How Do Wood Shavings Work?

mikefoxo

I hear a bit about fellas bedding animals using wood shavings. What is this like? Would they rot down quickly and just be spread like you would straw? What would the advantages be?

1chippy

for me the main advantages are its free. seems to rot ok. remember its only small shavings mixed with dung. it gives a really dry bed and the cattle are as clean as. tried it last year in a few pens and i was happy enough. i have a constant run of lads coming looking for it but they are mainly horsey people, an odd dairy guy but it seems a lot of beef lads this year. The shavings are better than the sawdust but if you bed the first few layers and then coat with shavings it will be ok. it an be a bit dusty when they first go in but after a day or 2 it will be well packed.

pakalasa

1chippy wrote: »

for me the main advantages are its free. ...

Have you a timber mill or something?

freedominacup

1chippy wrote: »

for me the main advantages are its free. seems to rot ok. remember its only small shavings mixed with dung. it gives a really dry bed and the cattle are as clean as. tried it last year in a few pens and i was happy enough. i have a constant run of lads coming looking for it but they are mainly horsey people, an odd dairy guy but it seems a lot of beef lads this year. The shavings are better than the sawdust but if you bed the first few layers and then coat with shavings it will be ok. it an be a bit dusty when they first go in but after a day or 2 it will be well packed.

Kept weaned calves on stuff from smartply for a few years in a shed we had rented worked v.well. Only problem with saw anything or wood chip from stand-off pads is that they eat lime when spread on the land it's one of the reasons a neighbour is taking out his stand-off pad.

redzerologhlen

pakalasa wrote: »

Have you a timber mill or something?

Chippy is a carpenter I bet!!

bob charles

freedominacup wrote: »

Kept weaned calves on stuff from smartply for a few years in a shed we had rented worked v.well. Only problem with saw anything or wood chip from stand-off pads is that they eat lime when spread on the land it's one of the reasons a neighbour is taking out his stand-off pad.

Presume you mean the use up a huge amount of N when applied on land which I found out myself. Leave heaped for a year and fire a couple of grains of Urea when stockpilling would fix this problem

1chippy

pakalasa wrote: »

Have you a timber mill or something?

i have a joinery.

freedominacup

bob charles wrote: »

Presume you mean the use up a huge amount of N when applied on land which I found out myself. Leave heaped for a year and fire a couple of grains of Urea when stockpilling would fix this problem

No I mean lime. Any timber is very acidic as it rots down and this increases soil acidity and requires more lime to counteract it.

Muckit

redzerologhlen wrote: »

Chippy is a carpenter I bet!!

What gave it away?????!!!