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RIC system
Roughage Intake Control
‘The golden standard for individual feed intake research’
The RIC (Roughage Intake Control) system is giving you the
possibility of complete individual control of the roughage
intake of dairy cows or beef cattle. The system also provides
information about individual feed intake behaviour.
The RIC system can be build up in various versions for
dairy cows and beef cattle. Depending on the type of
research the system can be extended with concentrate
feeding station, weighing platform, selection system,
activity monitoring and milking parlour automation
or our well known automatic milking system.
‘The system showed a high
specificity (100%) and sensitivity
(100% and 99.76% for the feed
and water bins, respectively).
This electronic system is a useful
tool for monitoring intakes and
feeding and drinking behavior of
loose-housed cows’
‘Dairy Campus made the choice to
install the RIC system in the new
experimental barn for feeding
research that will be built in
2015. This feeding barn will be
equipped with 64 RIC feeding
bins. In this way a long standing
relation will be continued.’
‘Feed Intake Relative to Stage
of Lactation for Dairy Cows
Consuming Total Mixed Diets
with a High or Low Ratio of
Concentrate to Forage’
University of British Columbia, Canada,
Journal of dairy science, 2007,
90.12: 5732-5736.
Dairy Campus, the Dutch National Centre
for Research, Innovation and Education,
part of WageningenUR
Danish Institute for Agricultural Science,
Denmark, Journal of dairy science, 1998,
81.8: 2228-2239.
Intelligent feeding gate
RIC feed-weigh trough
There are two versions of the RIC system.
The simplest version is the intelligent feeding gate.
Which consists of a galvanized feeding gate, an access
slide, identification sensors and cow identification.
In many research institutes, the intelligent feeding gate
is used in combination with so-called RIC feed-weigh
troughs, where the feed is accurately weighed
continously.
The feeding gate is a solid, open construction and is
not an obstruction during feed intake. A vertical access
slide enables the animals to eat. After a visiting period,
which has been set in advance, the slide will push the
cow out of the eating position.
This version also enables restricted and unrestricted
(ad-lib) feeding. If an animal approaches one of the
feeding troughs, it will be identified and the animal
number and starting time of the visit are recorded.
If during a visit no cow has been recorded by the
sensors, the slide will close off the feeding place
immediately. The set visiting period per cow is hereby
guaranteed. The access slide is controlled
pneumatically. The access of an animal to a certain
type of feed is determined in the software by means
of radio frequency cow identification.
After the visit, the end time and amount of feed
intake are recorded. The amount of roughage intake
is electronically measured with extreme precision by
the RIC weighing trough and stored in the RIC
database.
Flexible feeding
RIC water-weigh trough
In both versions, up to four types of feed per animal
are available at the same time. Each cow can be
given access to one or various feed types. The feed
intake per cow is determined per feed type.
In addition to the individual feed intake the
monitoring of the individual water intake may also be
of great importance to the research results.
Many years of experience has resulted in the trough,
the gate and the electronics being designed and build
in such way, that the animals cannot spill feed and can
finish the feed in the trough completely.
By adjusting the input, you can also choose the
eatingplace of a cow. It is possible to allow all animals
to feed at every place/trough or to select a specific
RIC feeding trough for each animal.
The individual water intake can be recorded with the
help of specially designed RIC water-weigh trough.
After drinking the water trough is refilled up again
automatically. The water trough is sufficient for 20 to
25 animals (depending on local climate situations and
animal regulations).
Animal weight recording
RIC Management Software
The weight of a cow is an important indicator in feed
intake studies. A weighing system with various
application possibilities is developed, enabling the
animal’s daily weight data to be monitored.
RMW is the software package for dairy or beef cattle
that is used to process and monitor the RIC system.
The RIC system can be combined with a fully automatic
operating walk-through weighing system or a weighing
floor mounted in the concentrate feeding station.
In addition, the data collected are filed in ASCII files,
which can be used for further data processing.
The RIC management software also offers
comprehensive extended potential for analysing and
research the collected data.
The information can be simply accessed by the
researchers and farm staff. If desired, the RIC system
can be adapted to personal requirements.
Filling and cleaning
Stainless steel lids
The RIC troughs can be filled with a mixer wagon,
a TMR feed car on a rail or by hand.
The accuracy of the feed intake control is important in
order to know precise roughage intake. The RIC feeding
troughs can be equipped with a stainless steel lid.
The RIC troughs can be tilted for easy cleaning and are
easily relocatable with a few simple manual actions,
when needed.
The lid can be opened in order to fill the trough and
closed after filling to reduce feed spilling. The opening
and closing is pneumatically controlled.
Technical data sheet RIC system (Roughage Intake Control)
Standing width
117 cm / 137 cm
Trough width
90 cm / 110 cm
Gate height
165 cm
Number of animals per RIC weighing trough
2 to 4
Maximal number of roughage types per animal
4
Number of animals per water trough
20 / 25
Suitable for dairy cattle
yes
Suitable for beef cattle
yes
Concentrate dispensing via concentrate feeding stations
yes
Radio Frequency Identification: collar transponders or ear transponders
yes
Selection
yes
Measurement of milk in the milking parlour
yes
Activity monitoring
yes
Animal weight recording
yes
Combination possible with our well known automatic milking system
yes
Specifications
The RIC system is specially designed by experts and
build in such a way that it is easy to be installed in as
well an existing barn as in a new barn.
The RIC system is modular in construction, build very
robust and is extremely durable, to guarantee a trouble
free long lifetime with very low maintenance cost.
The RIC system is very easy to use for the animal but
also for the day to day user of the system.
The accuracy and consistency of the RIC system is
unbeatable and has shown its value in the feed intake
research all over the world for many years.
References
More than 60 RIC systems are used all over the world
by researchers at institutes and experimental farms.
The system provides a wealth of accurate information,
while the system also saves a lot of labor.
• NL Wageningen UR Livestock Research /
Dairy Campus
• DE FAL Braunschweig
• DK DIAS Foulum
• USA Wisconsin University
• CA University of Guelph
• NZ Ruminant Methane Measurement Centre
• FR INRA Tours
• And many more
‘The golden standard for individual feed intake and
feed intake behavior research’
Manufacturer
Hokofarm Group BV
Voorsterweg 28
8316 PT Marknesse (NL)
Tel. +31 (0)527 638 650
Fax +31 (0) 527 638 653
info@hokofarmgroup.com
www.hokofarmgroup.com
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