Compost Barns for Dairy Cows—Aspects of Animal Welfare

Abstract

Compost barns for dairy cows are showing increased popularity also in Central Europe. A compost barn is used mainly as a two-area system with a bedded lying area and a solid feeding alley. Sawdust or dry fine wood shavings or wood chips are mostly used as bedding material, which has to be stirred twice a day. Stirring aerates and mixes faeces and urine into the bedding material, the mixture decomposes by means of aerobic microorganisms. A joint research project between the Agricultural Research and Education Centre Raumberg-Gumpenstein (HBLFA) and the Institute for Sustainability Sciences Tänikon (ISS) analyzed amongst other things, the cleanliness of the animals, integument alterations, lying behaviour and the current lameness situation of animals. A total of 138 cows were examined on five Austrian dairy farms. All cows were visually scored and animal behaviour was observed by data loggers as well as by direct observation. The mean value concerning cleanliness of animals was 0.44, while the udder was the cleanest and the lower leg the dirtiest area. Only a few lesions in carpal and tarsal joints could be found. Cows showed no differences in lying behaviour between times of day and temperatures. Large differences in lying behaviour were evident among farms. While on the compost barn farms only around 25% of all cows were scored to be lame, on cubicle-housing system farms 31% -46% of the cows fell into that category (p < 0.001). From the present results, the compost barn can be seen as an animal-friendly system. In further investigations other factors affecting animal health and to resolve any outstanding issues concerning economy and alternative litter materials should be analyzed.

Invited review: Compost-bedded pack barns for dairy cows

“…These species are the most common causative agents of digital dermatitis in dairy cattle (Biemans et al, 2018). Ofner-Schröck et al (2015) found a lameness prevalence of 25.4% in CBP and noted that this percentage is significantly lower than results obtained in a previous study including FS barns (45.7%). More recently, Burgstaller et al (2016) found no significant differences in lameness prevalence between cows housed in CBP and FS (18.7% vs. 14.9%).…”

“…However, the CBP housing system has garnered strong global interest in the past decade. Experience with CBP from the United States (Janni et al, 2007;Barberg et al, 2007a;Black et al, 2013), Canada (LeBlanc andAnderson, 2013), Israel (Klaas et al, 2010), Denmark (Svennesen et al, 2014), the Netherlands (Galama, 2014), Austria (Ofner-Schröck et al, 2015;Burgstaller et al, 2016), Switzerland (Ghielmetti et al, 2017), Spain (Astiz et al, 2014), Italy (Leso et al, 2013), Brazil (Fávero et al, 2015a), Japan (Saishu et al, 2015), and South Korea (Galama et al, 2011) has been reported in the literature. Although all CBP worldwide share some similar characteristics, notable differences can be found among the systems developed in different countries and climates.…”

“…The authors have noted that the farms with cleaner cows had high pack temperatures, whereas a relatively high number of dirty cows were found in CBP in which the pack did not generate adequate heat (Klaas et al, 2010). In Austria, Ofner-Schröck et al (2015) evaluated the cleanliness of cows housed in CBP and reported a good level of cleanliness (mean score = 0.44 in 5 regions of the cow body on a scale of 0 to 2, where 0 = clean and 2 = very dirty; Faye and Barnouin, 1985); these results were comparable with or lower than those measured in other housing systems (0.40 in FS, 0.59 in SY, and 0.77 in sloped-floor systems on the same scale). Cows in Austrian CBP have been found to be dirtier on the lower hind leg than on other body regions, including the udder.…”

“…Cows in Austrian CBP have been found to be dirtier on the lower hind leg than on other body regions, including the udder. Ofner-Schröck et al (2015) have noted that factors such as stocking density and pack management can affect the cleanliness of cows in CBP.…”

Cow's functional traits and physiological status and their relation with milk yield and milk quality in a compost bedded pack barn system

“…In the last few years, the CBP has been widely used in Brazil, especially in the south region, aiming to improve cattle comfort and longevity and to reduce somatic cell count (SCC) in milk (Black et al, 2013), and thus improving milk yield (Ofner-Schröck et al, 2015;Pilatti and Vieira, 2017). However, because it is a new housing system in Brazil, it still presents some challenges regarding the correct management of the compost bed, which directly and indirectly interferes in milk quality (Pilatti and Vieira, 2017).…”