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You are here: Agriculture » Dairy » Feeding and Nutrition » Feeding and Calving Pads for Cattle

Feeding and Calving Pads for Cattle

Note Number: AG0015
Published: December 2001
Updated: April 2009

 

This Agriculture Note describes the advantages and disadvantages of using feeding and calving pads and some considerations associated with their design.

Introduction

Pugging damage in winter can severely depress pasture growth. This in turn will reduce the amount of pasture available for milk or meat production. Furthermore, wet and muddy conditions will stress cattle and adversely affect their performance.

One way to overcome pugging related losses in pasture growth and animal performance is to have a holding area during these periods of high risk. This area could include feeding facilities as well as a loafing area.

Variations in design of the area will depend on whether it is to be a calving pad, temporary feeding-out area, feedlot or a mixture of all three. They will also depend on your particular farming location and operation.

Location

• Facing north or north-east for maximum exposure to the sun and protection from the prevailing wind.
• On lee side of house and dairy to minimise exposure to odours from manure stockpiles, effluent, anaerobic activity in solid waste beneath the surface and ammonia from the surface of the pad.
• Near house or dairy for easier observation if it is to be used as a calving pad. Pads can be sited within 15 m of the dairy or milk room provided that the area is paved with concrete and has drainage facilities connected to the system that services the dairy. If it does not meet these specifications the pad must be sited no closer than 45 m from the dairy (Dairy Industry Quality Assurance regulations 1985).
• Near handling facilities, calf sheds, etc.
• Near feed reserves or supplies.

Size

Allow 9 square metres per cow for a loafing or calving area. This does not include feeding area. For a feed pad, overall size of course depends on the size of the herd. For a calving pad overall size will depend on:

• Herd size and calving pattern.
• Frequency of drafting onto and off the pad.
• The capability of the farmer in observing animals.

Drainage

The success of the pad will depend most of all on good drainage. If drainage is poor the animals will be no better off than if they were using a paddock.

Water does not require much fall to drain. However, with slight falls there is no room for error. To ensure good drainage, sites should have falls of from 1 in 20 to 1 in 40 and be supplemented with pipes. If there is no natural fall one can be made by landforming.

Clay agricultural pipes or slotted PVC or polyethylene pipes of 100 mm diameter are suitable. The pipes should be spaced to a maximum of 5 m apart. Closer spacing will be needed in wet environments or where the depth of the pad material is less than that recommended.

Drainage pipes from the pad should join a common pipe that removes the effluent from the site. Effluent must not be allowed to drain or seep into dams or watercourses.

Pipes can be covered with crushed rock of about 20 mm diameter to assist drainage by reducing the tendency of the pad surface material to block the movement of water to the drains.

Surface material

Loafing area

The commonly used materials for a loafing area are rice hulls, sawdust and wood chips. The choice will depend on price and availability.

Rice hulls do not crust on the surface, remain quite spongy and so provide excellent drainage.

Sawdust tends to compact fairly easily and to crust on the surface. This reduces its permeability to water.

All pad materials will settle over a period of time. To ensure that the final level is adequate, material should be applied to an initial depth of 0.8 to 1 m.

Feeding area

This should be constructed to withstand continual traffic and be easily cleaned. It should slope away from the loafing area. Reinforced concrete is ideal. Concrete for animal traffic needs to be 100 mm deep, of strength 30 MPa, with F52 mesh placed 25 mm up from the bottom.

Alternatively, 75 mm 'Fibrecrete' (concrete incorporating small metal filings) could be used.

The feeding area should be from 4 to 5 m wide to allow stock to move on and off the area as well as to feed.

A dwarf wall 100 - 120 mm high at the rear of the feeding area will reduce the spread of pad material onto this area. A division between the loafing area and feeding area with one or two openings will reduce the breakdown of the face between the two areas.

The use of woven fabrics such as 'Polytrac' beneath the pad material will reduce breakdown as it allows for water drainage with little soil movement.

The length of the feeding area will depend on the amount of access time allowed to supplements. With 24-hour access to unlimited supplements, 0.2 m per cow is needed.

With a limited amount of supplement, allow 0.6 m per cow to ensure that all cows can get access to it at the same time.

Animals will need to be fed behind a barrier. Plastic coated cable, timber or pipe rails set 1.2 m off the ground are suitable.

Supplements can either be placed into troughs in front of this barrier or onto the concrete floor up against a 400 mm retaining wall. Baled material could also be placed in racks.

Troughs need manual cleaning. A scraper, or flood cleaning, could be used if the supplements are fed straight onto the floor.

Feeding-out area

This area should withstand heavy traffic, allow for easy cleaning and slope away from the loafing area to allow rainwater to run off the feed.

Reinforced concrete 150 mm deep of 30 MPa strength using F82 mesh is ideal for this area. Alternatively 100 mm Fibrecrete can be used.

Width of this area will depend on the size of your feed- out equipment, but will probably be about 4 m.

Water supply

Milking cows require 70 litres a day; dry cows require 45 litres a day. The trough or troughs should be located away from the feeding area to stop bullying animals monopolising both, and on a hard surface to reduce breakdown of the area round it.

Shelter

This can be provided by a corrugated or woven-mesh fence, or in the longer term by planting suitable trees.

Maintenance

For a calving pad this may only involve the regular removal of dung pats and an annual removal of the top 100 mm of dirtied material.

Ideally cows immediately due to calve should be given a clean area to reduce the likelihood of calves nibbling contaminated bedding material, which could cause infection by Johne's disease.

If the area is used as a feeding pad it will be necessary to top-up the rice hulls every couple of months and completely replace all rice hulls at least once, if not twice, a year.

Handling

The pad could be used more efficiently if some other facilities are located near it, depending on its use. A roofed crush, isolation pens for sick animals and calf pens are just a few worth considering.

Advantages of a pad

• Reduced pugging of pasture in wet conditions
• More available pasture for milkers
• Less wastage of supplementary feed
• Reduced risk of loss of cows and calves at calving
• Protected environment
• More convenience in checking and vet-assisting animals
• Easier drafting of fresh cows and calves
• Peace of mind
• Less cold-stress on productive animals.

Disadvantages

• Capital cost
• Regular cleaning needed to keep risk of infection low
• Bullying of younger animals
• Problem of calf identification if there is a large number of cows on pad
• Maintenance required.
  

Acknowledgements

This Agnote was developed by John Moran, December 2001.

It was reviewed by John Moran, Farm Services Victoria. April 2009.