Re: Dry cows on sand

Alan Tevendale — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:20:45 GMT

Many thanks Martin. I'll pass your thoughts on to my client. He'll probably tell me to buy you a pint sometime.

Re: Dry cows on sand

Martin Jones — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 22:49:02 GMT

Sorry Alan, meant to post a couple of days ago.

Down here in Cornwall (and in my previous incarnation as a cattle vet) we use(d) plenty of sand for bedding, lactating and dry. Theoretically, it's inert and so reduces much of the environmentals, particularly the ligin-associated bugs like klebsiella. In practice, it can be quite caustic and if on a non-permeable base it can be quite fluid retentive.

It's only as good as the management system. We used two systems: cubicles and yards. My experience was that yards were better, but this was probably influenced by better management in the farms that used that system. I did find on one farm that coliforms were increased, but I never really felt that the sand system was properly utilised. Comfort can be an issue, and a deep bed is needed from the get-go; hock lesions are exacerbated by the increased lying time and urine scald is not uncommon on poorly drained/thin sand layers. Also, with wet sand some teat irritation can be a problem - and on at least one farm I felt that increased peri-parturient mastitis was due to poor teat sphincter health. Interestingly, this effect seems to be lessened in lactating cows, possibly due to increased time off the layer of sand, increased mobility and use of emollients in the dip. Also, using as a deep layer means increased wear on spreaders and there may be an issue in prone areas with copper bioavailability in treated pastures.

On the whole, a decent system but far from the panacea that it's often touted as, and prone to its own particular set of problems. Further experience in Oz, with low input systems (and relatively healthier transition periods), it was great - and quite pleasant to perform calvings on.

Martin