CHAPPLE FARM
Oliver HudSon’s pedigree Jersey herd was founded in 2018 with heifers and young cows from three well known pedigree herds: QUINTRELL JERSEYS (Cornwall), Sunnydawn Jerseys (Devon) and Hollesley Jerseys (Somerset).
The average registered pedigree Jersey in the UK produces 6,024 litres of milk per year with a butterfat content of 5.46% and protein of 3.83%.
With a plan to switch from conventional to robotic milking during 2025, they started to build their herd towards 300 with the addition of in-calf pedigree Jersey heifers.
now, TWELVE months on since THE ROBOTS WERE INSTALLED, the FARM team are enjoying an improved work/life balance with less man hours required ON-SITE and improved cow health, plus instant 24/7 data to help spot problems within the herd earlier.
VITAL STATS
WHAT WE’VE INSTALLED:
4 x DELAVAL V300 ROBOTS
15,000 litre delaval milk silo
600 litre delaval buffer tank
hoofcount footbath
separation gate on each robot
DELAVAL BODY CONDITIONING SCORING camera
20 tonne collinson feed silo with full auger system
oil-injected screw air compressor (with back-up unit for redundancy)
air dryers and filtration system
4 x individual variable speed vacuum pumps
2 x grazing gates (for POSSIBLE future use)
ALL ELECTRICAL WORK AND PLUMBING
LOGISTICAL SUPPORT
GROUNDWORK MANAGEMENT
FUTURE FARMING
AT Chapple Farm we delivered a full, free-cow access system incorporating four DeLaval V300 units configured in a master–slave arrangement. This type of system means cows are able to move freely between the milking robots, feed fence and bedding areas at any time, allowING FOR natural behaviourAL patterns 24/7.
the installation also included a 15,000-litre DeLaval milk silo and a 600-litre DeLaval buffer tank, alongside all associated mains electrical and plumbing works completed in-house. A 20-tonne feed bin with full auger system was also installed to support automated concentrate delivery.
A key feature of this setup is the individual robot room desigN - each V300 robot is housed within its own dedicated room, constrained to the width of a head-to-head cubicle layout. This resulted in a highly compact installation with scraper passages running either side of each robot room.
The system has also been designed with future flexibility in mind, including the installation of two grazing gates to allow for a transition to grazing. In addition, provision hAS been made for dedicated separation for foot bathing; supporting both herd management and ongoing hoof health.
From a plant and utilities perspective, each V300 robot is equipped with its own dedicated vacuum pump. The site is also served by a VERY RELIABLE oil-injected screw air compressor, supported by a secondary backup compressor, along with the necessary air dryers and filtration to ensure A CONSISTENT, high-quality air supply.
