DIMA
QUESTION: What would be
an effective choice for stall bed
ding in our new frees tall facility?
ANSWER: Giving a direct
answer to this question would
make some people happy and
others very mad.
I really do not think there is an
answer that will fit all situations.
Cow comfort, cost, availability,
disease control, and handling ate
all issues that must be addressed
before the “tight** choice is made.
To complicate the issue even
further, dairymen have had suc
cess with just about every choice
of bedding material. What one will
condemn, others will lout as the
best
There is one common link that
can help us determine if our choice
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has been or will continue to be the
correct one for us. That link is cow
language and our ability to deci
pher it.
I recently visited two different
farms and came across a similar
type of problem. Let’s talk about
die two and see the common link
that both share.
The first farm milks near 200
cows in a frecstall facility, and two
different stall bases are used.
A post-fresh group lies on rub
ber filled mattresses that are bed
ded with sand.
The test of the herd rests in stalls
with asphalt in the bottom, covered
with generous portions of sand.
Going from sawdust to sand a
couple of years ago was viewed as
the right decision because of
reduced somatic cell counts with
their Pa.DHIA records.
They also experience less coli
fotm initiated mastitis cases.
Cow comfort was reported to be
at a vety high level and no one has
second-guessed the decision to
move to sand bedding.
Upon my arrival, we proceeded
to the bam to view the cows and I
saw something that made me look
at the cows’ feet and legs. The sand
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606 Evergreen Rd., Lebanon, PA 17042
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I thought that I was sure to see
damage at the hock area, but it was
just tte contrary. The hocks were
probably the best that I have
encountered in a free stall bam.
What I did see was bald front
knees.
Yes, bald. Apparently due to the
sand grinding off the hair when the
cows got up.
As we walked further, a cow
was laying in the alley and the
dairyman said that rarely occurred.
I bent down to see that her knees
I also saw some cows laying
with front knees extended and the
abrasive appearance.
We talked and apparently the
sand supplier bad changed sand for
use at this farm a short time ago.
We needed to change this sand
back to a finer grade, before we
had some major problems with
these cows.
The second farm I had in mind
was on my schedule the next day.
I had been at this dairy a month
ago to help celebrate the building
of a new facility with an open
house.
During that time, something
was brought to my attention
stall acceptance for standing was
great, but only a small percentage
of the cows would lie down.
Unlike the other farm, the hock
area was showing a lot of damage.
When I returned to work with
the dairyman a month later, the
damage had spread to the front
knee.
The bam was built with rubber
mats on top of a concrete cow bed.
The thought was to use sparing
amounts of sawdust to keep the
cows clean.
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was very white and coarse in
appearance.
were red, sore, and hot in the bald
area when I touched her.
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This thought is quickly turning
into a disaster with many cows
struggling to get up due to soreness
in their legs. Some have gone to
lying on the crossover alleys as the
automatic alley scrapers stop them
from lying in the frees tall alleys.
The problem here is similar to
the first farm, except that culprit
here is the shallow sawdust that the
cows lay cm.
When looking at sawdust from a
circular saw, we see that the dust is
in small chips that act like an abra
sive compound when a thin layer
covets the rubber mats.
Changing to a finer dust from a
band mill or to shavings is one
alternative. This will probably not
be the answer, because the stall
design is fra - easy cleaning and not
for bedding retention.
Using a bedding saver at the end
of the stall to allow for a thick
cushion of sawdust should help.
The point of these two stories is
to show that each farm made stall
improvements in the eye of the
dairyman.
We do need to go to the cows, to
sec if our ideas are correct.
What is most important is that
new facilities and new manage
ment practices meet the approval
of the cows.
It is too bad that some quantita
tive measure, like our DHIA
records, cannot tell us these kinds
of things. Sometimes we really
have to go all the way back to bas
ics and ask the cows.
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Average Farm Feed
Costs For Handy
Reference
To help fanners across the state
to have handy reference of com
modity input costs in their feeding
operations for DHIA record sheets
or to develop livestock feed cost
data, here’s last week’s average
costs of various ingredients as
compiled from regional reports
across the state of Pennsylvania.
Remember, these ate averages,
so you wih need to adjust your fig
ures up or down according to your
location and the quality of your
crop.
Com, No.2y 2.42 bu., 4.34
cwt
Wheat, No. 2 2.42 bu., 4.04
CWt
Barley, No. 3 1.35 bu., 2.88
cwt
Oats, No. 2
cwt
Soybeans, No. 1 4.25 bu.,
7.10 cwt
Ear Com 73.40 ton, 3.67 cwt.
Alfalfa Hay 90.00 ton, 4.5
cwt
Mixed Hay 90.75 ton, 4.54
cwt
Timothy Hay 92.50 ton, 4.6
cwt
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1.42 bu., 4.42