Wintering in calf dairy heifers

Viewtodiefor

Well lads. I'm just curious how ye keep yer in calf dairy heifers over the winter, do ye all have cubicles for them or slats or out winter?

cjpm

If you have cows on cubicles, yearling heifers and in calf heifers should also be accomodated on suitable cubicles if at all possible. Avoids having to train heifers to lie on cubicles later.

keep going

somebody told me recently that he puts a small bunch of mature cows into the cubicle house with his heifers before the full herd for a couple weeks and it helps train them.they see the older cow do it and they get a chance to lie up before the numbers go up

REBEL COUNTY1

Whats the advantages to using cubicles over lets say straw bedding in an open shed?

Are mats used in the cublicles? remember number of years ago talks of a new type of mat for cubicles?

whelan1

we put them in slatted shed- big pen- when they are a few weeks from calving we let them in to dry cow shed where there are cubicles, mats and automatic scrapers, will also let them through parlour twice a week to get used to it