Bedding alternatives to Straw.

Bleating Lamb · 25-07-2018 08:27AM #1

With the expected shortage of straw for use for bedding sheds by Cattle and Sheep farmers this Winter....what cost effective alternatives do people see that could be used?

Based in Leitrim here so always have to buy Straw from other parts of Ireland here...got good clean Wheaten Straw for € 3 a small Bale last year.Am expecting it to be at least as much this year,if not slightly dearer.

See fellas who have baled grazing ground with heavy rushes for ‘bedding’ for the backend.Seems to be happening all over the country.Imo that stuff will be next to useless for bedding....rushes won’t absorb or hold moisture from Catte or sheeps waste matter.And you will be importing rush seeds into your yard.

I usually Winter ewes inside a concrete floored shed in backend for a few months....if Straw is not available at an affordable rate I will look into using sawdust or woodchip to bed the sheep...and maybe the same for Sucklers calves as well.

What bedding materials have others used when Straw is scarce?

mahoney_j · 25-07-2018 09:00AM

Bleating Lamb wrote: »

With the expected shortage of straw for use for bedding sheds by Cattle and Sheep farmers this Winter....what cost effective alternatives do people see that could be used?

Based in Leitrim here so always have to buy Straw from other parts of Ireland here...got good clean Wheaten Straw for € 3 a small Bale last year.Am expecting it to be at least as much this year,if not slightly dearer.

See fellas who have baled grazing ground with heavy rushes for ‘bedding’ for the backend.Seems to be happening all over the country.Imo that stuff will be next to useless for bedding....rushes won’t absorb or hold moisture from Catte or sheeps waste matter.And you will be importing rush seeds into your yard.

I usually Winter ewes inside a concrete floored shed in backend for a few months....if Straw is not available at an affordable rate I will look into using sawdust or woodchip to bed the sheep...and maybe the same for Sucklers calves as well.

What bedding materials have others used when Straw is scarce?

Lucky to have got straw but options include
Woodchip
Oil seed rape straw
Peat
Miscanthus

Rushes as well but wouldn’t be a fan ,straw just going to get scarcer and dearer in this country

Mooooo · 25-07-2018 09:06AM

I've a share of trees shook after the storms, they must be cut down anyway so going chipping them. As it will be used inside I will still put straw over it but it should help stretch it and make it last longer. May have to house a few weanlings on it as well but they may manage without the straw.

orm0nd · 25-07-2018 09:09AM

as Mj says , but if you intend staying in sheep long term I would consider adapting to slats , as straw will be scarce and costly for time to come.

Pidae.m · 25-07-2018 09:35AM

Talking to a chap last, 3 loads of timber for 2k and 1k to get it chipped

Pidae.m · 25-07-2018 09:41AM

Pidae.m wrote: »

Talking to a chap last, 3 loads of timber for 2k and 1k to get it chipped

A load of 2inch stone too underneath the straw if you've somewhere to spread it afterwards

I was at a keenam walk once and the nutritionists said to bale oil seed rape straw for feeding. Our contractor was didn't want to do it said it would be like baling briars

Say my name · 25-07-2018 01:32PM

One for the future possibly or small scale farmers making it themselves.
It'd be a further step from chipping the wood.
And you could spread it straight away when the house is cleaned out. No composting required.

https://youtu.be/RPrLmn_i8q0

https://youtu.be/FW0JRk8AXc4

greysides · 25-07-2018 01:45PM

Is dried bracken ever used?

Say my name · 25-07-2018 01:49PM

greysides wrote: »

Is dried bracken ever used?

I've heard of it being cut and baled in Wales and Scotland for home burners.

Not easy finding bracken areas with no stones sticking up I'd imagine though.

Bleating Lamb · 25-07-2018 04:24PM

Would ye not consider sawdust for sheep?....if you put in a good initial bed of it perhaps mixed with woodchip it should provide a dry comfortable bed.

What price is early Straw making ‘in the field’ at the moment?

paddysdream · 25-07-2018 05:07PM

Bleating Lamb wrote: »

Would ye not consider sawdust for sheep?....if you put in a good initial bed of it perhaps mixed with woodchip it should provide a dry comfortable bed.

What price is early Straw making ‘in the field’ at the moment?

4x4 anything from 15 euro (regular customer) on the flat to 25 euro baled for winter barley straw.
8x4x3 50 (unchopped) to 70 (chopped) for the same.Winter wheat straw a bit cheaper(but not much!!!).Even oaten straw being snapped up without any thought.
All those prices are from the field.Looking at 400/600 euro per load to haul from S.E. to midlands/west.

Straw very scarce and nobody selling bar to regular customers and even at that many having to take a cut in their regular "quota" even at increased prices.Had numerous calls re."any chance of getting me a load or two of straw,any type will do."Not a chance at the moment.
Spring barley starting to be cut around here and yields unexiciting to say the least.Crops look poor and straw yield will be well back it seems.

Winter oilseed rape yielding 3/4no. 8x4x3 to the acre.No combine's running choppers this year.
Re bedding with woodchip/sawdust,can you spread this back on grass?Can't see it breaking down in the dung for a good few years.Anyone bedding with it around here spread it on tillage ground to plough down.

Mooooo · 25-07-2018 05:22PM

Wood chip would want to be in a heap of dung for 12 months. Issue is it takes N out of ground when breaking down. I normally spread all dung on fields to be ploughed anyway

longgonesilver · 25-07-2018 05:41PM

greysides wrote: »

Is dried bracken ever used?

Bracken is suspected of being cancer causing in both humans and animals.

grassroot1 · 25-07-2018 06:35PM

greysides wrote:

Is dried bracken ever used?

I thought it was poisonous?

Western Pomise · 25-07-2018 07:26PM

paddysdream wrote: »

Bleating Lamb wrote: »

Would ye not consider sawdust for sheep?....if you put in a good initial bed of it perhaps mixed with woodchip it should provide a dry comfortable bed.

What price is early Straw making ‘in the field’ at the moment?

4x4 anything from 15 euro (regular customer) on the flat to 25 euro baled for winter barley straw.
8x4x3 50 (unchopped) to 70 (chopped) for the same.Winter wheat straw a bit cheaper(but not much!!!).Even oaten straw being snapped up without any thought.
All those prices are from the field.Looking at 400/600 euro per load to haul from S.E. to midlands/west.

Straw very scarce and nobody selling bar to regular customers and even at that many having to take a cut in their regular "quota" even at increased prices.Had numerous calls re."any chance of getting me a load or two of straw,any type will do."Not a chance at the moment.
Spring barley starting to be cut around here and yields unexiciting to say the least.Crops look poor and straw yield will be well back it seems.

Winter oilseed rape yielding 3/4no. 8x4x3 to the acre.No combine's running choppers this year.
Re bedding with woodchip/sawdust,can you spread this back on grass?Can't see it breaking down in the dung for a good few years.Anyone bedding with it around here spread it on tillage ground to plough down.

Wonder how farmers are faring in England?.....are they experiencing a drought as well?......or could we see Straw being imported in the backend?

tabby aspreme · 25-07-2018 07:57PM

Lad I get straw from threw in a bale of rape straw on a load , it was very rough and hard spread , if it was chopped it might be better, milled peat is a good alternative under cattle, never seen it used with sheep.

jimini0 · 25-07-2018 08:22PM

What exactly is wood chip? Is it trees chipped up or mostly branches. I spotted a big pile of branches left in a field waiting to be burnt I'm have tempted to ask the man can I chip them. I know him fairly well. They are anything from 4 inches down to twigs

Mooooo · 25-07-2018 10:31PM

jimini0 wrote: »

What exactly is wood chip? Is it trees chipped up or mostly branches. I spotted a big pile of branches left in a field waiting to be burnt I'm have tempted to ask the man can I chip them. I know him fairly well. They are anything from 4 inches down to twigs

Woodchip is logs chipped, in some cases branches and all would be put thru as well. Bark mulch type stuff can be got cheaper as well from mills which would be all branches and bark.
The lads that are coming to do my trees have a chipper that will do up to about 18 inches

Reggie. · 25-07-2018 11:31PM

Hard to look past peat. Very cheap compared to anything else

Chisler2 · 26-07-2018 09:35AM

Western Pomise wrote: »

Wonder how farmers are faring in England?.....are they experiencing a drought as well?......or could we see Straw being imported in the backend?

They are suffering terribly! A quote from a farmer in Sussex on BBC Radio 4 yesterday "We have never seen anything like it. The cracks in the soil are over 1 metre deep. I'm giving up and going on holiday as there is nothing I can do. It will take months of heavy rains to build up the water-table again".

Dire days here, but muuuuch worse on the East Coast of the UK.

Base price · 26-07-2018 10:12AM

grassroot1 wrote: »

I thought it was poisonous?

We had to get the Vet out to 5 bulls a couple of years ago after contractors for the ESB cut bracken and left it lying on the ground. Apparently they will eat it when its cut.

grassroot1 · 26-07-2018 10:54AM

Base price wrote:

We had to get the Vet out to 5 bulls a couple of years ago after contractors for the ESB cut bracken and left it lying on the ground. Apparently they will eat it when its cut.

Is there something about spores it gives off too I think

adne · 26-07-2018 01:02PM

Reggie. wrote: »

Hard to look past peat. Very cheap compared to anything else

How much is milled peat making. Where can it be sourced

Reggie. · 26-07-2018 01:13PM

adne wrote: »

How much is milled peat making. Where can it be sourced

€13 a m3 last year. I get it from my local bord na mona depot. Thinking of delivering it this year for lads. Did a few runs last year

Hard Knocks · 26-07-2018 01:20PM

Reggie. wrote: »

adne wrote: »

How much is milled peat making. Where can it be sourced

€13 a m3 last year. I get it from my local bord na mona depot. Thinking of delivering it this year for lads. Did a few runs last year

Just a cup of tea & a few chocolate digestives as payment to your boards colleagues

Base price · 26-07-2018 01:49PM

grassroot1 wrote: »

Is there something about spores it gives off too I think

It is carcinogenic to humans and livestock.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=445

Reggie. · 26-07-2018 02:35PM

Hard Knocks wrote: »

Just a cup of tea & a few chocolate digestives as payment to your boards colleagues

Brought some to a few boardsies last year

Say my name · 26-07-2018 03:21PM

Reggie. wrote: »

Brought some to a few boardsies last year

Does it come in different grades?
Say.. coarse and fine?

Reggie. · 26-07-2018 04:19PM

Say my name wrote: »

Does it come in different grades?
Say.. coarse and fine?

I think so but they load you with the coarse for bedding cattle I think.

Say my name · 26-07-2018 04:52PM

Reggie. wrote: »

I think so but they load you with the coarse for bedding cattle I think.

Yea someone told me to get the coarse.
They got landed with fine stuff and it turned to slurry very quick.

tanko · 26-07-2018 05:52PM

Base price wrote: »

We had to get the Vet out to 5 bulls a couple of years ago after contractors for the ESB cut bracken and left it lying on the ground. Apparently they will eat it when its cut.

I’ve often seen my cattle eating it when its growing, is it only poisonous at certain times of the year??

Bedding alternatives to Straw.

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