I mentioned in an earlier post that we used washed sand bedding for the cows to lay on. Ideally we should add sand to the barn once a week. There are a couple of drawbacks to using sand versus a more traditional straw bedding. One is the cost, the second is that the sand is hard on manure handling equipment. We are lucky that we have access to sand relatively close to the farm and also that we can haul it ourselves both these things help keep the cost down. Our manure handling system works fine with sand.
There are many benefits to using sand. It is probably the most comfortable bedding for cows to lay on. Because the sand is washed there isn't any organic matter and it is difficult for bacteria to grow. This helps keep the somatic cell count down(a measure of milk quality). The only maintenance we have is to add sand once a week and clean any manure out twice a day(this only takes 10-15 minutes). On Saturday I added sand for the parlor cows.
We use the skidsteer to dump sand in the middle of the stalls and the cows drag it backwards.
The cows want to get back in the barn as soon as they can. They prefer laying sand to laying outside on a straw pack.
Within minutes of opening the gate the cows start laying down.
Comfortable Happy Cows
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