Michael Murphy and his son Conor farm 300 acres in Kilmanagh, Co. Kilkenny
Michael and Conor Murphy milk 130 Holstein Friesian cows all year round by managing between a winter milking and spring calving herd. The decision was made to set up a new cubicle house on a Greenfield site to accommodate all of the milking herd under one roof. In November 2016 approval was granted for Michael and Conor to commence building of the shed.
With winter just around the corner it was a panic to get everything ordered and ready in such a short space of time. I contacted Teemore Engineering and they put me in contact with my local Sales Rep, Greg Tennyson. Greg paid a visit to us and we discussed the needs and requirements for the shed.
Michael Murphy
The layout of the shed consisted of an L-shaped feed passage complete with diagonal barriers to minimise bullying and fighting of the cows at feeding time.
The decision was made to include a crush internally in the shed to allow all animals be handled and treated under one roof.
We needed to have enough cubicle lying space for 130 cows, and because we are winter milking we wanted to be able to feed all of the cows together, without any fighting
We also needed to be able to lock the cows into the feed Passage and out of the cubicles in the case of Buffer feeding in the Spring and autumn, when grass alone won’t match dietary needs of the herd
Unsure on what would be the easiest way to lock cows in the feed passages, Greg was able to advise us on the simple use of the Jourdain Guillotine gates. This gave us maximum use of the shed and made the job very easy and simple.
Michael Murphy
Michael was very concerned about cow comfort and wellbeing in the shed. Supersoft Interlocking cow mats were used and a Brisket board was added to keep the cows lying in the correct position and for cleanliness of the bed.
Everything we needed internally in the shed was able to be sourced from Teemore Engineering, we didn’t have to worry about anything because we knew the quality was second to none and everything we needed was arranged for us including the fitting
Michael Murphy
