Bedding for next year

weekendfarmer

Starting a big tidy up this year. New concrete floors etc.

The creep area I have gets wet very quickly. I use straw and will be increasing the slope by a few inches but can't see that working too well.

Has anybody and cheap solutions that has worked for them? Would timber floors be crazy ?

vanderbadger

weekendfarmer wrote: »

Starting a big tidy up this year. New concrete floors etc.

The creep area I have gets wet very quickly. I use straw and will be increasing the slope by a few inches but can't see that working too well.

Has anybody and cheap solutions that has worked for them? Would timber floors be crazy ?

http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/farmsheds/4413554

bbam

vanderbadger wrote: »

http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/farmsheds/4413554

I hate when they can't put up prices. What are they hiding??
I was speaking to a fella and he fitted retaining boards and threw in six inches of pea type gravel.
Good layer of straw and he reckoned his straw usage was halved and calves dry all the time. My fear would be while the straw can be forked off you can't disenfect the shed well afterwards. ??

weekendfarmer

They look the business .... the gravel is a disaster, just pushing out the problem

vanderbadger

bbam wrote: »

I hate when they can't put up prices. What are they hiding??
I was speaking to a fella and he fitted retaining boards and threw in six inches of pea type gravel.
Good layer of straw and he reckoned his straw usage was halved and calves dry all the time. My fear would be while the straw can be forked off you can't disenfect the shed well afterwards. ??

they dont look over confortable though, its a bad sign when they are still showing straw under the calf

reilig

vanderbadger wrote: »

they dont look over confortable though, its a bad sign when they are still showing straw under the calf

I don't think hard plastic would be any more comfortable than concrete - it might not be as cold, but it wouldn't be as comfortable. Rubber has some give to it which gives comfort.

Bbam - I have see guys under bed creeps with a few inches of clay sand and then just be over it with straw. The sand soaks a lot of moisture and can be land spread afetrwards. 6 inches of dry peat would also be a great help for soakage. Mushroom compost is quite good too and can be got for free.

moy83

Six or eight inches of barkmunch is a good bed and stays pretty dry under them. Put in enough at the start and the top stuff stays dry nearly all the time

weekendfarmer

moy83 wrote: »

Six or eight inches of barkmunch is a good bed and stays pretty dry under them. Put in enough at the start and the top stuff stays dry nearly all the time

How often do you have to top up the straw ?

grazeaway

looking to converting one of the lean-tos for housing cattle next winter. and rather then spending a forturne on a slatted tank that i mightnt end up using every winter i was thinking of have a concrete floor and removable barriers. the idea being if i need extra hosuing i can bed it (or part or it and use the rest for storgae of soemthing else.
usually bed with straw but half thinking of using sawdust as it'll be mainly for yearling or replacemnts.

plan would be 20ftx45ft area split into 2 or 3 pens for about 20-25 animals. How much does a lorry load of sawdust cost and how long would it last?
Storage how do most lads store it? I was thinking of leaving it in a pile and covering in with a silage sheet then take out a bucket of it when i need to top up.

blue5000

I have used 3-4 inches of fine sand under straw to improve the drainage under beef heifers. I think a good fall is important.

weekendfarmer

What do you do with the sand?

blue5000

The whole lot went out with the loader and was spread with the dung, it was what we call rabbit sand, dug on the farm.

Just wondering if anyone has used chopped miscanthus for bedding, it looks like there is a very poor market for it in the energy sector.

weekendfarmer

Would animals try and eat it ?

yellow50HX

grazeaway wrote: »

looking to converting one of the lean-tos for housing cattle next winter. and rather then spending a forturne on a slatted tank that i mightnt end up using every winter i was thinking of have a concrete floor and removable barriers. the idea being if i need extra hosuing i can bed it (or part or it and use the rest for storgae of soemthing else.
usually bed with straw but half thinking of using sawdust as it'll be mainly for yearling or replacemnts.

plan would be 20ftx45ft area split into 2 or 3 pens for about 20-25 animals. How much does a lorry load of sawdust cost and how long would it last?
Storage how do most lads store it? I was thinking of leaving it in a pile and covering in with a silage sheet then take out a bucket of it when i need to top up.

i have a small shed next to the tank have been using it for yearlings this year, straw bedded it but am thinking this is a bit of a waste of good straw espically with the weather. have been toying with the idea of not putting in any bedding next year. use the tractor to scrape down the cubicles and slats where the cows are every day. i can open the door to this shed and scrape this down too onto the slats. if its cleaned everyday then it would be the same as having them on slats or am i wrong?

other idea i had was to put in rubber mats along the back of the pen and for them to liy on and scrape down along the barrier.

moy83

weekendfarmer wrote: »

How often do you have to top up the straw ?

Not that often a mate of mine does it and I think he tops up a small bit every couple of weeks . It doesnt get that wet so he just forks off any dung really and gives it a very light shake of straw

kowtow

blue5000 wrote: »

Just wondering if anyone has used chopped miscanthus for bedding, it looks like there is a very poor market for it in the energy sector.

We bed horses on it. My teenage daughter swears that it cuts mucking out by 200% - and certainly it always looks clean and dry.

Funny, was wondering myself whether we should bed calves on it this morning.

blue5000

Kowtow is it ok on hooves, I think it is a bit like bamboo, might have splinters on it?

kowtow

blue5000 wrote: »

Kowtow is it ok on hooves, I think it is a bit like bamboo, might have splinters on it?

Its been fine for us; although we are buying it bagged and paying quite a price for it - but since I've been ordered to bring in the horses today anyway to accommodate her burgeoning social life, I'll have a good hard look and report back!

grazeaway

What are the plastic mats like for yearlings?

Timmaay

Used chopped rape on the cubicles this year, bag worked out at 6.50, which was cheaper than bags of shavings. I think the difference in price is because energy crops don't have vat charged on them. Used some muscanthus before, it was good also, but alittle too fine and dusty, and worked out more expensive than the rapeseed.

mantua

Lad I worked with before used to put two blocks on their flat and a 2" drainage pipe between every two sets of blocks and their was a runoff into the slatted tank, he bedded it well with straw but it worked unreal.. he would be calving around 70 cows a year in this shed and would only have to clean it out fully twice a year but keep it clean during the calving spread. The straw always kept dry. Even justin mccarthy taught it was genius

1chippy

Get on to any local joinery and gather up ton bags of shavings. great bedding. we wintered heifers on it this year and found it brilliant. Horse men were collecting it off me up till last year and we were stuck for slatted area so tried the shavings in an old shed and worked a treat. bedded every so often with a layer of straw and they were dry as a bone all year. we didnt even scrap behind the feed barrier, we just kept bedding up the back.
dont wait till the winter to get it but, place goes crazy looking for it when weather turns bad. Most places are just happy to be rid of it.

weekendfarmer

I am going to look at putting a scrapper under those plastic slats also. Will do a costing around and see if its viable.


Thanks for all the direction lads

iverjohnston

If the weather cooperates this year, I will have enough Rushes to bed all the sheds for a couple of years!

hugo29

iverjohnston wrote: »

If the weather cooperates this year, I will have enough Rushes to bed all the sheds for a couple of years!

iver would ya not be worried when spreading the dung that you are just spreading rushes again on the land
old fella used to use turf mowl for bedding, neighbours thought he was crazy, next year they were all at it, only worked in dry sheds thou

iverjohnston

Well Hugo, I would be thinking along the lines that there are already lots of rush seeds in the ground, and its really .a combination of wet weather, saturated ground and a bit of poaching, together with being unable to get some basic land husbandry carried out in a timely manner has led to the rash of rushes.
If i spray them first, before they run to seed, would that not help?

OK, the post was a bit "tongue in cheek", as i will definately be looking a load of straw later in the summer.

hugo29

iverjohnston wrote: »

Well Hugo, I would be thinking along the lines that there are already lots of rush seeds in the ground, and its really .a combination of wet weather, saturated ground and a bit of poaching, together with being unable to get some basic land husbandry carried out in a timely manner has led to the rash of rushes.
If i spray them first, before they run to seed, would that not help?

OK, the post was a bit "tongue in cheek", as i will definately be looking a load of straw later in the summer.

Spraying prob help, know a lad who uses rushes in calving pens, he swears by it

weekendfarmer

Any one know the price of rubber mats, is there much of difference from supplier to supplier in quality/thickness etc?

weekendfarmer

yellow50HX

weekendfarmer wrote: »

Any one know the price of rubber mats, is there much of difference from supplier to supplier in quality/thickness etc?

+1,

can you run a scraper accross them? might be save on my straw if i could just use mats and scrape them down into the tank

weekendfarmer

yellow50HX wrote: »

+1,

can you run a scraper accross them? might be save on my straw if i could just use mats and scrape them down into the tank

No i doubt it

was thinking more along the lines of suspending them over a scraper for calfs in the creep area .... Like the plastic slats

Pat the lad

weekendfarmer wrote: »

was thinking more along the lines of suspending them over a scraper for calfs in the creep area .... Like the plastic slats

would it not be too drafty on them??

johnpawl

What gradient would ye recommend for calf creep to keep it dry?

weekendfarmer

Pat the lad wrote: »

would it not be too drafty on them??

I doubt it , would be easy fixed if that was the case

weekendfarmer

johnpawl wrote: »

What gradient would ye recommend for calf creep to keep it dry?

I had 3" on 12 foot ... useless. Neighbour did 6" and still not great. He chops the straw which makes it a little better.

yellow50HX

johnpawl wrote: »

What gradient would ye recommend for calf creep to keep it dry?

not sure what the fall is in ours but its good an steep. drop a calf tag on teh straw teh othe rnight and spent ages on my knees looking for it. Straw was nice and dry so it must be working. I do notice if we have yearling or weanling in the same shed under straw we need to bed it much more, the bigger animals will obviously make more waste and carry more weigth so will compact the straw more makign it hold more moisture