Minnesota/Wisconsin Engineering Notes

February 2004 Postharvest and Alternative Energy Info on Web Your Farm Doesn’t Have to Smell that Bad Science-based Information on Manure Management Issues Competitive Milking? Bedded Pack Housing For Dairy Cows Livestock Ventilation Design—Indoor and Outdoor Air Quality Concerns EDEN – Extension Disaster Education Network Workshops on Food System Terrorist Threats Irrigated Acres Update New Book and Companion CD Focus on Dairy Replacements Resources Calendar

Bedded Pack Housing For Dairy Cows David W. Kammel, Wisconsin Extension Engineer For dairy producers who are looking for low cost systems as alternatives for housing cows, consider using bedded pack housing. This form of loose housing allows the cow free access between the resting, feeding, and watering spaces. The bedded resting space should provide between 50 and 100 square feet per cow depending on cow weight. The publication Dairy Freestall Housing and Equipment (MWPS-7) recommends a minimum of 50 square feet for a dry cow. Most experts recommend 75 square feet per Holstein milking cow and 60 square feet per Jersey milking cow for well-managed systems. The bedded area should be rectangular, with a maximum dimension of 36 feet from the feeding alley to the back of the bedded area. Cows tend to lie around the perimeter of the bedded space. Additional space for a feeding alley and water access also must be included in the overall system design. The bedded pack is commonly used during the winter housing period from December 1 through the end of March, or approximately 4 months. In this situation, the bedded pack acts as a manure storage system. It is common to clean out the pack at the end of the winter housing season or at three to four month intervals if used continuously. To facilitate cleanout and other operations, the base (macadam, asphalt, concrete) under the pack must be able to handle vehicle traffic in wet conditions. To manage cow cleanliness, producers can adjust either the group size or the quantity of bedding used per day. As the bedded area per cow decreases, the amount of bedding and the frequency of adding bedding required to keep the cows clean increases. MWPS-7 recommends a minimum of 11 pounds of chopped straw per 1,000 pounds of animal weight. Experiential data from Wisconsin farms found 15 to 25 pounds of bedding per day per cow should be added to the pen every day to maintain clean cows. Wood shavings, clean straw, corn fodder, and waste grass hay are common bedding choices. To simplify cleaning, waste hay should be chopped before being added to the pack. You can’t skimp on the amount or frequency of bedding if you want clean cows. Depending on current prices, however, the bedding cost can be $.25 to $.50 per cow per day. When producers find actual bedding costs to be higher than projected costs, they sometimes cut back on bedding, and this results in problems with dirtier cows. Other management strategies can help maintain clean cows. For small herds (30 to 40 cows), policing the bedded area daily by removing manure patties can help maintain cleaner cows and minimize the amount of bedding required to keep the cows clean. Some experiential data from Europe suggests policing the area can reduce the amount of bedding needed to keep cows clean by 50%. Daily removal of accumulated manure from the alleys adjacent to feed and water areas also can help maintain cleaner cows. It is helpful to have an area designed to collect the removed manure. MWPS-7 has plans for a bedded pack barn for replacement heifers that could be adapted to cows. The width of the building shell should allow room for a two- or three-row freestall platform (26 feet or 34 feet from the alley to the back of the pen respectively). Plan so both options are possible and start with the bedded pack but providing the option to convert the building into a freestall barn at some future time. In either the bedded pack or freestall pen layouts, a concrete feed alley is placed between the feed platform and the resting area. The waterer for the bedded pack arrangement is placed adjacent to the bedded resting space. Put a fence around the sides of the waterer to create a barrier that prevents cows from accessing the water and splashing it into the bedded pack area. You should allow cows to access the waterer only from the alley adjacent to the feed bunk. The options for a building shell include roofing over the bedded area only, roofing over the bedded area and the cow alley, or roofing over the entire area including the feed platform. Although these options increase the area per cow, the ability to manage feeding is improved. Putting a roof over the cow resting and walking areas also can eliminate the need to handle the contaminated manure from rainfall runoff events from unroofed cow confinement areas. The lowest cost system option could be to develop a windbreak system on the north and west sides of a bedded space with drive-by feeding on the south side. The Beef Housing and Equipment Handbook (MWPS-6) has conceptual plans that could be adapted for use on a dairy. The option of no roof with a windbreak, cattle mounds, and drive-by feeding is similar to feed lot operation. But you also need to consider the cost of cleaning up lot runoff water. Dairy Freestall Housing and Equipment (MWPS-7) and The Beef Housing and Equipment Handbook (MWPS-6) have additional information on barn design. Both books are published by MidWest Plan Service, for more information see Resources.

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