Many years ago, at a dairy conference in Michigan which was aimed at increasing dairy cow profitability, a dairy cattle psychologist told the attendees that a dairy farmer simply had to . . .
eliminate all the stresses in the dairy cow’s life. Then he spent an hour explaining how. To everyone who reads this article, everything that he mentioned and which most dairymen in 2019 have already implemented seems to be just common sense.
A few of the stresses he stated that must be eliminated are, never offer cattle any feed that is not fresh, is balanced to provide all the nutrition, fiber, minerals and amino acids that are required by that animal at that stage in her pregnancy, production and physical condition, taking into consideration the temperature that the cow is living in.
Make sure that stalls are provided for every animal and that each stall is wide enough and long enough for the animal to rest comfortably in without any part of her touching any part of the stall and wearing hair off or leaving a bruise. The stall must be dry and well bedded and should be soft enough so that the farmer could stand in the stall and drop to his knees without feeling any pain from the sudden drop.
Everywhere that the animal can walk must have good traction and not be slippery. Preferably, the floor should not be cement unless it is covered with rubber. Water must always be fresh, provided in clean troughs and be close to any animal that wants a drink.
Air must be fresh and the building should be ventilated to eliminate stale air. Because ideal cow temperature is 42 degrees Fahrenheit it is much easier to maintain this in winter than in summer time.
Sometimes during the hottest time in summer, misters may have to be used to dampen the cattle and evaporative cooling will take some of the heat from the cows.
Any loud noises like shouting, a dog barking or any other sudden loud noise must be eliminated. Most new dairy barns today are a free stall design where cows are allowed to roam freely anywhere in their pen but different cows in different stages of lactation or age are placed in different pens.
If an animal is bullied and made uncomfortable with one group of cattle she should be moved to another pen where there are younger, less aggressive animals to alleviate mental stress in the animal.
Milking groups must be sized to allow each group to be milked quickly and reduce the time that each cow has to stand in the holding area before being milked and allowed to return to her feed, water or stall. Cows must not be beaten or abused physically or mentally.
I wish that it was as easy to outline all the ways to eliminate stress in humans. Our earliest ancestors had stress too, but the main ones were finding water, finding or building shelter, finding and providing food, having friends or groups that could help in securing water, food, and shelter and for security from other groups or wild animals harming or killing them.
Many of today’s stresses have been brought on by modern times. Often a bigger house, a faster car with more bells and whistles or even more trendy clothes are not really a necessity but a want. An old saying that has been repeated too much lately is, “You never see a trailer hitch on a hearse to pull a U-Haul with all your stuff in it to your graveyard!” People attend your wake, your funeral, and follow you to the graveyard because you were a friend and because of what you did for mankind.
There are many ways that you can relieve stress. Go for a walk, read a book, work in your garden, walk the dog, take a leisurely drive down a quiet country road, listen to the birds, etc. Write down a couple things that help you to relax and de-stress.
Mental health specialists tell us that one person in five will have a mental health problem sometime in their life! There are many, many forms of mental health problems that vary from anxiety to suicide. One person in 20 has or will think about suicide sometime in their life.
Take time to visit and talk to friends, neighbours and strangers and listen to what they are saying. In many cases, a stranger is only a friend that you haven’t met yet.
If there is a course offered in your community on mental health do yourself a favour and invest a little of your time to attend. My dad told me many times that “a little education is easy to carry. It does not take up much room in your pocket!”
Chris Judd is a farmer in Clarendon on land that has been in his family
for generations. gladcrest@gmail.com
