Take a planned approach to installing fans to improve ventilation

When looking to improve ventilation in cattle sheds or collecting yards, it’s essential to get some good advice to ensure that you are not only buying the best type of fan, but also installing them in the optimum places to maximise air movement.

Arrange for a survey to be carried out, before making any plans or purchases.

Good ventilation and air movement in the cow house and collecting yard, facilitated by appropriately-positioned fans, are important all year round – not just during the summer. While high temperatures lead to heat stress, humidity also plays a role, and housed cows can begin to feel stressed at temperatures in the low teens.

Signs of stress include cows spending more time standing rather than lying in order to cool down; this negatively impacts on milk yield. Panting is another sign – which also means they will be cudding less, so intakes fall, and so does milk yield.

This was the case on a Welsh dairy herd where cows were housed all year round on a robotic milking system. Cows were feeling the effects of heat stress even at low temperatures: they were standing up more, were lethargic, and were visiting the robot less frequently. Following a site survey, a CMP ventilation system was installed which created a better air flow, cooled the cows and improved the shed environment: the ammonia smell disappeared, and the cubicle beds became drier which consequently reduced mastitis cases. Now, cow visits to the robot, and milk yields are back up to where they should be.

Through Italian ventilation specialist CMP, SAS can devise and provide ventilation systems to improve the environments of cattle sheds and collecting yards. CMP fans are designed to rotate quietly, have low running costs, and they require minimal maintenance.

So, if heat and/or humidity are depressing your herd’s performance and health, give us a call to discuss your situation, and we can arrange to visit for a site survey.