Animattress I Mattress Systems offer a stall bed for most applications associated with your dairy operation. With superb Cow Comfort being our ultimate goal, we offer Animattress I stall bed for cows and heifers. Animattress I can be used in either free stall applications or tie-stall barns. We know what it takes to make your cows comfortable and at the same time, provide years of reliable service with a warranty that can’t be beaten!
Animattress I Mattress Systems
Animattress I (nominal dimensions are 2” x 39” X 69”) is an open cell foam pad that covered with a heavy-duty poly plastic. This pad is covered with a 3mm rubber top cover that completely and continually encases the pad the length of the run of stalls. This stall bed is used in all free stall applications. We have more than 90,000 of them in use throughout the world.
Foam and Top Cover Used For the Animattress I stall bed
All foam is NOT created equal. There are two main types of foam used in stalls mattresses for dairy cows…open cell foam and closed cell foam. These foams can be made from different types of materials. Simply put, closed cell foam is like a series of tiny bubbles. It rarely absorbs moisture when new which is an attractive attribute. However, over time with heavy use, these tiny “bubbles” eventually rupture and begin to compress. The main premise.…cow comfort….is now compromised.
Open cell foam can absorb moisture unless completely protected by a heavy poly “plastic” which keeps it dry. Over time with heavy use, open cell foam does not rupture and lose its resiliency like closed cell foam can. It retains its elasticity and ability to rebound much longer than other types of foam. For that reason, since cow comfort is our ultimate goal, we choose to use open cell foam in our pads. It provides a soft but firm cushion that molds to the shape of the cows when she is resting. It returns to its original shape when she stands up. Animattress I foam never is displaced from beneath the cow when she is on her knees getting up or down, or when she rests in the stall.
The same can be said for the top cover we use with our Animattress I Mattress Systems. We have always been very critical of our top cover and have had the top cover made to our specifications, which was exclusive to Animattress I. The top cover has a tough job to do. It must be strong, elastic, comfortable to the cow, waterproof, and non-abrasive. We believe we have found the right combination with our top cover. We use a 3mm top cover for our Animattress I stall bed which is made for comfort, strength, elasticity, durability, and long life.
Research Tells the Tale
In one research trial in the Northeastern US, a study was done that centered around the resting times of cows on different dairy farms. This was a study that Animat neither participated in nor funded in any way. Each farm had a confidentiality agreement with the company in charge of the study. All information was private. One interesting fact is that one of the farms in the trial, a well-known facility, showed an average daily resting time of over 11 hours in the stalls! Considering this herd had a RHA in excess of 30,000 lbs. and was milked 3X, this is a major achievement. The study was not a study on different types of stall mattresses, but the results showed that there was an apparent correlation between resting times and mattress choices. The mattresses used in these particular farms’ data was the Animattress I.
