Effect of forest biomass as bedding material on compost-bedded pack performance, microbial content, and behavior of nonlactating dairy cows

Abstract

Compost-bedded pack (CBP) barns for dairy cows mainly use sawdust as bedding material. The objective of this study was to compare forest biomass to sawdust as bedding material for CBP. Variables evaluated included CBP moisture, temperature and C:N ratio, bedding microbial counts, and behavior and welfare measures of nonlactating cows. The experimental design was a crossover where two 11-wk periods were performed. Treatments were CBP with sawdust (CBP-S) as a control treatment and CBP with forest biomass (CBP-FB) as the experimental bedding material. Weather conditions, intake, CBP temperature, CBP moisture, and welfare assessment were measured during the entire periods. We took CBP samples for microbiological analysis and video recordings for animal behavior assessment in wk 11 of each period. The CBP management was the same in both treatments and periods, based on twice-daily tilling at a 30 cm depth, and the addition of 0.8 kg/m 2 of new bedding material per day. Ambient temperature and environmental humidity were 9.1°C and 82.5% in period 1, and 13.2°C and 75.3% in period 2. Average DMI and water consumption were 17.4 ± 0.86 kg/d and 50.9 ± 7.84 L/d in period 1, and 16.3 ± 0.96 kg/d and 56.3 ± 8.02 L/d in period 2.

A Comparison of Rice Husks and Peanut Shells as Bedding Materials on Dairy Cows’ Preferences, Behaviour, and Health

“…Eating times in the current study are largely similar to the published literature, ranging from 4.5 h/d (rice husk bedding) to 5.7 h/d (peanut-rice combination). For drinking time, our results were also in line with the published report (6 min/d) by Llonch et al [24] in cold weather. Our results indicate that time spent eating and drinking was within the normal range of previous literature.…”

“…In this experiment, the mean lying time was observed to be 10.8 to 14.2 h/d before parturition, regardless of bedding treatments, but no differences were found between the bedding types. However, according to Llonch et al [24], the daily lying time of dry cows (15.5 h/d) on compost-type bedding was longer than ours. This difference may be attributed to the depth of materials, activity area, and housing system [1,2].…”

“…Beauchemin [36] reported the eating time of lactating cows to be from 2.4 to 8.5 h/d. Hut [37] and Llonch et al [24] reported the eating time of dry cows to be 5.8 h/d and 2.8 h/d, respectively. Eating times in the current study are largely similar to the published literature, ranging from 4.5 h/d (rice husk bedding) to 5.7 h/d (peanut-rice combination).…”

“…Scientific studies of dairy cow bedding usually record cow behaviour (e.g., lying, standing, eating and drinking, etc. ), body hygiene (particularly of the udder and legs), and health (which may be determined from serum metabolites) [5,15,24]. We explored the characteristics and effects of peanut shells and rice husk in two experiments.…”

Agronomic Characteristics of the Compost-Bedded Pack Made with Forest Biomass or Sawdust

“…Compost-bedded pack barns in dairy cow farming mainly use sawdust (S) as a bedding material, but forest biomass (FB) could be an alternative material. When both Processes 2021, 9, 546 2 of 12 materials were tested as CBP, some important microbial species affecting cow health were better controlled using FB, although in terms of cow comfort, FB did not appear to work as well as S [12]. However, the welfare assessment conducted did not detect health problems in the cows [12].…”