"Cow Friendly" Poly Free Stalls

"Cow Friendly" Poly Free Stalls DAIRY EQUIPMENT & IDEAS Dairy Equipment & Ideas 34-5-14 A new "cow friendly" free stall for dairy cows came on the market recently. John Dortmans gives it a big thumbs up. The Strathroy, Ont., dairyman recently became the first dairyman to use Greenstall free stalls in North America, when he installed them in his new 60-cow dairy building. "The nice thing about these stalls is that they're made from flexible polypropylene piping, so they ægive' whenever a cow comes into contact with them. As a result, there's almost no way a cow can get stuck in them or get hurt," says Dortmans. "The polypropylene gives in all directions, but has æmemory' so it always snaps back to its original position. If a cow runs into the headrail it will flex up or down, and the same for the stall's sides - there's nothing to catch her hips on." The stalls can be easily adjusted to any size you want. "The same stall can be used for either small calves or big cows by simply moving some clamps," says Dortmans. "We have a heifer and dry cow barn so we group the animals according to size and maturity. We have 3 different stall sizes that accommodate everything from smaller calves to big cows." Dortmans says the price for Greenstall free stalls is about the same as conventional free stalls made from steel tubing. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, John Dortmans, Strathroy, Ontario, Canada (ph 519 868-1398; jdortmans@isp.ca). In Canada contact: John Moses, P.O. Box 1149, 109 St. Andrew, Mitchell, Ont. Canada N0K 1N0 (ph 877 738-4384; sales@greenfreestall.com; www.greenfreestall.com). In the U.S. contact: Pete Captein, 801 Foothill Dr., Ontario, Oregon 97914 (ph 877 655-4665 or 541 212-0588; www.greenfreestall.com).

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