Department of Agricultural Engineering, Federal University of Lavras (UFLA), PO Box 3037, CEP 37200-900 Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Department of Agricultural Engineering, Federal University of Lavras (UFLA), PO Box 3037, CEP 37200-900 Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
J Dairy Sci. 2020 Sep;103(9):8661-8674. doi: 10.3168/jds.2020-18318. Epub 2020 Jun 26.
The bedding material used in barns for dairy cows has a significant effect on animal welfare and performance. Bedding influences the duration in which animals remain lying down and, consequently, the processes of rumination and milk production. It is crucial to have a complete understanding of the properties of bedding materials and the effects of alternative bedding materials on dairy cattle. This paper aims to evaluate the physical, chemical, and biological properties of various alternative and conventional bedding materials for dairy cattle for use in compost bedded pack or freestall barn systems. We analyzed 50 samples of 17 bedding materials produced in 3 European countries. We analyzed physical properties including the water holding capacity, porosity, moisture content, bulk density, dry bulk density, and particle size. Chemical analyses were performed to determine the total N, total organic C, and C:N ratio. In the biological analyses, the Escherichia coli count, total bacteria count, coliform count, and Klebsiella spp. count were assessed. The results demonstrated how the physical properties of the bedding materials may influence the chemical and biological properties. All of the materials presented adequate chemical properties to be used as bedding material. The physical properties of the bedding materials differed widely among the materials except for the dry bulk density, which presented no difference. Moreover, the contamination of each studied microorganism was observed for each bedding material to determine which material had the lowest level of contamination. Posidonia oceanica, Miscanthus grass, and spelt husks could be considered as a potential alternative material for use as bedding material for dairy cows in both systems (i.e., composted bedded pack and freestall). This experiment illustrated the importance of performing thorough physical, chemical, and biological analyses before implementing a material as bedding for dairy cattle.
牛舍中用于奶牛的垫料对动物福利和性能有重大影响。垫料会影响动物躺下的持续时间，从而影响反刍和产奶过程。全面了解垫料材料的特性以及替代垫料对奶牛的影响至关重要。本文旨在评估用于堆肥卧床或自由卧床牛舍系统的各种替代和传统奶牛垫料的物理、化学和生物学特性。我们分析了来自 3 个欧洲国家的 17 种垫料的 50 个样本。我们分析了物理特性，包括持水能力、孔隙率、含水量、堆积密度、干堆积密度和粒径。进行了化学分析，以确定总氮、总有机碳和 C:N 比。在生物分析中，评估了大肠杆菌计数、总细菌计数、大肠菌群计数和克氏杆菌计数。结果表明，垫料的物理特性如何影响化学和生物特性。所有材料均具有作为垫料材料的足够化学特性。除干堆积密度外，垫料材料的物理性质差异很大，而干堆积密度没有差异。此外，还观察了每种研究微生物对每种垫料的污染情况，以确定哪种材料的污染程度最低。马尾藻、芒草和斯佩尔特外壳可被视为两种系统（即堆肥卧床和自由卧床）中奶牛垫料的潜在替代材料。该实验说明了在将材料用作奶牛垫料之前进行全面的物理、化学和生物分析的重要性。
