Do YOU know what bedding is best for reducing Mastitis and Lameness?

Sand bedding has been shown by research to be associated with fewest mastitis cases, least lameness lesions and longest lying times in dairy cows. A NEW Review published by Veterinary Evidence, a peer-reviewed, Open Access journal looks at many aspects of bedding for dairy cows and compares sand, recycled manure solids (RMS) and rubber mattresses. Outcomes such as bacterial growth in bedding, mastitis incidence, teat quality, leg and foot lesions and behavioural lying times were all included in the research. This is an extensive review of current scientific literature on bedding for dairy cows and answers a question that is frequently asked to many consultants when producers are considering upgrading their barns.

Author, Mike Steele, of Inspire Cattle Solutions, looked at literature from the last 20 years up to present day in order to reflect the types of bedding that are seen in Dairy Barns by most practitioners today. A lot of evidence supports deep sand bedding but also deep RMS is shown to have good welfare parameters (less lameness lesions, less mastitis and less bacterial growth) compared to rubber mattresses covered with straw, wood shavings or other materials. It is worth mentioning that in all cases, the sand and RMS must have been replaced frequently and kept clean in order to achieve these better conditions.

This research is brought to you by Inspire Cattle Solutions