Livestock Event 2014: Prevent cow stress by safe use of backing gates

A backing gate, used incorrectly, can become a high-risk gadget that could cause lameness.

Backing gates are an important part of efficient milking for a modern dairy herd, but when used incorrectly they can lead to lameness.

There is a fine line between gently nudging a cow and pushing her until she slips and does the splits. And simply using gates to pack cows into a collecting yard not only causes stress, it also puts their feet under pressure.

Poor use of a backing gate, therefore, is a high-risk area for lameness, according to DairyCo’s lameness specialist, Jo Speed.

See also Video on how to use a backing gate correctly

She points out that cows skidding about before milking risk trauma to the sole of the foot, or tearing of the white line. Two to three months later, the result is lame cows.

“On some farms, cows are in the collecting yard an hour before milking and the backing gate is put down to hold them there, jam-packed in, while staff are doing other jobs such as scraping out. Yet excess standing times can lead to bruising and sole ulcers,” she adds.

“Herds that are seeing a lot of white-line damage should look at what is causing it. This is the approach we take in the DairyCo Healthy Feet Programme: looking at what causes lameness, what we can do to fix it, and what can be done to prevent it. We follow a logical process that pinpoints where money is best spent for most effect.”

Mrs Speed explains that the aim of a backing gate is to move cows standing nearest the parlour, not those at the far end of the collecting yard. Correctly used, it isn’t there to force cows forward, but to take up the slack at the back of the collecting yard. “The gate should get to the back of the legs and stop, with just a pat or a nudge to encourage cows forward, not left on continuously and create pressure from behind,” she says.

Used incorrectly, however, and cows beside the backing gate – usually heifers, fresh calvers or lame ones – become pressured, while those nearest the parlour just don’t move. She also finds that collecting yards are often overstocked, the impression being that giving cows more space slows them down. In fact, the opposite is true. Space allows cows to behave naturally and produce better cow flow.

“Good cow flow ultimately leads to less lameness,” she points out. “There should be no heads up, every cow should be able to have her head down as this is showing she has the space to exhibit her natural behaviour. If her head is up, she can’t see where she is putting her feet and this is where we see skidding, plus problems with bullying. Measure the area and cow size to assess whether stocking density is too tight, then listen for animals skidding and jostling for space.”

A backing gate can only be as good as the operator controlling it. Cows like routine and, for best results, Mrs Speed believes a farm’s milkers should be trained to use the backing gate in the same way, at every milking.

“In a herringbone parlour, for instance, it should be switched on for a five-second pulse, every other row of cows. In a rectangular collecting yard, the gate should move at 6m/min; in round collecting yards at 12m/min. Doing the same routine every milking means that a bell or alarm isn’t needed, because cows know what to expect, and never get out of the parlour. Once you start coming out of the pit, it totally disrupts cow flow, which wastes seconds a row and then extends milking,” she says.

Using a backing gate correctly

• Don’t use electric on gates – shocks don’t create contented cows
• Observe the no-heads rule: cows should have sufficient space to lower their head and be able to see where they put their feet
• Listen for skidding and slipping sounds
• Cows like consistency – every milker should operate the backing gate in the same way at every milking.
• No faster than 6m/minute
• Don’t get out of the parlour, it affects cow flow

Find out more on how to get the most out of backing gates from the manufacturers in the Livestock Equipment area. Also visit the DairyCo stand, where Jo Speed will be on hand to answer questions from 1pm-6pm on Wednesday and 8am-1pm on Thursday