Cow
Comfort and Dry Cubicle Beds
Comfortable beds and well designed cubicles with plenty of lunging room are extremely important. The longer that cows are lying the less time they are stood on concrete. Cows should be feeding or lying not stood in passageways or in cubicles. This will reduce lameness and increase milk yields. One addition hour lying is equivalent to one additional litre of milk. Cubicles therefore should be comfortable, clean and dry.
Housed dairy cows often show wounds, skin damage or lesions due to contact with steel work, concrete and caustic, wet or abrasive bedding materials. Damaged skin in contact with bacteria often results in hock or foot infections which impact on performance. Hock infections are a major cause of lameness.
Hygiene is Important for Cow Health, Performance and Profitability
Bacteria only multiply in warm, damp conditions. Adequate ventilation can play a major role in removing moisture and heat from buildings, reducing humidity, and allowing beds to dry. Ventilation can have a surprisingly large effect on cleanliness of cows and amount of bedding needed, as well as on infection levels.
It is very important that cubicle beds and animal bedding are kept dry. Some absorbent bedding materials such as saw dust once wet stay wet and are very slow to dry and provide an ideal breeding ground for pathogenic bacteria.
The Ideal Bedding Material for Dairy Cows
The
ideal bedding material for dairy cows should keep cows dry, be non-caustic, non-abrasive, powdered for
ease of use, non dusty, moisture absorbent but quick drying, inert or anti-bacterial so as not to encourage
bacterial growth. It should be comfortable to lie on. It should be delivered dry and free or moulds,
mycotoxins, bacteria and toxic chemicals, reduce nitrogen losses from slurry and supply additional crop
nutrients to reduce fertiliser costs, dissolve into the slurry and not form a sediment or a thick crust
and be readily available all year round and be cheap enough to allow generous usage levels.
Powdered gypsum satisfies all these criteria, whereas straw, sawdust and lime do not. As with sawdust different sources of gypsum for cows varies in price and quality. Beware of cheap gypsum bedding materials based on badly crushed plaster board which can be damp, coarse, abrasive and which may contain waste paper, nails, other contaminants and ad mixture. RWN only supplies high quality clean gypsum powder produced to a high standard for livestock bedding.
We aim to increase awareness of this excellent product which can reduce costs, improve hygiene, cow comfort, herd health and in doing so help to raise milk output and profitability. Customers report improved results and reduced costs.
Gypsum the ideal bedding for dairy cows
Gypsum Bedding for Dairy Cows
Gypsum
bedding powder
is manufactured from powdered, dried gypsum. It can be used mixed with straw, shavings or sawdust
but is best used alone as a sole bedding material. RWN Gypsum bedding powder is clean, free flowing
and relatively dust free.
Being an inert mineral compound it contains no organic matter to support the growth of bacteria. RWN Cubi-Powder can be used along with gypsum for addition control of disease causing bacteria and mastitis if required.
Gypsum powder absorbs moisture twice as effectively as lime, dries much faster than sawdust and is cheaper to use than sawdust. Gypsum is pH 7 and does not cause skin irritation, burning or damage the skins natural resistance to infection.
When mixed with slurry, gypsum reduces Nitrogen losses from the slurry. Ammonia in the slurry, much of which is normally lost to the atmosphere reactes with gypsum to form ammonium sulphate a valuable liquid nitrogen fertiliser. Gypsum also provides a good source of calcium and sulphur and is an excellent soil conditioner for improving the structure of heavy clay or compacted soils. For more information check these pages on how Gypsum can improve crop yields and the structure and fertility of soils.
GYPSUM is better than Sand, Sawdust, Straw, Ash or Paper Based Bedding
Application of Gypsum Bedding Powder
- Gypsum has many advantages over traditional bedding materials - better than sawdust, shavings, straw, paper bedding or low quality crushed plaster board gypsum products
- Highly absorbent free flowing powder - more absorbent than lime, straw or sawdust
- pH 7 - no burns or sores normally associated with ash or lime based products
- A soft product that is readily accepted by livestock
- Doesn't stick to the animals and build up on feet and hooves
- Gypsum does not support bacterial growth as typically associated with shavings, sawdust or straw
- Reduced foot problems, fewer hock sores and less lameness
- Less mastitis and reduced cell counts and improved milk yields
- Cheaper than other bedding materials - reduced costs compared to sawdust or paper bedding
- Gypsum powder is heavier than sawdust or straw which has the advantages that it is much less dusty to apply, dust settles rapidly, it stays on cubicle beds better and doesn't blow around
- Gypsum powder can be used on both cubicles and loose housing, alone or with straw or sawdust
- Reduces ammonia losses from slurry. Whereas cubicle lime increases nitrogen losses, Gypsum increases both nitrogen and sulphur content of slurry improving crop yields
- Saves nitrogen fertiliser and provides good levels of Calcium and Sulphur resulting in a higher yielding grassland - at reduced input costs.
- Gypsum is Calcium Sulphate (CaSO4) - Typically supplies around 20% Ca, 15% Sulphur or 35% SO3
- Gypsum is a well accepted soil conditioner for correcting calcium : magnesium imbalances and sulphur deficiencies. Improves compacted soils, soil structure, drainage, water logging etc
- Dissolves in slurry and does not normally cause build up of significant sediments or crusts in slurry channels, or in slurry stores provided that slurry stores are adequately stirred.
- Easier slurry handling and less power use when spreading and handling slurry.
- Improves flowability of slurry, less blocking, in slats, slurry channels, pumps, pipes and grids
- Non-combustible so fire risk is greatly reduced compared with most other bedding materials
- Available all year round in bulk 28 tonne loads on walking floor or artic tippers or on 8 wheelers
How and where to use Gypsum for bedding cows?
Gypsum
can be used in a wide range of situations including dairy cow cubicle housing, loose yards along with
straw, sawdust or other materials. In dairy cow cubicle housing Gypsum bedding is normally used alone
as the sole bedding material on cow mats and mattresses.
RWN supplies several grades of gypsum cattle bedding products:
Gypsum Bedding
Powder is suitable for
most cubicle housing particularly on mattresses and on rubber mats.
PaperGypsum
Bedding is
ideal for concrete cubicle beds having more body than the powder. Cheaper and more absorbent
than straw, and PaperGypsum stays on the bed better than straw. PaperGypsum can be built up
to a good depth providing excellent cow comfort and cleanliness.
Gypsum Sawdust Mix is lighter and
bulkier than gypsum powder and also works well on concrete beds.
Gypsum will not go hard or build up on beds provided damp material is removed regularly and beds are kept dry.
There is generally no smell in livestock housing, in fact ammonia levels in the building will be reduced by gypsum, however where gypsum is used, buildings should be adequately ventilated. Gypsum is not recommended for use where cattle are housed on slats over large, non-aerated slurry stores in poorly ventilated buildings.
Livestock Slurry handling and Safety
In some situations slurry which has been stored anaerobically can give off a bad egg sulphur smell or hydrogen sulphide when stirred. Please be aware that gases from slurry can be toxic or even lethal. Precautions should be taken when stirring slurry or working in confined spaces around slurry or where fumes are present whether gypsum is used or not.
During storage hydrogen sulphide emmissions and smell can be reduced by maintaining a thin crust by adding sawdust periodically. Stirring is best carried out when windy in order to dissipate any gases present in the slurry. When spreading slurry, smell can be reduced by umbilical pumping and applying slurry by trailing shoe or injection rather than splash plates preferably on a wet or breezy day.
Gypsum
Application on Cubicles
Gypsum can be applied daily or once, twice or three times per week and piled up at the front of the cubicle. The aim is to maintain a comfortable, clean, dry bed for the cows 1cm to 3cm in depth. A gypsum powder bed of this depth increases cow comfort, lying time with reduced hock damage, less mastitis and higher milk yields.
GYPSUM - The Most Effective and The Cheapest Cubicle Bedding System Available
Costs of Bedding Cows on Gypsum?
Gypsum works out cheaper than sawdust, sand, straw or paper where costs usually fall in the range of 7p - 27p per cow per day. The relatively low cost of gypsum allows generous application rates.
Dairy farmers using Gypsum bedding report cleaner cows, improved cow comfort, less mastitis less hock damage and fewer skin lesions than with sawdust or ash based products.
Costs of using Gypsum will vary depending on levels of application and on whether it is used with straw or with sawdust. Gypsum is cheap enough to use generously. Used as sole bedding material on cubicles, usage of Gypsum is typically around 2kg per cow per day (14kg per cow per week). The cost of bedding cattle with Gypsum is as little as 4p - 6p per cow per day or £8 - £12 per cow per year.
Cows stay Cleaner and Gypsum works out Cheaper than Sawdust
Gypsum bedding can be applied by hand or using a mechanical bedding dispensers such as AG tractor mounted
cubicle bedder. The AG Dispenser will hold around 1500kg of gypsum bedding. One full
bucket twice a week will bed 220 dairy cow cubicles in minutes, reducing labour costs and paying for
itself in the first year.
Feedback from farmers using gypsum is that cows are much cleaner than where the equivalent value of sawdust is used.
Cheaper and more effective than other Bedding Materials
BETTER HYGENE, HEALTHIER COWS, MORE MILK, LESS CULLING, MORE PROFIT
For more information and prices on this superb gypsum bedding product contact Richard Webster