'We benefit from the maximum amount of scraping movements per day'

Together with his wife and parents, Rens Kooijman runs a dairy farm with 85 cows. The cowshed has a solid floor with a manure profile system and a 2% slope towards the middle. ‘In my opinion, the manure scraper is the most reliable system for thoroughly cleaning the floor,’ says Rens.

Flexible scraper with chain system

It’s the biggest challenge for every livestock farmer: how do you keep the floors clean using as little labour as possible? Roughly 20 years ago, Rens’ father made the conscious choice to purchase two combination scrapers. Rens has since figured out that a flexible scraper with chain system works best in his cowshed, and he recently purchased a second flexible scraper.

‘It’s quite a challenge to keep a sealed floor clean and dry. In winter, the scraper moves with more ease because the humidity level is higher. However, in summer it’s a lot warmer, the manure dries faster and the scraping result isn’t as good. To achieve a good result, it’s essential that there’s enough moisture added during that period.

‘We’ve set the manure scraper to scrape the floor every 90 minutes. This means that the floor is cleaned 13 to 14 times a day‘

The most reliable system

Rens is very satisfied with the quality of the flexible scraper and says it’s the most reliable system. ‘We’ve set the manure scraper to scrape the floor every 90 minutes. This means that the floor is cleaned 13 to 14 times a day, which cannot be achieved by a manure robot. This means we benefit from the maximum amount of scraping movements per day. Moreover, the flexible scraper is less prone to problems and requires little maintenance, which is also great.’

Move a lot of mass

‘The scraper is very powerful. We opted for long straw in the stalls, because we want cows to produce solid manure. This manure scraper is a good option for this situation, because it can move a lot of mass and doesn’t drag a lot of straw at the same time.

Animal-friendly solution

Rens says that animal welfare also played a role in his decision to buy a manure scraper. ‘Our cowshed is a bit older, so we think it’s important to utilise as many options as possible for improving animal welfare. The scraper has a minimum of sharp steel parts and can be easily avoided by cows, which makes it a very cow-friendly solution.’

And if any questions or inconveniences do arise, JOZ quickly springs into action. ‘JOZ’s service is perfect. The company has an enormous amount of knowledge and experience, and it’s actually not far from here, which is very convenient.’