Loose Housed Barn - Slatted Concrete

Comfortable lying surfaces for cows

Cow comfort is crucial for animals to maintain condition and well-being. Lying down is very important to cows. It provides rest, opportunity to sleep, and reduces the risk of lameness, which leads to better animal welfare. The welfare code requires a minimum of eight hours of lying time per day. Cows that are kept in off-paddock facilities for more than 16 hours a day for more than three consecutive days must be provided with a well-drained lying area with a compressible soft surface. For more information on lying surfaces for cows, see the Dairy Cattle Code of Welfare (Minimun standards 6 and 9) here: Dairy Cattle (mpi.govt.nz).

Benefits

Feed

• Minimise pasture damage when soils are overly wet or prevent overgrazing (eg when pasture is insufficient to meet full herd demand). This should increase pasture production
• Better feed utilisation compared with paddock feeding

Herd

• Better herd monitoring may be possible, e.g. heat detection, animal welfare, BCS.
• Reduction in herd lameness may be possible, e.g. from reduction of cows standing in mud

Management

• Opportunities to to capture all effluent and apply to crop land or to pasture when soil moisture levels are appropriate
• Reduce farm maintenance costs (associated with paddock renovations following pugging, herd or machinery traffic)

Limitations

• Medium-high capital outlay to establish
• Unless concrete has rubber matting not suited to long periods of use. Lameness can increase on slatted concrete.
• Not suitable for calving unless additional provision of bedding material to prevent damage to calves
• Business more reliant on quality supplements being grown or purchased (vulnerable to season price changes)
• Supplementary feed costs typically greater than pasture
• Increased building repair and maintenance
• Effluent management requires additional activities

System design considerations

Structure

• Location in relation to herd access - close to dairy (milking shed) is convenient but also dependent on location of feed storage areas and facilities intended use
• Consenting - Council requirements for subsurface drainage and sealing usually require owner to demonstrate no leakage
• Roofed structures require structural engineering to take in to account wind, snowfalls, etc.

Feed

• Feed supply management plan – what is grown on farm/support blocks versus what is imported. Access to grain, silage and ability to feed with least traffic movements
• Increased feed bunker area and machinery if increasing supplementary feeding

Herd

• Must provide correct stocking density (3.5-4.0m²/cow) and feed face space per cow. Stocking density of 3-4.5m²/cow only when used as feedpad. Recommend that at this density it is used for less than 8 hours per day
• Minimum 9m²/cow with additional soft bedding required for 24/7 use over extended periods of time (several days eg during winter)

Management

• Consider effluent type (liquid and solid manure proportion depends on dry cow or lactating cow use, type of feed etc)
• Removal and application of effluent
• Size and usage will dictate cleaning frequency

Adviser tips

• Useful where additional effluent storage needed but could be cheaper options, e.g. roof over feedpad, expand pond storage
• Case studies and analysis indicate that once built, many farmers increase cows and levels of supplementary feeding
• Costs of feeding supplements is typically 1.5x purchase cost of feed per kg

Significant component costs of infrasturcture:

• Site preparation earthworks
• Base materials (eg clay, rock)
• Roof and trusses
• Concrete feeding area/s (for cows to stand on and/or feed to be fed out on)

Possible additional costs:

• Dairy company shares
• Feed bunkers
• First year feed inventory (if needed)
• Additional stock