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MASTITIS IS PAINFUL for cows, and in turn can have a knock-on financial effect for farmers.
So a trio of students from Limerick have come up with a new way of preventing the infection – which affects cows’ udders – for the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition.
Padraig Dore (16), Shane Lee (16) and Liam Upton (16), from Desmond College in Newcastle West, Limerick, were tasked to come with a solution to mastitis by a local farmer.
That request turned into a full-blown project, which centres on the amount of pressure on the cows’ udders while they are being milked. Their device, a KPA meter, measures pressure and signals to farmers if the pressure is not at the right level.
Lee explained that the financial costs of mastitis are huge for Irish farmers, and said that a survey found that most farmers only check the pressure in the milking machine once a week or once a month.
Here’s more on how the device operates:
(Video TheJournal.ie/YouTube)
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MOOve over big companies. These guys are going to milk it until you come up with some udder inventions?
@ Thomas, I can’t remember whether it was last year or the year before but some students @ the young scientists’ competition proved that Sudocream also prevents mastitis.
BTW, I should have said ‘cures’ mastitis, and the students involved won a schools science award; anyway, this link is for the doubting Thomas’ out there [no reference to you personally TFM] – http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland…rs-192610.html.
This is a great idea. Mastitis in cows can be very painful. I wish them all the best.
“Female cow’s udders” – that’s impressive – a triple tautology!
Get a copy editor. Seriously, Journal.
What’s an ooder?
Tom your some tit
It’s an udder name for an udder! I think!
Pull the ooder one
Hope they might branch into sheep too with this project, poor sheep can tear their pap on the ground not a pretty sight.
Haha “affects female cows’ udders” O see the author is well up on the anatomy of cattle :)
Haha they just discovered a new species called a “male cow”!! Used to be just called a bull in the olden days!
That’s Cheno Unction finished so. “It’s a quare name but great stuff”
Brilliant. Well done to all. That’s a tremendous achievement. I didn’t know cows went to mass. Great work lads
Sorry probably not really appropriate but when I read mastitis, it brought me back to the mornings before school with my Dad listening to Morning Ireland with those ads against mastitis and liver fluke, which was alwas a bit unsettling at breakfast! Fair play to these lads.
Triple A golden maverick
go vegan, end of problem
It probably affects cows when nursing their calves too.
Eat calves, problem solved
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