A
study conducted in England in 1997 showed that
mattresses do not perform well over time. They
start off great and cows really take to them for
the first few months. But given a choice cows
will spend more time on Mayo Mats after about
20 weeks. This appears to be due to the fact that
shredded rubber compresses rather quickly and
the mattress becomes hard.
A
second part to this study conducted in 2000 showed
that Mattresses have inadequate shock absorbency
after 4 years. Mayo Mats in the same study perform
exactly like new mats in all respects after 4
years. It is not clear from the study how long
it takes for the mattress cows to start showing
increased lameness but it is clear that cows prefer
mats as soon as 20 weeks after initial installation
so it is a fair bet that the mattress cows start
to suffer to some degree very early on.
Here
are some key results from the study:
1
Mat cows show much cleaner udders.<read
more>
2 Mattress cows appear to have more lameness events
than Mayo Mat cows
3 Mayo Mats stay at the same level of softness
but mattresses become harder
4 At four years the Mayo Mat injury reduction
performance is the same as for a new mat but mattresses
are unsatisfactory
