APPLICATION OF SAND AS BEDDING IN BOXES WITH AN LOOSE CATTLE KEEPING AS EXEMPLIFIED BY "ULANOVO" FARM

The paper describes the experience of using sand as a bedding material gained by the Ulanovo cattle-breeding farm for 2800 heads located in the Medyn district of the Kaluga region. Removing manure from the passage, maintaining a sufficient level and evenness of sand in the bed require an integrated approach to mechanization of this process in accordance with the requirements for creating comfortable conditions in the boxes. The authors have analyzed the efficiency of the machines and equipment used in the livestock farm. It was found that the Mensch V4500 self-propelled machine was more reliable and efficient when removing manure from the aisles as compared to the Fligl trailed tanker of the VFW 18 000 model. The average daily operating time was 17.1 hours, which is optimal for a farm with 2,800 heads. Mechanized sand bedding shall be preferably made by the trailed W3385 gritter than the self-propelled Mensch M3620 model, although it is more maneuverable, easy to operate and highly productive. But the use of a self-propelled model with a daily load of 5.4 hours is ineffective for a given livestock population. The technology of using sand as bedding in the Ulanovo farm has shown its effectiveness associated with an increase in the productivity of animals, a decrease in mastitis cases, and a decreased disposal rate of animals due to limb diseases. Despite these advantages, this technology has not found wide application in Russia due to the high cost of imported machines and the lack of domestic analogues that provide manure removal and sand introduction into the boxes.

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