Cow Walk

You have now reached the cow-walk gallery! This area serves as an observation point that will provide you with a bird’s eye view of the herd, as well as the state-of-the-art feed and milking technologies that the facility offers.

Looking down you will see rows of pens, that have the capacity to house up to 124 milking cows at any given time.

FUN FACT: The University of Saskatchewan has kept dairy cows for teaching and research since 1914!

Animal feed area

The cows are fed three ways: through free choice, total mixed ration (TMR) that is placed on the floor in the feed alley or through individual computerized feeders which are the big blue tubs. In addition, the cows receive concentrated pellets which help train them to use the milking robot. The rations for all cows are formulated using modern computer programs. The TMR is mixed in a mobile feed mixer, and then transferred to delivery carts that weigh out the feed onto the feed alley or computerized feeders.

Milking parlour and robotic milking system

At the start of the cow-walk, you will find the miking parlour. Take a moment to watch the short video on the overhead screen to learn about the milking parlour.

At the end of the cow-walk, you will find the voluntary milking station. A fully automated milking robot is able to milk up to 60 cows, a number of times daily. The blue identification tags you see around the cows’ necks are called ‘smart tags’. These help the computer to identify whether or not the cow is ready to be milked. Once the cow enters the robot, it will be milked robotically. The machine collects data from the cow throughout the process, including information on the cow’s milk output, as well as their sematic cell count. This state-ofthe- art system can determine if there are any quality issues with the milk. If there are, the automated system leads those cows to a special holding area, where they can wait to be examined by a veterinarian or technician. Cows then go back into the stalls and feed area until their next milking. The cows learn to use this system very quickly.

Animal handling area

This facility has a calving ward and eight special care pens. Females (heifers) are registered with Holstein Canada for parentage verification and classified for physical quality. The cows are artificially inseminated; birthing is planned to coincide with standard lactation time, which is about 305 days between calves. Calves are fed colustrum soon after birth and moved to calf hutches. Excess colostrum is collected, frozen and sold to different organizations including: Saskatoon Colostrum Company, the veterinary college and VIDO.

Ventilation and manure

You will notice an automatic alley scraper, cleaning the floor below. This device is programmed to clean the alley ways five times daily. Manure from the alley ways, stalls and parlour along with all wash water, is pumped to the permastore slurry tank which is emptied quarterly, and used for crop fertilizer. The permastore tank capacity is 2.52 million litres.

Once you have finished exploring the cow-walk gallery, head back to the exit. Out the door and to your immediate left, you will find the Feeding the World Interpretive Gallery where you can explore Saskatchewan’s agriculture industry through hands-on, interactive learning tools!