Table 1 



Summary Estimates on Man Minutes to do Daily Chore Tasks during Winter 



Period. Adjusted to a 40-cow Farm (35 cows milking). 



Estimates do not include occasional chores. 



Milking 



Milking 

 Care of milk 

 Equipment 



Feeding 



Hay preparation 

 Hay feeding 

 Silage preparation 

 Silage feeding 

 Grain preparation 

 Grain feeding 

 Push feed to cows 

 Sweep manger 



Cleaning 



Manure disposal 

 Hoe to gutter 

 Sweep alleyway 

 Bedding preparation 

 Bedding 

 Superphosphate 



Miscellaneous 



Cows in and out 

 Currying 



Total daily chore work on cows 

 Wait periods before milking 

 Time out for spreading manure 

 Time on small calves 

 Young stock 



Man Minutes 

 daily 



175 



5 



45 



10 

 10 

 10 

 5 

 1 

 6 

 2 

 2 



40 

 4 

 2 

 2 

 5 

 1 



15 

 20 



20 

 20 

 16' 



35 



225 



46 



54 



35 



Total daily chores 



360 



91 



451 



ice on their hoofs after being in the 

 snow for a period. 



It is suggested that a total of 15 

 man minutes will usually be required 

 for cows "out and in." To hustle 

 cows beyond a certain point results in 

 confusion and excites them. Conven- 

 ient access to and from doorways is 

 important. 



Occasional Chores 



As indicated previously, the dairy 

 farmer spends a large amount of time 

 and effort on tasks that are done now 

 and then. These tasks are essential 



but they come as emergencies, as spe- 

 cial problems, or as jobs that are done 

 infrequently. Very little information 

 is available as to these occasional 

 chores. Seven dairymen, each with 

 about 40 cows, were interviewed with 

 reference to the time taken to do 

 these tasks. The data are shown in 

 Table 2. At the present time these 

 operations take nearly 700 man hours 

 annually on a 40-cow herd. This is 

 equivalent to 17.5 man hours per cow 

 annually. Operators can profit by 

 giving attention to ways and means 

 of doing these tasks more efficiently. 



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