Changing weather conditions: what should you look out for?

A harsh winter with frost or a scorching hot summer with days over 30°C: changing weather conditions can affect your animals, barn and equipment. What can you do in winter and summer to prevent problems in the barn? We share some tips in this article.

Adjustments in your barn routine

We are currently in winter and experiencing days and nights with temperatures below 0°C. If it is extremely cold, you need to pay close attention. In severe frosts, manure on slatted floors can actually freeze and water pipes can also freeze. Fortunately, you can avoid this with a few adjustments to your barn routine.

Frost tips

Do you have a manure robot, such as the Barn-E, JOZ-Tech or Nano in your barn? If so, it may be advisable for the manure robot to run its route a little more often during the colder days and nights, if possible. This minimises the risk of frozen manure on the barn floor. In the case of the Nano and JOZ-Tech, turn off the spray function to prevent the water from freezing. With the Barn-E, by the way, it is also possible to disable the outdoor routes during frost and snow.

Do you use manure scrapers to keep barn floors dry and clean? It is then also advisable to scrape a little more often than you normally do.

Please note: if you use a Moov 2.0 in your barn that also runs outside, keep this area of free from ice, snow and mud.

During cold winters, there is always a danger of a frozen water pipe. There are various ways to insulate them. Consider a circular pumping system. If you use a so-called ‘heating ribbon’ around the pipes, check that it is working properly. The same applies if you use a boiler to heat water. Is it working properly? And does it reach the desired temperature?

We also recommend making extra rounds through the barn to prevent (individual) water troughs from freezing. If multiple water troughs are available per group, you can close some of the tanks so that the other water tanks are used more intensively.

Cold and animal health

Not only the cold, but excessive heat can also affect your cows. At temperatures as low as 20°C, they can already suffer from the heat. What measures can you take in the barn to prevent this?

• Ensure good ventilation in the barn. A cool barn keeps humidity low and ensures that cows are better able to release heat
• Keep the temperature in the barn as similar as possible to the outside temperature (using a mechanical fan, for example)
• Keep an eye on the water troughs: clean them more often on warmer days, preferably every day
• Provide plenty of fresh and clean drinking water: on hot days, cows can drink as much as 50% more
• Adjust your feeding strategy: when grazing, put cows outside at night and inside during the day
• Feed several times a day to prevent spoiling, preferably at the coolest times

We also recommend being vigilant about your barn routine during the summer period. If possible, have the manure robot spray extra on the areas prone to drying out, for example. For the Barn-E: adjust routes based on wet and dry spots in the barn. You can then moisten the extremely dry areas by pouring the water from the drinking troughs over the floor.

Want to know more?

Want to learn more about the impact of changing weather conditions? And how JOZ’s solutions can help make things as easy as possible for you? Contact a dealer near you.