Maximum comfort for top-quality milk
At Jean-François Lecoeur’s dairy farm in France, 140 cows produce milk for the local cooperative dairy “Isigny Sainte-Mère”, which specializes in raw milk products of protected origin.
| Number of animals | approx. 140 dairy cows |
| Breed | 10 % Normande, 90 % Holstein |
| Farmed area | 100 ha |
| Country | France |
High animal welfare standard as a prerequisite
The cooperative dairy sets various conditions that farmers must meet to be eligible to supply milk. Prerequisites include, for instance, a 25 - 30 % volume of grass in the ration and access to pasture for at least 10 hours a day for 7 months of the year. But Jean-François also ensures maximum comfort for his cows in the barn. In return, they provide him with top-quality raw milk, something the farmer is particularly proud of.
Jean-François Lecoeur has been managing the dairy farm, which is now in the third generation of the family, since 2008. He is supported in this role by an employee. To ensure a high standard of animal welfare for his cows in the barn, he visited numerous farms and trade fairs before choosing KRAIBURG mats. These mats seemed to be the most comfortable and also the most suitable when retrofitting an older building.
KEW Plus LongLine mattresses in the free stalls
In 2021, the old lying mats in the 126 free stalls were removed and replaced with KEW Plus LongLine mattresses as a continuous roll system. Since then, the lying comfort for the cows has improved noticeably and stall maintenance has also been enhanced significantly.
"The KEW Plus LongLine mattresses have significantly improved cow comfort. They are great for both legs and joints. And they have made it easy for the cows to lie down and get up again. The mats are also a blessing for our day-to-day tasks. They are extremely easy to maintain, and bedding is highly manageable. This saves us a lot of time."
profiKURA mats in the walking alleys
After upgrading the free stalls, it was the turn of the walking alleys to be renovated in 2023. This entailed installing over 500 m² of profiKURA P in the walking alleys of the barn. The concrete floor previously had a roughened finish with deep, milled grooves. However, once a vacuum robot was put into operation, several problems became particularly evident: Cleaning was challenging, as manure frequently became lodged in the deep grooves. The floor was constantly damp and slippery. As a result, Jean-Francois unfortunately lost four of his cows in a short space of time. He was thus determined to install rubber mats. Today, he is still happy with his decision, as cleaning is effortless, and his cows can move around safely. Once an hour, two cleaning robots clean the two walking alleys and in front of the milking robots.
"Everything is now better with the profiKURA mats. The flat surface is the major bonus of the mats. They are super easy to clean and are extremely comfortable for the cows thanks to the ‘non-slip surface’."
Healthy hooves and optimized abrasion
Jean-François is very satisfied with the hoof health of his cows on the profiKURA mats. The corundum in the surface ensures optimum hoof abrasion, making hoof care a primarily preventive measure. He has also noticed an improvement regarding digital dermatitis.
"I have noticed a significant improvement regarding digital dermatitis: When my farm still had concrete walking alleys, 10 to 15 % of the herd suffered from the infection. Thanks to the easy-to-clean mats with good grip, we are now looking at the low single-digit percentage range."
Further investments in cow comfort
Besides ensuring lying and walking comfort, Jean-François has also renewed the ventilation system in the barn and installed six fans. His decision to install fans was accelerated by the extremely hot summer temperatures in recent years. The cows now enjoy fresh, circulating air, especially throughout the summer months. This also contributes to improved animal welfare in his opinion.
In fact, when it comes to investments in cow comfort, Jean-François would do the same all over again. They have improved his financial situation and enhanced the working environment for both himself and his employee.
The following products are used on this farm:
Questions about the farm?
Do you have any questions about the farm? Would you like to get in contact with the farm owners or pay them a visit? Use the form below to send us your request and we will get back to you in the next few days.
Göllstraße 8, 84529 Tittmoning, Deutschland
