That’s why some dairy farmers get on fine handling cows in a side by side handling unit, also called a batch crush.

I discussed the issue recently with Kerry farmer PJ Walsh, based in Fieries. He put up a new parlour on an outfarm, including the flood wash system I featured a few weeks ago.

He also put up a side by side crush for herd testing, scanning, etc, doing the welding and other work himself.

In this type of unit cows stand side by side at an angle. If this is similar to how they stand in the herringbone milking parlour twice every day then they will be well used to the routine and will hopefully take up the same position in the crush readily.

As usual there are pros and cons. The big advantage is speed of throughput. A side by side crush will hold over twice as many cows as a standard chute of the same length. All going well the cows will move in and out without stopping. Because of the standing position the head and rear end of all animals are presented to the vet, etc. Another advantage is that cheapness of construction.

A disadvantage is that there is less control over an agitated animal, e.g. there is no locking headgate. So it won’t facilitate operations where the animal has to be restrained. The crush won’t work for younger, smaller animals - they’ll be able to move around.

Likewise, it is not possible to handle just one or two animals – they will back away, turn around, etc. The system only really works if the crush is filled so that an individual animal cannot move away. Another basic point is that this crush works best where animals are placid. PJ Walsh also observed that the dimensions of the crush need to be right and suited to the cow size in a herd. If the crush is too wide animals will be able to turn around.

In summary, a side by side crush will work well for routine whole-herd jobs such as testing and scanning on good natured dairy cows.

A farmer operating one would usually need a second small crush with locking headgate for other treatments requiring restraint and for handling younger stock.