Deep Litter or Compostbarn Floors
A compostbarn floor is typically covered with large sized wood chips. The compostfloor materials will last for a considerable time when kept beneath the Redpath clear roof system and becomes more economic to consider.
The compostbarn floor should ideally be kept dry and protected from weather (rainfall). Keeping the compostfloor system dry provides a comfortable and soft resting place for the cows and also substantially reduces the incidence of disease/bacteria (mastitis) which is typically associated with barns that are dark, damp and cold. A stocking density of 6-7m³ per cow is recommended.
The compostbarn system is "foot friendly" and cows can be stood off for long periods at a time with little affect on feet, limbs, and joints. The cows are also able to lie down on the soft litter and rest whilst digesting their feed.
Concrete strips laid along the outer edges of the shelter approximately 1.5m wide can be beneficial to drop feed onto - a small upstand along the pole line prevents feed being dragged into the litter and vice-versa.
Drainage of the deep litter compost system is important! Typically these involve drainflo style piping placed in a rock drain below the floor line. Typically there will be a minimum of three drains lengthways per span, or regular widthways drains to the edge. Some farmers are finding that drains as frequent as 1.2m apart work best when holding cows for long periods of time, or when the Redpath shelter is being used as a wintering barn. Talk to Redpath about the various options available as some ground conditions may require less drainage than others - and it is often dependant on the farms soil type.
A non permeable membrane may also be fitted below the round rock / gravel line so as to ensure that all effluent run off and its valuable nutrient content is caught and drained to the effluent pond. The Durashelter roofing can sometimes be used as a cost effective lining membrane.
A compost barn or deep litter floor should be constructed on a slightly raised platform (see drawing below) - this is so that any internal moisture surrounding the building is not allowed into the shelter and also so that the shelter itself will tend to drain the perimeter drainflo surrounding the structure.
If in doubt Call Redpath for some guidelines on pad design Free Ph 0508 733 728, it's a lot easier to get the drainage correct at the beginning than to try to do this work once the shelter is in place and being used.
Redpath can supply the woodchip floor as part of the initial building project for approximately $9.00sq/m + GST, or we can arrange to chip trees that may be available on-farm.
Concrete floor with scraper
Manual scrape systems, is when manure is scraped off the concrete pad to the end of the stand off shelter by a tractor/blade or a chain driven mechanism with a scraping attachment. The manure is either stored temporarily in a solid stack or holding trough, or loaded directly onto a manure spreader. Other stand off sheds may (dependant on council conditions) be washed out with recycled wastewater to flush the manure to a storage pond, although this is not the preferred method in today's environment. Drains can be built into the concrete pad with controlled “fall”. Flush systems require the stand off shelter to be located near to a good water supply (often recycled) and the design of the system and holding pond usually needs to be designed to meet local council needs and environmental expectations. Redpath shelters are often constructed over existing concrete pads.
The Redpath stand off sheds allows natural UV light and warmth to enter through the Durasheltert roof covering and this allows micro-biological organisms to naturally work on effluent breakdown.
Slotted Concrete Floors
Some stand off shelters, herdhomes® etc. use slotted concrete floors above a pit. This type of system has been used overseas & locally for quite a number of years. Some of these floor “self draining” systems allow the use of large machinery inside the stand off shelter and some do not. Raised stand off shelters can be also constructed to allow the material to be collected by machinery beneath the stand off shelter itself (see picture).
Overseas designs of effluent control include collection pits that separate the solids from the liquid portion of the manure. Solids separation can be mechanical, in which the liquid portion of the manure is squeezed though a screen or “weeping wall”. This provides a relatively dry solid that may be composted. Sloped screen’s work by trickling the manure over a sloping screen so that the effluent drips through the screen with the solids sliding down for collection. Concrete pit separators work by using a porous "weeping floor system" in which the water content of the effluent is allowed to weep through smaller drains in the flooring while the solids are retained. The solids then can then be removed as a semi-solid and this is another option for solid manure management.
With mechanical methods, the effluent may go into a settling pond to settle out even more solids before the effluent is allowed to enter into an even larger pond. In sandy or lighter soils, dairies must line the lagoons with compacted clay or synthetic or have synthetic liners installed to meet local council requirements. It is important to consider local by laws before choosing your effluent control and management system for your stand off shelter. contact Redpath to discuss all of the above options.
All of these systems work toward a managed and controlled system of effluent control in the intensive use of Redpath stand off shelters.
