Milking a herd with a high proportion of heifers can be stressful for cattle – and staff. But a new natural bovine pheromone product is helping to keep things quieter.
TEXT LIZZIE WALKER
Moving from three times a day milking through a conventional 11:22 parlour to a three-robot system in just two years has been integral to Devon-based producer Paul Symons’ plans to improve his 228-cow herd’s milk yield and efficiency. And a cattle-calming pheromone product has helped to ease the transition to a new system and set up, particularly for heifers.
Total stock on the unit at Higher Henceford Farm, near Crediton, can number 550 head of cattle, once replacements and Wagyu-cross beef calves are included, as the business aims to generate additional profit from an income stream that focuses on selling high-value replacement heifers and cows.
“We genomic test all our heifers and put the best of them, and our best cows, to sexed semen to breed replacements,” explains Paul. “We then keep most of these and sell surplus dairy replacements locally. As a result, we usually have a lot of heifers and first-lactation cows in our herd.”
With only two members of staff to run the herd and business, the robots have helped with managing workloads. The conventional parlour is still fully functioning and used, as and when needed, which is typically in the summer. This is when milking numbers reach their peak and up to 60 cows are milked twice a day through it.
Milk is sold to Crediton Dairies on a liquid contract so Paul aims to get cows and heifers to peak yield and hold them there. Herd average yield is currently 11,000 litres of milk, at 4.3% butterfat and 3.4% protein. This is produced, predominantly, from homegrown forage to keep feed costs to a minimum.
Until August 2024, the herd was milked by just two robots but Paul and the team noticed that the heifers were not integrating well into the milking herd. Some heifers refused to approach the robots to be milked if a cow was already there, and a disproportionate amount of time was being spent by staff fetching heifers from the group to be milked.
Additional support
“Heifer yields had dropped back to what they had been when we were milking through the parlour,” says Paul. The heifers needed additional support. “And we had room in a shed to create a separate heifer group, so that’s what we did. The shed has a straw pen on one side, with cubicles down the other. There’s plenty of room and, so far, this set-up is working well.”
A third robot was then installed in August 2024, in the new heifer shed, to further support this group and, in September, to help reduce stress in this group of young milkers, Paul decided to try FerAppease.
This is a natural, synthetic analogue of maternal bovine appeasing substance (mBAS) – an important pheromone secreted from a cow’s udder skin when its calf suckles. It is applied as a spot-on above the heifers’ noses and on the back of their necks, working to help keep them calm in stressful situations. One application will continue to work for at least 14 days.
“Immediately, we noticed heifers were taking just a day or two to be trained to go through the robot and, interestingly, we also noted that they reached peak yields more quickly – an average of 11 days earlier than previously. And they appear to be holding that higher peak for longer. With our liquid contract and some issues with staff shortages, these are huge positives for us,” he adds.
“Less time was needed gathering heifers to train, and all were happy to go through the robot in two or three days. We’re not having to use oxytocin to aid milk letdown, and heifer colostrum production has also increased.”
He says that they saw a ‘blip’ in this calmer and much improved performance when they stopped using the product in early October. “But when we began using it again we quickly saw an improvement in heifer behaviour.”
Calmer heifers
He now applies it once a week to all heifers in the close-up group or calving pen. “We just pop them in a locking yolk and dose them. If one hasn’t calved by the following week, she receives a second dose.”
“I’d describe it as ‘taking the edge off’. Calving and the start of lactation is a stressful time for cattle – particularly heifers. It makes training heifers stress free, they are calm and chilled out and, when they are mixed with the main milking herd, they also find it easier to settle in. We don’t see the usual jostling or anxious behaviour that would be expected,” adds Paul.
Calmer heifers also frees up more time to manage the herd. The farm’s variable soil type, coupled with unpredictable weather conditions, helped Paul make the decision to house most of the herd all year round. Some replacements and stale cows go out to graze, depending on the time of year and weather conditions.
“We wanted to be able to monitor and manage cow performance and, with the robots, we have access to huge amounts of data to help with this,” he says.
“Ultimately, we are looking for a cow that can do the job and cause as few issues as possible, as we like them to stay productive in the herd for several lactations. The pheromone product has a key role to play in that.”
How does the mBAS product work?
● Reduces stress during routine on-farm tasks including: weaning, calving vaccination, drying-off, dehorning, castration, bTB testing, transportation, and moving and mixing
● Topical application to the skin above the muzzle, and back of the neck, where it is then inhaled to deliver the same comfort to the animal they would have had with their dam, mitigating stress
● Response seen within 30 minutes of application and persists for at least 14 days
● Available from vets without a prescription, it is a nonmedicinal product
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