E Texans--Wood chip bedding for calves?

[greybeard]

I never used any bedding down here in E Texas, but my wife has been on my butt the last 2 winters about putting something in the little barn for the fall calves. They've always done fine just laying on the dry dirt, but I'm finally tired of hearing her whine, so guess I'll try something. (City girl from Ill) I never used anything because I don't like anything that holds moisture and causes bacteria growth with the damp winters we have. Good hay is just too expensive, even for the 16 X 20 area I have for them.
I guess folks up in the frozen north use straw, but don't know where I would get any here without going over to La or maybe the Winnie area and try to find rice straw....but last year, all that was baled and sold as feed hay cause there wasn't any good hay available due to the drought.
There's a sawmill about 2 miles from the house and I can get a couple loads of wood chips there fairly cheap--anyone ever use it? What's the downside to using it?

 

[Dave]

I use wood chips and so do lots of others around here. They work great. There are two down sides I can think of. If you clean them out with the manure they can take a while to break down out in the field. The second is if they do start to break down in the pen (the timeline for that will depend of wood type, climate) and you add some rain it will turn into a real serious sloppy mess. The good news is when spread on the fields it will help the organic matter in the soil.

 

[Jonny]

Spent last week removing woodchips from two different calves on two different dairies.

First one had a chip down its windpipe at the trachea. The other had a handfull of chips down its oesophagus all formed into a single mass.

Both cases the calves most likely started grazing on the chips. Have hay and other palatable feed available so the calves don't start trying to graze on the stuff.

cheers

J

 

[TexasBred]

Make sure you have very good ventilation...you'll be creating a wonderful environment for bacterial growth.

 

[greybeard]

Make sure you have very good ventilation...you'll be creating a wonderful environment for bacterial growth.

Precisely my concern TB. It's a tall 3 sided, open front structure, but still, the potential is there.

 

[M5farm]

GB when we were in hogs we used wood shavings for the farrowing house. we would change them out once a year. but used a seed fork every day to sift out the waste and after birth. also would spray disinfectant daily.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

We use wood chips exclusively. We have lots of mills around here, Amish ran, and they are cheap. We have never had a problem, and they break down slowly so they last a long time. We have rocky soil, so it adds a layer of cushion for the cows.

 

[Nite Hawk]

It is very common in this area if bedding is used at all, to use wood shavings or chips. ( high portion of beef cattle lay outside in old hay that they didn't eat)
Shavings or chips are better than saw dust, the shavings or chips don't get as clumpy-wet as quickly. Usually clumpy-wet equals high bacteria counts.
On the dairy farms it is usually shavings that is used, not straw. Easier to clean,& doesn't mat as easily as straw.
The type of wood that is used is usually used for bedding is spruce,fir, or poplar. There are stories of toxicity of some kinds of wood sawdust, don't know the truth of that or not..
Maybe someone out there knows more about that..

 

[TexasBred]

I'd still let them lay on the ground. Raised thousands of dairy calves on natural "turf" and simply moved the house and pen weekly.

 

[chippie]

As long as the ground is dry, I wouldn't bother with it unless you want to pick the barn daily. They will pee and poop and the shavings will get nasty quickly. We have used them when the kids were showing cattle in the barn while the calves were being halter broken. I swear a calf can pee and poop more than any other critter. If you have a garden, they will make a good compost pile.

 

[Nite Hawk]

I think alot may depend on your climate and local weather. If it is dry and moderate temperature and you have a bit of pasture for them to lay on. Probably the easiest.Don't have to pick up the "plops", other than maybe going over it with a harrow.
When you have cold & muck they need a dry decent place to lay down so they don't get a chill.They can handle pretty cold weather if they are not laying directly on the ice cold ground which basically sucks the body heat out of them, and may pre-dispose towards pneumonia, and stiff legs from the cold..
You can see it when they lay on the ice cold ground and get up,you can see they act stiff.