Right This Way Ladies

About six years ago we added onto our farm. At that time we built a new free stall barn where the cows eat and sleep. The concrete alleys that the cows stand and walk on had a cobblestone surface rolled into the wet concrete. This was done to insure a surface that would prevent cattle from slipping.

However, the pattern was too rough and caused the hooves to wear down too much. When the BEBs (Brown Eyed Bossies) have sore feet, they don't eat like they should. When they don't eat like they should, they don't give as much milk as they should. When they don't give as much milk as they should the John Deere Dealer doesn't get the money he should. So, this is all for good ole' John Deere Green. Not really, but I did like finding one vendor to pick on.

So, the solution to the problem was to put down alley mats made of rubber to make it more comfortable for the BEBs to walk and stand. We installed them three years ago. These mats were ripping and tearing and we found out there was a manufacturer's defect.

So, this day, we replaced them. Such fun. I'm pretty sure the guys hope we can do this again real soon.

First up, we had to move all the BEBs out of the alley and lock them in the free stall area.

Next, we scraped as much of the poop off the mats as possible.

Using the skid steer with forks on it, the next thing we did was to lift up the old mats. Picture Shamoo at Sea World flipping his long tail into the water and splat. Water everywhere. These mats were Poopmoo. Lift, flip, splat and poop went a sailing.

All the nails that held the mats in place had to be pried up and taken out.

New mats were brought in and laid in place.

The handy, dandy, orange machine was built by the man who was installing the mats. It is rigged up to hold six drills that drill six holes at once through the mats and into the concrete.

New nails were placed in the holes and then hammered or slammed into place.

Now, our BEBs have a nice new cushy walk way leading them to their dinner plates. Next up, candle light and music.