Hidden stocking is lockup plus hold

Parlor hold, fresh-cow checks, and a weekly shot list stacked into a five-hour stand. The clipboard never showed it.

Dairyland’s stocking page is about resources the cow uses — stalls, bunk, water, alley. Time on concrete is one of those resources.

A common design goal is about 12 hours of lying a day, though longer is not always better, and Dairyland guidance keeps time out of the pen for milking and transfer near 3 hours a day or less to protect it. Past that window she steals from rest and meals.

Locking the whole pen until the last cow is done packs 100% of the herd into the feed alley and empties the stalls. Split the lockups — process a cohort, release them to lie, then catch the rest — or you are stocking the alley, not the stall. Educational only — not a diagnosis, prescription, or facility design certification.