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Hi, my name is Joep Driessen from the CowSignals Training Center in Holland. I want to show you how big a cow is. And I want you to guess, because that's even more interesting. So a cow has a body and a neck and a head and some funny ears and maybe some horns. And she has a front knee and she has a tail here and some back legs, okay? This is your cow.

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So now I want you to know, to guess how long the cow is. How long is a cow, from the front knee to the tail? How long is she? And how long is the head of the cow, the neck and the head? How long is this? And the next question is, when she stands up, where does she go? She goes: (whistles) And how long is this space? So three questions.

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So you write down now, stop the video, write down three sizes. You didn't stop it, did you? Okay, well, whatever. I'm going to tell you now, okay? But say it again, "How long is this one?" What do you think? Well, the big surprise is that most cows in your barn are 200 centimeters long. And most beds are only 1.70 m, or 1.80 m. So cows really need a longer bed. And this here is at least 65 centimeters for the head. So a cow is already 2.60 m, 2.70 m long, the total cow.

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Some farms, the wall is only 2.20 m. Can you just imagine what we're doing with cows? And then the head swing space. It goes through the grass and then up. And that's another 75 centimeters. So, in total, the big cows are actually 2.70 m-, 2.60 m, 2.70 m, and there you have another 75 centimeters so you are 3.45 m, would be the minimum, the minimum space for a cow to stand up. Understanding how big your cows are. If you don't believe me, start with a roll tape.

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Start measuring from the front knee, the furthest front knee, to the tail. Because we also want the tail to be in the bed and not lying down in the shit, okay? So if you do this, give your cows 2 m or 1.90 m,
depends on the cow's size.

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Then you have a lot better resting of cows. Knowing how big a cow is, knowing how she stands up, and she goes up for 1 m here, so you have to have free space here, and here you can have a flexible band where she can be stopped. And we need one flexible band here when she stands up.

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This is how you design a cow house. You have to first know about the cow, how big she is. Thank you for watching CowSignals. This was How Big is a Cow? See you soon. My name is Joep Driessen, CowSignals Training Center in Holland.