23 Oct 2005
Tux Can Even Milk Cows!

Here's a rarity: a post in 'Agriculture' from Slashdot! Some folks, reading this blog, might come to the conclusion that I'm generally opposed to using technology in farming: this is not so! I'm generally opposed to using inappropriate technology, and not just in ag. Maybe it's the engineering purist in me, but ill-fitting technology seems to have become a panacea for all of our ills. Seeing this tends to create a "Luddite" effect, which is a shame, because of devices like this.

This actually seems like it would be both better for the animals and better for the farmer - a true win-win situation.

If you're a cow, you want to get milked when you want to get milked. And if you were a dairy farmer, you want to make your cow happy. So what do you do? Set up a machine that gives the cow control of its milking schedule. Oh yeah, of course, it runs on Linux. It identifies the cow, then finds the udders, milks the cow, cleans it's undercarriage, and lets it go.

(link) [Slashdot]

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A New Water Line

Kris and I spent most of today finishing up our fall barn project: a new water line from the freeze proof faucet to the stock tank. Which means - Dave won't have to carry 100 gallons of water (in 20 gallon buckets) twice a day through the barn lot this winter! I won't get "bucket elbow" this year!

The system uses 70 feet of 3/4" PVC pipe, and about 6 feet of refitted rubber garden hose. It's sloped from faucet to tank at about 10° for most of the run, falling some 12 feet. This includes a 90° drop of about 4 feet where we come out of the wall, and a 45° drop and run of about 2 feet to get down to the post line for attachment to the existing paddock fence. It drains perfectly too, and even has a fitting for the summer connection to the float valve, and a shut-off ball valve which will make cleaning the tank out a whole lot easier.

Quite a project, and one that had been on the burner for at least a year. We did it right the first time through - no leaks and no puddles! A little planning goes a long way, indeed!

All that remains to be done to get ready for the snow is to mount the window back into the main hen house, so they can get light but not airflow, and rig up the interior heaters and lights - we finished repairing the outside electrical stuff today, too. All in all a very busy and productive day.

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