Dodenhoff family from Bothel has built a new calf barn. On Sunday, 8 September, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the family opened the rebuilt cow shed with two milking robots and the biogas plant.
This year Family Dodenhoff has built a new barn with a lot of light and fresh air for 30 calves. Four calf group pens were built. On one side, the calves are standing from the second week of life until they are weaned with milk replacer. In the back of these pens, two spacious hutches were installed directly behind the pens to provide the calves with a sheltered resting area.
They are then moved to the opposite boxes. The milk drinking calves are fed over a period of 90 days at the automatic feeder with two stations. This leads to more vital calves with higher gains. Water, hay and calf muesli are available from the second day of life onwards. Since the new building, there are no longer problems with respiratory diseases. The open day also included a successful conversion of young cattle into dairy cattle stalls with 108 berths and 30 cow places on straw. Two robots milk here around the clock and currently reach 34 kg milk per cow with 2.9 milkings. The third project to visit on this day was the biogas plant. It was built ten years ago with 250 kW and increased to 500 kW in 2012. The plant is fed with maize, grass, slurry, manure and GPS. A buffer tank with a volume of 60,000 l absorbs excess heat in the peaks and releases it again when required. Dodenhoffs' goal is to use almost 100% of the heat.