It seemed like ages from groundbreaking to milking with robots but we finally got there end of April, 2018. After a month, some cows still need reminders from the humans to get milked. It rained most of the month of May and much of the time it was too wet to plant corn so no need to fret about staying in the barn and missing field work.
In mid-April, Lowell opened the doors of the old barn to allow the cows to find their way to the new barn so they could become accustomed to the new barn before milking started there. By the looks of the old barn, a new barn was needed.
If a gate is open, the cows come out!
When they got to the new concrete (which the Vector feeder travels on) they had to stop and sniff it awhile. "What is this? Is it safe? It is different."
Finally, the first cows got onto the concrete and the rest followed.
They all ran all the way around the inside of the barn and then back out---twice.
When I came back 2 hours later, they were all in the barn, laying down. They loved it.
Each cow has a computer chip in the belt around her neck that identifies her when she enters the robot stall. The robot computers collect and store all kinds of info about the cow (along with all the input by the human admin). The cow laying flat is not dead, just very relaxed. Aahhhh!
Feeding time in the barn
The Vector feeder does everything by itself; mixes the feed ration, drives to the barn and unloads the feed. He even plays a tune as a warning he is on his way (a rather boring tune till Ian has time to program a cool one into him). He needs a special name!
The next 3 photos are of the robot stall itself from the cow's viewpoint.
Robot section of barn with 4 robots (two in foreground)
When no cow is in the stall, the back gate is open, front gate is closed. When a cow enters, the back gate closes and robot starts milking, feed falls into the trough that is attached to the front gate. When finished milking, the front gate opens, cow leaves and back gate opens for the next cow. Green part on front gate is computer part.
Close-up of the milker: It moves into place under the cow. It has a laser to find the cows teats and attach itself.
Adding gates and more gates to guide the cows to the robots. They need to learn what to do.
The first cow enters the stall---reluctantly.
Milking! First day they used manual controls.
This is what it looks like from the "human" side.
Touch screen on robot getting a lot of attention.
Curious cow
Exhaustion. When I first saw Calvin he was laying flat on the cement floor!
Ian hired a crew of Old Order Mennonite young men (who were excellent help) the first week to help bring the cows to the robots and get them accustomed to the new way of being milked. This was a round-the-clock endeavor. Daughter-in-law Tori planned and prepared meals for all the workers. I was her grocery gopher and substitute meal preparer/server when she was working. It's suppertime in this photo. Pizza night.
Command Central includes a cot for Ian who has spent many nights in the barn.
And finally, a cow enjoys the automatic back scratcher.
