Hello from Kelsey Goodick on the veterinary team in Naari!
Canada Day week was an exciting week for our youth farm service project as we focused on cow and calf comfort. Swapping our stethoscopes and rectal sleeves for hammers and nails we became carpenters for a couple of days and worked with two of our youth farmers to build new stalls and improve cow comfort on their farms.
We first began by teaching the farmers the importance of having comfortable, proper fitting sleeping stalls to attain good milk production. We explained that a cow produces the most milk when she is laying down, and to encourage rest she must have a soft and comfortable place where she will want to lay. We also stressed the importance of having a proper fitting stall that isn’t too small that the cow is uncomfortable while sleeping, nor too big that she will pass waste into her stall making an unclean resting environment that will dirty her udder and increase the risk of mastitis. Finally, we discussed the roles of a clean and dry calf pen in preventing calf illness, especially scours. Then with a hammer, a jembe (garden hoe) and a penga (machete) in hand we were off to work to build new stalls.
Our first farm had two sleeping stalls that were much too large, with hard rocky flooring and a calf pen that was too small to comfortably hold their growing calf. Our solution was to divide one of the sleeping stalls to make two smaller, more appropriate size stalls and remove the rocks to even out and soften the ground, and turn the second sleeping stall into a new calf pen.
Emily and Ali discussing construction plans.
With my past handy-man experience being limited to building a slanted bookshelf in home etch, assembling IKEA furniture and hanging pictures, I thought this plan sounded easier said than done. However, with many hands make light work, and with the help of the farmer, lots of muscle work and only a few hammered thumbs we got the job done – Emily andI even built a new milking stool (farmer comfort is important too)!
Our farmer was a great help at hammering all the difficult nails!
The new calf pen!
Emily testing the milking stool in the new sleeping stalls!
The next day we were ready to take on our next construction challenge; building two sleeping stalls and a feed trough from scratch! With our second farm only having a fenced in area and a milking stall for their cows, we certainly had our work cut out for us. After a long day of clearing manure, removing rocks and adding fresh soil to soften the ground, chopping trees for wood, hammering, digging and masoning we successfully completed our task!
Our rectal sleeves were used after all – to clear manure!
Everyone hard at work!
Our end result: new sleeping stalls and a new feed trough!
We were very pleased with improvements made on both youth farms, and we hope that the cows will rest more comfortably and that the farmers will soon begin to see increases in milk production!