Dairy Cow Rubber Animal Mat Manufacturer from China

On a dairy unit, the floor is not a building material. It is the surface an animal stands on for roughly half of every day. A cow lies down 12 to 14 hours in a 24-hour cycle, gets up and down 8 to 12 times, and spends another 4 to 6 hours standing on concrete while eating and waiting to be milked. Every one of those hours is spent transferring load through four claws onto whatever is underneath.

Cubicle design, ventilation and bedding get most of the attention in shed planning. The lying surface is usually decided last, and often on price per square metre alone. That is a false economy, because the lying surface is the one component the cow contacts continuously and the one that determines whether she lies down fully, lies down long enough, and gets up without damage.

The primary application. Mat width matches the 1220 mm cubicle width used in most European and North American shed designs; length 1830 mm covers the standard 1750–1800 mm lying area plus the kerb return.

Installation in a free-stall: mat laid loose, butt-jointed, retained at the rear by the cubicle kerb and at the front by the brisket board or a stainless retainer. No adhesive is needed and none is recommended, because the mat must be liftable for cleaning underneath.

17 mm is usual where the stall is short and the cow's hind feet stand on the passage. The mat is cut to the stall length and laid to the gutter edge, with a ramped strip at the transition.

25 mm, bubble pattern, laid over the full pen floor with a ramped edge at the gate. The thicker section matters here because a recumbent cow may lie for many hours and because the pen is washed out between occupants.

Diamond pattern, 15–20 mm, in the parlour pit standing area and the exit race. The diamond pattern is specified rather than the bubble because the load is dynamic and directional and because the surface is wet for most of the working day. Holding yards use the ribbed roll for easier scraping.

Ribbed roll, 15 mm, laid with the ribs running in the direction of cow flow. Ribs give the claw a purchase line on a sloped floor and let the automatic scraper pass without lifting the mat.

10–12 mm sheet or roll, fine rib pattern. Thinner section, easier to lift and disinfect between groups.