We have a lieback area that holds last years calves when they come in in Oct-Dec depending on the weather. It is usually bedded down with sawdust and cleaned out daily. It wouldn't be a deep bed - just sufficient to keep the area dry and clean. New born calves for this year would then make use of this area when last years have been weaned off and moved to another shed. The young calves would get a good straw bed though.
What I'm looking at are options to change to a different type of bedding. We are part time and due to the layout of the shed cleaning out the straw bed frequently would be a hassle as there is a lot of machinery stored in front of the pens. In my mind I had the thought of switching to a type of comfort mat which would encourage them to lie a bit more and which we could scrape down into the adjacent tank (like we do currently).
I've not seen many solutions for this. Easyfix have a few mats in the MG range which they market as for liebacks as a possibility. However, they don't look to have much give in them - don't provide a deflection value for them. Kraiburg have some mats and specifically note heat retention, but they work on the assumption that the cattle will be in cubicles and include chamfers on the mats.
Has anyone here done their lieback with rubber matting or any opinion on it as an option?
What I'm looking at are options to change to a different type of bedding. We are part time and due to the layout of the shed cleaning out the straw bed frequently would be a hassle as there is a lot of machinery stored in front of the pens. In my mind I had the thought of switching to a type of comfort mat which would encourage them to lie a bit more and which we could scrape down into the adjacent tank (like we do currently).
I've not seen many solutions for this. Easyfix have a few mats in the MG range which they market as for liebacks as a possibility. However, they don't look to have much give in them - don't provide a deflection value for them. Kraiburg have some mats and specifically note heat retention, but they work on the assumption that the cattle will be in cubicles and include chamfers on the mats.
Has anyone here done their lieback with rubber matting or any opinion on it as an option?