With professional cleaning equipment, suitable cleaning agents and the right approach, hygienic results can be achieved in cattle farming and on dairy farms - without the time needed and labour costs getting out of hand.
Protecting the health and well-being of animals as well as increasing profits. These are the aims of cowshed cleaning in dairy and cattle farming. In addition to hygiene in milking parlours and calving pens, it is also important to efficiently clean the cowsheds, i.e. the areas where the animals spend most of their lives. This includes pens and outdoor areas for both growing and adult animals..
Efficient cowshed cleaning reduces germs and lowers the risk of diseases. This is crucial for the welfare of the animals, but also for the farm’s profits. After all, healthy animals provide a better produce. In addition, they’ll need a vet visit less often and less medication.
Some elements of cowshed cleaning need to be done several times a day, others only as needed or when the opportunity arises.
Even today, brooms and shovels are still used to clean cowsheds in cattle and dairy farming. If a sweeper and a high-pressure cleaner are also available, the farm is fully equipped for all cleaning tasks.
Pressure cleaners significantly increase the efficiency of cowshed cleaning and therefore reduce labour costs. Most farms use mobile pressure cleaners in the barns and a stationary pressure cleaners in the milking area.
Hot water pressure cleaners are the most efficient. This is because the hot water has a high dirt dissolving power, removes germs effectively and shortens both the cleaning and the drying time.
Cleaning with hot water: High-pressure cleaners clean even better at a constant pressure. Alongside improved results and faster cleaning and drying times, hot water high-pressure cleaners also have a measurable germ-reducing effect. When the steam stage is used, even delicate surfaces can be gently cleaned with temperatures of up to 155 °C. Furthermore, the machines allow for a reduction in the working pressure, the time required and the volume of cleaning agent that is used. This means that cleaning with hot water offers a number of advantages and various possibilities for optimising the cleaning process.
Alkaline solutions are the better cleaning agents for cowshed cleaning in dairy and cattle husbandry. This is because they dissolve faeces, protein and fat effectively. Especially when cleaning with cold water pressure cleaners, the right cleaning agents improve the working time significantly.
In addition, soaking agents are also available that are specifically designed to loosen dried-on dirt - such as faecal debris in the pens or on their partitions - before cleaning with a pressure cleaner. Soaking reduces cleaning time and water consumption.
The cleaning agents should ideally be matched to the equipment used in order to achieve an optimal cleaning outcome.
In modern farms, sweepers also contribute to the rapid and thorough cowshed cleaning, including outdoor areas. Sweepers kick up less dust than brooms and cover a larger area in less time, and that with less physical strain on the operator. A walk-behind sweeper with side broom is even more efficient as this machine can sweep corners as well.
A useful addition to cowshed hygiene in cattle and dairy farming is a wet and dry vacuum cleaner. These remove dust and dirt from surfaces that are difficult to reach with a broom. An additional advantage is that no dust is kicked up, which is better for the lungs.
Before each feeding, any food remains need to be removed because these can spoil (especially in warm temperatures), moreover, flies could settle. Sweepers support and accelerate here the manual cleaning with the broom. If the animals have defecated on the feed tables, shovel and broom are used.
Food leftovers and faeces can also accumulate in drink dispensers. Therefore, they should be checked at every feeding and, if necessary, flooded and cleaned with water from the drinker.
In order to remove possible breeding sites for flies, dung must be removed regularly with a shovel.
Walkways are swept with a broom or sweeper.
The ground outdoors is cleaned with a broom or sweeper after feeding in the places where the feed has been distributed.
For each deep cowshed cleaning, including the compartments (pens), the animals must have left the area - especially in cattle farming - otherwise the work would be too dangerous for the staff. This also applies to outside compartments.
In cattle and dairy farming, deep cowshed cleaning - with the exception of feedlot rearing - is usually not carried out by clearing out a whole pen, but doing it pen by pen, while there are still animals in the other compartments.
Caution and consideration are the top priority. To avoid creating a clumsy environment, the pressure cleaner should not be placed directly in the cowshed. It is better to work with a long pressure hose. This minimises the noise in the cowshed.
A high-pressure hose on an automatic hose reel with automatic return is recommended. This reduces the risk of tripping. A surface cleaner is recommended for cleaning larger floor areas. This prevents splashing - which means less disturbance for the animals.
Some areas in cattle and dairy farming require special attention for cleaning to best protect both human and animal health.
These include calving and isolation pens for sick animals. These should be as sterile as possible before a calving cow or a sick animal enters. The sensitive calves make for high demands on biosecurity. Therefore, after rough cleaning with a broom, calving pens should ideally be cleaned with a hot water pressure cleaner. Under certain circumstances, the use of disinfectants is also recommended in this form of animal husbandry.
Hygiene is an essential part of biosecurity in dairy and beef farming. The correct cleaning processes play an important role around the birth and keeping of calves - from the calving pens to the calf hutches, and then the calf pens.
The milking area also requires special consideration when cleaning in cattle and dairy farming. This is because the safety standards of human food is affected in this area.
The cow herd will walk through the milking parlour every day. A lot of dirt is left behind in this process - manure, protein and fat residues as well as milk residues, limescale and urine deposits. Regular cleaning is therefore essential. The right cleaning equipment is crucial for cleanliness in the milk store and at the milk tank in order to ensure the right hygiene requirements are met along the entire production chain.
The environment around the cowshed also has an influence on biosecurity. Therefore, the area around the barn, the walkways, the yard area and especially the area in front of silos and feed stores should be swept regularly so that rodents and other disease vectors don’t find their food there.
Feed carts should be completely emptied after each feeding to prevent mould from forming and flies from settling there. In addition, feed carts should be cleaned every few weeks with a pressure cleanercleaner.
Water barrels and feed troughs in the pasture must also be kept clean. A battery-powered pressure cleaner is suitable for this purpose.
If equipment and machines are used in lots of different barns, these should also be cleaned to prevent cross-contamination. Simple implements such as brooms and shovels are best kept within one cowshed environment. Silos and machinery used on the farm must also be cleaned regularly. Cowshed cleaning in dairy and cattle farming is completed by cleaning the outside areas and equipment.
Value retention is a major issue when it comes to high investments made on farming machinery. The operational readiness of the tractor, fertiliser spreader or harvesting machine is also central, because they have to function seamlessly for certain types of work in short time windows that the seasons and legislation dictate. Employee protection and occupational safety are equally important. Those who clean and maintain agricultural machinery professionally ensure that they remain in use for a long time and avoid costs for breakdowns and repairs.
