Compost barns in Brazilian Subtropical region (Part 1): facility, barn management and herd characteristics

Abstract

The objective of this study was to describe barn management practices and to evaluating cow locomotion, hygiene and hock lesion prevalence of dairy cows housed in Compost Barns (CB) located in the subtropical region of Brazil. The CB has demonstrated satisfactory results in relation to animal comfort and productivity. However, modifications to the initial American recommendations are being made by producers in order to adapt it to different conditions. Thirty dairy farms were analyzed regarding structural measurements and layout, management practices, bedded pack and herd characteristics. The main results highlighted were the resting space of 14.6 m2 cow-1, most of the farms (87%) had newly built facilities and only 43.3% were built in E-W direction. Most farms did not have ridge opening and 60 % had fans in the bedded pack area, which is mostly stirred twice a day. About a third of the farms used CB only during the hottest hours of the day or rainy periods, with pasture access the remainder of the time. The bedded pack material averaged 48.4% DM, pH of 8.68, C:N of 5.90 and deep bedding temperature of 42.52 ⁰C. Locomotion scoring showed majority of the cows with a normal gait (95.5% of cows scoring 1 or 2 for locomotion). Hock lesions were observed in 15.5% of the animals and 84.0% of the cows were clean or only slightly dirty. This study indicates characteristics or issues to start an improvement process on CB usage in Brazilian subtropical region. The cow comfort was considered adequate, based on results of cow locomotion, lesions and hygiene scoring.

Determination of Thermal, Chemical and Physical Properties of Bedding Materials for Compost Dairy Barns

“…In Kentucky, USA, Black et al [ 20 ] observed an average ratio of C:N ranging from 16:1 to 35:1. In Brazil, Radavelli et al [ 26 ] found an average ratio of C:N of 10:51. In this context, Shane et al [ 21 ] reported that the highest C:N ratio found was 26.0 during winter.…”

“…In kiln-dried sawdust, the particle size distribution was 13.1% in the thinnest material, 8.5% in the material with 2 mm granulometry, 1.0% in the material with 4.75 mm, 3.0% in the material of 5.60 mm, 14.2% in the material of 8.00 mm and 8.1% in the material with larger granulometry (>25.00 mm). In a prior study, Radavelli et al [ 26 ], when evaluating the particle size in the CBP beds, observed that the material present in the bottom of the sieve represented 29.05%, small material (2 mm) 16.08%, medium material (4.75 mm) 18.36% and large material (9.75 mm) 32.7%.…”

“…Cows that spend time in pasture may return soil to the bed. Previous studies report a density of 618.70 kg·m −3 [ 26 ], 372.7 e 526.2 kg·m −3 [ 14 ]. However, the daily handling of the bed acts on density and consequently affects bed composting, moisture evaporation and porosity [ 26 ].…”

The Welfare of Dairy Cows in Pasture, Free Stall, and Compost Barn Management Systems in a Brazilian Subtropical Region

“…Like our results of body cleanliness ( Table 1 ), a lower prevalence of integument alternations and greater in the dirt was found in cows reared in CB than the FS [ 21 ]. On the other hand, it is essential to consider that management can influence the bedding quality and the dirt score of cows reared in CB [ 13 , 47 ] and, in some cases, may not occur differences in the dirt score between FS and CB [ 48 ].…”

“…Recently the emergence and growth of the CB system has been observed, a still rare system in Brazil, at the time of the mentioned work. The work developed by Radavelli et al [ 13 ] characterized the CB system in the west region of SC, indicating the massive presence of this system in the region in early 2017. In this sense, work is needed to show the impact of the migration from PT production systems to FS and CB on the welfare of dairy cows as it has already been shown that confinement limit the manifestation of the natural behaviors [ 14 ].…”