range five to fourteen and the air projection means is one capable of providing an air stream having an initial velocity in the range from 24 to 36 feet per second.

21. A milking parlour according to Claim 17, 18 or 19, in which the number of milking stalls is in the range five to fourteen and the air projection means is one capable of providing an air stream in the range from 4,000 to 6,000 cubic feet per minute.

22. A milking parlour according to any of Claims 17 to 21, in which instead of one row of milking stalls there are two or more rows substantially parallel to each other.

23. A milking parlour according to Claim 22, in which there is a separate air projection means for each row of milking stalls.

24. A milking parlour according to Claim 23, in which there are two rows of milking stalls and the air projection means comprises two fans, one located for each row.

25. A milking parlour according to Claim 24, in which the air projection means is a single fan located with respect to said rows so that a stream of air can be directed to each row in turn.

26. A milking parlour according to Claim 25, in which the direction of the stream of air is effected by rotation of the fan.

27. A milking parlour substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.