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A Fresh New Approach
The Kendu Zero Spill
is a simple and effective design that is radically different
than the shallow waterbowls used for the last 80 years. It is
creatively designed to meet all the needs of modern dairy
farmers. A fresh new look at watering cattle in a tie stall.
How it Works
Goals
Eliminate spills from splashing, dunk overflow and miscellaneous
playing
Maximize drinking comfort and water flow to encourage
maximum water consumption
Minimize maintenance requirements.
Zero Spill
A simple common sense solution: Dont stop the Splashing, Just
stop the Spilling.
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The Kendu Zero Spill
waterbowl does not try to stop the splashing. Splashing is only
a problem if the water makes it out of the bowl. The KZS simply
stops the splashes from leaving the waterbowl.
A cow splashes because she
is bored and the only toy she has to play with is her waterbowl.
Changing a cows natural behavior is difficult if not impossible.
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Some methods
currently used involve spring coils or inward bent rims.
These are ineffective and make drinking uncomfortable.
Cows are still able to fill the water level up to the
rim and lap it out or dunk their muzzles in to overflow
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The Kendu Zero Spill is radically
different than the conventional shallow rigid waterbowl. Water is contained
by the specially shaped deep bucket. The high flow tube valve is located low
inside the deep bucket. The animal activates the valve by pushing it in any direction.
The water level is maintained at about 2 inches in the bottom of the bucket. An animal
cannot raise the water level above this unless they submerge their nostrils to access the valve.
The distance from the water surface to the rim of the bucket
is at least 8 inches. The water volume is similar to standard waterbowls, however the remaining
volume of the bucket is intended only to keep splashes contained. When an animal splashes, there
is no chance of the water escaping straight up over 8 inches to spill out.
Comfortable Access
A traditional rigid waterbowl must be shallow to fit within the
dividers of
most tie stalls, and still allow enough
room above the bowl (24) for a cow to access her water. The
flexible bucket of the rubber KZS-07 allows her access to the water
in a different way. It flexes sideways towards the cow when she
puts her face into it so that the stall divider is no longer in
the way and she essentially has her own private waterbowl. The
distance between the rim and the divider should still be
maximized for the cows comfort but even with 3 of space a cow
can still reach her water.
See picture at left.
The Poly KZS-13 is slightly shorter than
the original KZS-07. It allows comfortable access in
stalls that have 26 inches of space under the headrail or stall
divider. Modern tiestalls have this space.
High Flow Valve
An
additional goal of the design is to increase the water
consumption of high
producing cows. Cows can drink a large
amount of water very quickly if it is available. If the water
flow is too high in a traditional waterbowl it is likely to
splash out of the shallow bowl, so valves must be restricted to
reduce the flow rate. Cows are sometimes impatient with the slow
flow and stop drinking. In the deep bowl of the Zero Spill, the
valve can be unrestricted to allow maximum flow. The SF2002
valve has a restrictor that can be removed to allow up to 25
litres per minute at 50 psi. Cows can now fill up quickly and
comfortably. Milk production will not be limited by the lack of
water consumption.
Self Cleaning
The high rim of the bucket reduces the chance of a cow lifting
feed into the
bucket. The high flow valve scours the
bottom of the bowl to keep it clean. The high flow also keeps
small particles of feed suspended in the water so that they are
swallowed by the cow.
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