Compost barns in Brazilian Subtropical region (Part 1): facility, barn management and herd characteristics
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v9i8.5198Keywords:
Agricultural systems; Animal welfare; Dairy cows.Abstract
The objective of this study was to describe barn management practices and to evaluating cow locomotion, hygiene and hock lesion prevalence of dairy cows housed in Compost Barns (CB) located in the subtropical region of Brazil. The CB has demonstrated satisfactory results in relation to animal comfort and productivity. However, modifications to the initial American recommendations are being made by producers in order to adapt it to different conditions. Thirty dairy farms were analyzed regarding structural measurements and layout, management practices, bedded pack and herd characteristics. The main results highlighted were the resting space of 14.6 m2 cow-1, most of the farms (87%) had newly built facilities and only 43.3% were built in E-W direction. Most farms did not have ridge opening and 60 % had fans in the bedded pack area, which is mostly stirred twice a day. About a third of the farms used CB only during the hottest hours of the day or rainy periods, with pasture access the remainder of the time. The bedded pack material averaged 48.4% DM, pH of 8.68, C:N of 5.90 and deep bedding temperature of 42.52 ⁰C. Locomotion scoring showed majority of the cows with a normal gait (95.5% of cows scoring 1 or 2 for locomotion). Hock lesions were observed in 15.5% of the animals and 84.0% of the cows were clean or only slightly dirty. This study indicates characteristics or issues to start an improvement process on CB usage in Brazilian subtropical region. The cow comfort was considered adequate, based on results of cow locomotion, lesions and hygiene scoring.
References
Barberg, A. E., Endres, M. I., & Janni, K. A. (2007a). Compost dairy barns in Minnesota: a descriptive study. Applied Engineering in Agriculture, 23, 231-238.
Barberg, A. E., Endres, M. I., Salfer, J. A., & Reneau, J. K. (2007b). Performance, health and well-being of dairy cows in and housing system in Minnesota. Journal of Dairy Science, 90, 1575-1583.
Bernabucci, U., Lacetera, N., Baumgard, L. H., Rhoads, R. P., Ronchi, B., &Nardone, A. (2010). Metabolic and hormonal acclimation to heat stress in domesticated ruminants. Animal, 4, 1167–83.
Bewley, J. M., Taraba, J. L., Day, G. B., & Black, R. A. (2012). Compost bedded pack barn design features and management considerations. Cooperative Extension Publ. ID-206, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Lexington KY.
Black, R. A., Taraba, J. L., Day, G. B., Damasceno, F. A., & Bewley, J. M. (2013). Compost bedded pack dairy barn management, performance, and producer satisfaction. Journal of Dairy Science, 96, 8060-8074.
Buffington, D. E., Collazo-Arocho, A., Canton, G. H., Pitt, D., Thatcher, W. W., & Collier, R. J. (1981). Black globe humidity index as a comfort equation for dairy cows. American Society of Agricultural Engineers, 24, 711-714.
Changirath, S., Halbach, T. R., & Dorff, R. (2011). Media and media mix evaluation for dairy barn compost bedding systems. Department of Soil, Water and Climate. Saint Paul, EUA.
Costa, J. H. C., Burnett, T. A., Von Keyserlingk, M. A. G., & Hötzel, M. J. (2018). Prevalence of lameness and leg lesions of lactating dairy cows housed in southern Brazil: Effects of housing systems. Journal of Dairy Science, 101, 1-11.
Damasceno, F. A. (2012). Compost bedded pack barns system and computational simulation of airflow through naturally ventilated reduced model (Thesis). Universidade Federal de Viçosa: Viçosa.
Eckelkamp, E. A., Taraba, J. L., Akers, K. A., Harmon, R. J., & Bewley, J. M. (2016). Sand bedded freestall and compost bedded pack effects on cow hygiene, locomotion, and mastitis indicators. Livestock Science, 190, 48-57.
Edmonson, A. J., Lean, I. J., Weaver, L. D., Farver, T., & Webster, G. (1989). A body condition scoring chart for Holstein dairy cows. Journal of Dairy Science, 72, 68–78.
Embrapa. (1997). Manual de métodos de análise de solo. 2ed. Centro Nacional de Pesquisa de Solos: CNPS, Rio de Janeiro.
Fávero, S., Portilho, F. V. R., Oliveira, A. C. R., Langoni, H., & Pantoja, J. C. F. (2015). Factors associated with mastitis epidemiologic indexes, animal hygiene, and bulk milk bacterial concentrations in dairy herds housed on compost bedding. Livestock Science, 181, 220–230.
ISO 11465. (1993). Soil Quality – Determination of dray matter and water content on a mass basis – Gravimetric method. Geneva.
Janni, K. A., Endres, M. I., Reneau, J. K., & Schoper, W. W. (2007). Compost dairy barn layout and management recommendations. Applied Engineering in Agriculture, 23, 97-102.
Jobim, C. C., Nussio, L. G., Reis, R. A., & Schmidt, P. (2007). Avanços metodológicos na avaliação da qualidade da forragem conservada. Revista Brasileira de Zootecnia, 36, 101-119.
Klaas, I. C., Bjerg, B., Friedmann, S., & Bar, D. (2010). Cultivated barns for dairy cows: An option to promote cattle welfare and environmental protection in Denmark? Dansk Veterinærtidsskrift, 93, 20-29.
Lobeck, K. M., Endres, M. I., Shane, E. M., Godden, S. M., & Fetrow, J. (2011). Animal welfare in cross-ventilated, compost-bedded pack, and naturally ventilated dairy barns in the upper Midwest. Journal Dairy Science, 94, 5469–5479.
Montanholi, Y. R., Odongo, N. E., Swanson, K. C., Schenkel, F. S., Mcbride, B. W., & Miller, S. P. (2008). Application of infrared thermography as an indicator heat and methane production and its use in the study of skin temperature in response to physiological events in dairy cattle (Bos taurus). Journal of Thermal Biology, 33, 468-475.
Mota, V. C., de Andrade, E. T., & Leite, D. F. (2019). Caracterização da variabilidade espacial dos índices de conforto animal em sistemas de confinamento Compost Barn. Pubvet, 13, 1-14.
NRAES. (1992). Onfarm composting handbook, NRAES-54. Ithaca, NY.
Peel, M. C., Finlayson, B. L., & McMahon, T. A. (2007). Updated world map of the Koppen-Geiger climate classification. Hydrology Earth System Sciences, 11, 1633–1644.
Pereira, A. S., Shitsuka, D. M., Parreira, F. J., & Shitsuka, R. (2018). Metodologia da pesquisa científica [e-Book]. Santa Maria City. UAB / NTE / UFSM Editors. Accessed on: July 1st, 2020. Available at: https://repositorio.ufsm.br/bitstream/handle/1/15824/Lic_Computacao_Metodologia-Pesquisa-Cientifica.pdf?sequence=1.
Petzen, J., Wolfanger, C., Bonhotal, J., Schwarz, M., Terry, T., & Youngers, N. (2009). Case study: Eagleview compost dairy barn. Cornell Cooperative Extension of Wyoming County, Warsaw, NY.
Pilatti, J. A., Vieira, F. M. C., Rankrape, F., & Vismara, E. S. (2018). Diurnal behaviors and herd characteristics of dairy cows housed in a compost-bedded pack barn system under hot and humid conditions. Animal, 13, 399-406.
Shane, E. M; Endres, M. I & Janni, K. A. (2010). Alternative bedding materials for compost bedded pack barns in Minnesota: descriptive study. Applied Engineering in Agriculture, 26, 465-473.
Silva, D. J., & Queiroz, A. C. (2002). Análise de alimentos: métodos químicos e biológicos. 3.ed. Viçosa, MG.
Silanikove, N. (2000). Effects of heat stress on the welfare of extensively managed domestic ruminants. Livestock Production Science, 67, 1–18.
Schreiner, D. A., & Ruegg, P. L. (2002). Effects of tail docking on milk quality and cow cleanliness. Journal of Dairy Science, 85, 2513–2521.
Sprecher, D. J., Hostetler, D. E., & Kaneene, J. B. (1997). A lameness scoring system that uses posture and gait to predict dairy cattle reproductive performance. Theriogenology, 47, 1179–1187.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
1) Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
2) Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
3) Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
