Don’t you love coming home after a long day and laying down in your nice soft bed? Well just like humans, cows do too! According to a study done by W. K. Fulwider and R. W. Palmer in 2004 on impact testing to predict cow preference, the most important factor that determines cow preference is the softness of the mattress; and when given a choice cows will lay down on the softest material or mattress that’s available. Dairy cows need to lay down a lot throughout their day. The reason for this is that the more comfortable they are, the more milk they produce. When cows lay down, blood flow to their mammary glandsincreases 20-25 percent, which increases milk production and nutritional efficiency. If a cow has a comfortable place to lay, she will lay down for upwards of 50 percent of her day! Even small changes in laying time can drastically affect milk production. Creating the perfect atmosphere to keep the cow calm and comfortable can make all of the difference.
SuperStall Memory Foam Cow Mattress is the ideal mattress system to add to your dairy farm to increase cow comfort, health, and production. These foam mattresses are covered with either the Alloy™ Premium Topcover, a PVC impregnated industrial fabric, or the recently introduced VR Topcover, a sturdy vulcanized rubber cover. Both of these engineered covers are 100% waterproof, highly durable, easy on hocks yet full of traction, and proven to be long lasting.
Our foam mattresses not only encourage cows to lay down cow but also support their process of getting up and down in the stall. The supportiveness of the surface can greatly affect a cow’s knees and hocks. If the surface is too hard or rough, this can lead to lesions, wounds or hock issues from the cow getting up and down. Also, if the stalls are too slippery, the cow can often lose her balance and her back legs will slip in the standing process. Slipping a few times can develop a fear in the cow that will make her not want to go into the stalls. She may lay down less frequently but for longer periods of time because she does not want to perform the tasking of laying down and standing up.
Our memory foam mattresses help to not only keep the cow comfortable when she’s laying down but also during the processes of lying down and standing up. When she goes to lie down the mattress will absorb the shock of her full weight coming down on her knees, therefore eliminating injuries or hock issues. When the cow wants to rise from the floor, our topcovers have the perfect grip so that she won’t slide when she is rising. By creating a slip-free surface, the cows have a lot of confident getting in and out of the stall and use it more regularly.
The study done by W. K. Fulwlder and R. W. Palmer in 2004 stated that foam mattresses, on average, compacted the fastest, lost comfort and change quickly within just one years’ time. SuperStall Foam Cow Mattresses have held up where others haven’t. Using the same testing method, we found that after 3.5 years of use, our SuperStall mattresses had less than one percent change! Our memory foam mattresses hold up over time, continue to keep their soft advantage, and therefore maximize milk production without having to buy new cow mattresses every few years. A comfy cow is a happy cow, and a comfy cow producing more milk, is a happier farmer.
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References:
Fulwider, W. K., and R. W. Palmer. “Use of Impact Testing to Predict Softness, Cow Preference, and Hardening Over Time of Stall Bases.” American Dairy Science Association, 2004. Web. 2 Feb. 2015.
Cook, Nigel B. “The Influence of Cow Comfort on Lameness and Production.” University of Wisconsin-Madison, n.d. Web. 2 Feb. 2015.