[Report 1927] / Medical Officer of Health, Aberdeen County Council.

  • Aberdeenshire (Scotland). Council.
Date:
1927
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1927] / Medical Officer of Health, Aberdeen County Council. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    68/76 (page 66)
    It is unfortunate that no definite measurements of cowsheds and grips were specified in the bye-laws, as it has been noticed that the length of the cowsheds and width and depth of the grips differ in various Districts in the County. Some of the cowbeds are, in my opinion, being made so long that no great benefit is being derived from the alteration. The reason for altering^jowbeds and grips was primarily to enable the dairy- man to keep his cows clean with less trouble than formerly. This object can only be accomplished by so shortening the cowbeds that the liquid and solid excreta fall in the grips and unless they be so shortened to attain this requirement little benefit can be gained. Improvements to Cowsheds. The way most of the dairy farmers have carried out the alterations to their byres has been very gratifying. Many, especially in the Deer District, have gone beyond what was required of them. Where it was possible to obtain a good water supply individual drinking bowls have been furnished to the cows and this precaution will amply repay the farmer for his trouble, for where no drinking bowls are supplied the cows consistently receive too little water and this re-acts on the system of the cow and the milk yield thereby suffers. The dairy farmers were at first difficult to convince that any benefit could be obtained from the shortening of the cowbeds and deepening of the grips, but not one regrets the innovation now and some are even copying the method for their “ feeding ” cattle as it is obvious that much time is saved in cleaning the byre and the quantity of straw required for bedding is almost halved. The provision of drinking bowls also makes it possible for the dairyman to adopt modern methods of rationing dairy cows. The Methods of Handling Milk. The handling of milk at the farm leaves something to be desired, but until alterations to the dairies have been completed nothing much can be done. The method now in vogue might be considered crude and not in line with modern hygienic dairying, but as a whole the dairy farmer in Aberdeenshire is very cleanly and, in spite of his out of date methods, the result of the examination of milk samples in the City of Aberdeen show that there is very little contamination. A score card system of marking is to be initiated soon and better results may then be obtained if a spirit of rivalry can be brought about. Summary of Visits of Inspections in the Districts and Burghs. Districts and Burghs. Number of Visits. Cows in Milk. Cows (dry). Total. Aberdeen District 272 3,265 420 3,685 Deer „ 172 1,578 304 1,882 Ellon 60 1,243 230 1.473 Garioch „ 93 1,313 251 1,564 Deeside „ 35 346 60 406 Turriff „ 25 311 57 368 Huntly 44 244 74 318 Alford „ 25 121 48 169 Fraserburgh Burgh 33 217 21 238 Peterhead ,, 6 100 16 116 Rosehearty „ 21 72 6 78 Huntly „ 43 49 13 62 Turriff „ 12 22 5 27 Oldmeldrum „ 3 13 3 16 Total.... 844 8,894 1,508 10,402