Are you looking for an easy way to restrain kicking heifers?; Are you tired of cows kicking off clusters?; Does dealing with nervous heifers who won’t stand still add to the stress of calving season?; Do you wish there was a better way to restrain your cows without risking injury or wasting time?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you need to hear about the TailJack – the device that stops cows from kicking in seconds.
Farmers all over the country are busily preparing for or are already into spring calving.
It’s an intensive high workload period where good planning and preparation can make a big difference.
Amidst the high workload perhaps one of the most stressful and sometimes dangerous aspects of spring calving is associated with milk training of newly calved heifers.
Calm handling and pre-parlor training is an important step, but it will often remain heifers that can be difficult and sometimes dangerous to milk in the first weeks after calving, and where restraint will be necessary – that is where the TailJack can be a game changer.
Developed in Co. Kerry, TailJack has won the Enterprise Ireland Innovation Arena agri-safety award at the National Ploughing Championships, the Engineering and Best Start Up award at the Axa National Dairy Show, and best Agriculture, Horticulture and Forestry invention award at the Tullamore Show.
It is steadily gaining acceptance as a must-have during calving, to make a difficult time easier and more streamlined.
The TailJack was invented by Dr. Niall O’Leary. O’Leary is a former Teagasc researcher, and now a researcher at Munster Technological University (MTU) Cork.
Having grown up on a dairy farm, he often experienced first-hand the frustrations and risk of kicks and bruises that often go hand-in-hand with training heifers.
He also knows that the most effective way to calm a kicking cow is to lift its tail – but that requires a second person, which is not always available or practical if alone in the parlour.
That’s why he teamed up with his dairy farmer father, to design and test a device that could achieve the effect of tail lifting, but without the need for a second person to hold up the tail.
TailJack
The result is the TailJack – a simple, safe, and reliable device that locks onto the cow’s hips and keeps the tail up, preventing the cow from kicking.
According to Dr. O’Leary: “Having trialled the TailJack on a group of 100 heifers, we knew we had a effective device, as we didn’t have one heifer that kicked with the TailJack on.
“We learned that once the TailJack was on, it calmed nervous heifers, clusters could be attached safely, and ‘kicking off’ of attached clusters, perhaps the biggest irritation of all, ceased,” he said.
A key benefit was that staff could progress to milking the next cow / heifer in confidence the cluster would not be kicked off.
The TailJack has won several awards, including: The Enterprise Ireland’s prestigious ‘Safety Award’ in the Innovation Arena at the National Ploughing Championships; the Engineering and Best Start Up award at the Axa National Dairy Show; and the best Agriculture, Horticulture and Forestry invention award at the Tullamore Show.
It has received very positive reviews from farmers who have tried it, such as Shane Seymour from Co. Tipperary, who said: “Five stars – great product. Keeps the animal very quiet but in a very stress-free manor. I would highly recommend.”
Another happy customer, John, from Co. Kilkenny, said: “Used it on a first calver that wouldn’t stand to be tubed with sealer when I was letting her dry. Was easy to put on. She stood very quietly and none of the other cows were disturbed.”
Seán and Jerry Lane from north Cork were early adopters of the Tailjack. Seán said: “I have only good things to say about it. It’s great for the user with small-to-big cows, especially with fresh heifers where you need it most.”
This spring, you can ensure your milking is safer, easier and more enjoyable. Visit TailJack.com today and order your TailJack in time to use this calving season.
For more information, please contact [email protected].
