A deep bedding/deep litter system can be a great way to provide a comfortable winter environment for cattle. It provides animals with a warm, soft bed, saves pen maintenance labor, and provides a jump start to manure composting as part of a farm’s fertility program. We have been building our cattle’s deep bedding pack for three months …What have our experiences been so far?
Links:
Overview of deep bedding: https://www.regenerativefarmersofamerica.com/regenerative-farmers-of-america-blog/deep-bedding-how-to-keep-livestock-warm-over-winter-and-build-soil
Cornell University case studies: https://smallfarms.cornell.edu/2012/04/consider-deep-pack-barns-for-cow-comfort-and-manure-management/
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Hi everyone. One thing I forgot to mention in the video is the use of pigs to root through the bedding to turn and aerate it after the cattle have left for pasture in the spring. This is a practice popularized by Joel Salatin. Joel uses wood chips as his carbon source in the bedding pack, and sprinkles kernel corn in the pack as it is built. The corn ferments in the pack, and when pigs are released onto the pack, they root in search of the fermented, sweet corn kernels. In the early years of our farm, we tried this practice with our hay-based bedding packs. Unfortunately, the hay pack was compacted too much for the pigs to root in it too deeply and this method did not work. This gets back to the problems with having a pack that is too dense for optimal aerobic fermentation. We have found that when we remove the pack in the spring and it is piled outside for further composting, this turns, loosens, and aerates the pack enough to get aerobic composting started.
How many head are you feeding in that 20×40 feeding area?
I'm thinking about trying deep sand to bed my cow/calf herd for the summer instead of stalks. Wdyt
Maybe find a way to shred the hay?
We leave our cattle on the range all winter and then feed them hay and cake. We need heat makers so they’ll winter through okay. They’re bred for our harsh winters which can go to 45 below and sometimes even colder. The coldest I’ve seen here was 60 below, not real common but 40+ below is common. Seems we always get a blizzard around calving time in March and April. We keep our heifers close by in case we need to get the OB chains which is rare as they’re bred for ease of calving. We used to feed calves but now we sell in October and keep some replacement heifers. We brand in June before the calves get too big. We use a calf table now but we used to heel them using horses which was faster but we don’t have horse anymore except for pleasure riding. All the best and I think you have it figured out plumb good.
Your cattle are living their best life Pete!
Decay links Life to rebirth – well said
I would put a foot of wood chips on bottom and then continue with your hay after that. It’ll give the pack porous structure
Nice job Pete I like your barn also very nice I like how you represent your post nice work ☺️
Farmers aint scared of hard work, bad weather or even touching shit. The only worry they have is calves that can't survive being born before the canadian winter air stops coming down.
Pete: I watched this episode and it validated something for me. When I was growing up on our dairy farm, the cow barn was cleaned out in the spring. This was the standard practice as cleaning the barn during the winter was infeasible. As the winter went on and more bedding was added, the level of manure grew to a depth of 3 to 4 feet some years. It was difficult to spread the bedding when the manure was this thick as one had to stoop over due to lack of clearance. It was the practice in those days and your video has validated the work. I feel good that we did the right thing! Thanks
you have explained this in passing… thank you for the focus… See you next time pete…
Would this approach scale well up to a larger herd, say hundreds of cattle? Would it just be a matter of having sufficient space to set up the environment as you've detailed or does it become too difficult to get the process working well at very large scale? Great video again! Thanks as always.
great informative video pete. we deep bed here in southern ontario canada. mainly because im lazy in the winter but also because it gives a good amount of heat. only drawback was when i cleaned it out about a month before lambing, some ewes got hit with foot scald. all that deep bedding was keeping the bacteria down underneath the straw and as soon as i took it out, i released all the hellions. it would have happened if i were cleaning it regularly as we had a nasty warmer than usual winter here, so just goes to show how a good deep bedding system can really keep things clean!
Interested also in Johnson Su aerobic composting giving a fungal rich compost innoculant. Great video Pete!
Pete,,, if you were around that for a couple of hours ,,, you seldom got colds/flu,,,,
Thank you for teaching the Farm illiterate individuals about the old practices farming I learned this from my Grandparents when they were alive we'll see the old practices go away without an illiterate Society and the increasing generations who refuse the old life.
I'm am so glad that you are teaching with it because keep up the good work up thank you for going the old way I do know that it is very less stressful than the new practices of farming.
Your education on old barn practices is better than present farm practices.
Sincerely!
R.S.V.
Wow, it is absolutely amazing to see how much love and passion you inject into your farm.
Thank you for making those videos.
You didn't mention hoof care. In constant moisture do you get fungal problems or overgrowth of their feet .
is this only in new York or all over the world?
What a system!
Another advantage of the bedding pack is the cows can get up with no slipping like concrete
I found your channel a few days ago and I love it! I grew up on a small dairy farm in NW washington state. The farm has been sold and my dad passed away after working the farm for 60 years. I was diagnosed with a brain tumor last year and had brain surgery and radiation that left me with cognitive deficits so I can't work anymore. I often have anxiety as a side effect. Watching you farm brings me so much peace. Takes me back to my childhood and to better days. Thank you!
too cool for school…very interesting…the old ways often seem to be the best
I remember having to use a hay knife to cut through the bedding as it used to be too tight to fork it out. Took weeks cleaning it out. No need to go to the gym though! 💪
should the high outside venting area be on a certain side? south? does it matter?
Thanks for sharing Pete! AS always, appreciate your videos and the educational material that you are so good at sharing. Thanks again, take care, & stay safe.
Interesting video Pete.👍👍
Love your channel Pete. Thank you. 👍
hello Pete, hope you get to read this. i found a decent farmall c 1947 for sale for 1700 that looks pretty original, still running. Do you think the c is a good tractor or should I keep looking for a super c? not a farmer and dont have land at the moment but really interested in restoring a tractor for when i do.
Do you just distribute that into your pasture when you clean out the barn or do you set it outside for some more time before using it in the field?
My CHIEFS got another one!!
We deep bedded everything by neccessity in winter because the weather conditions did not allow for us the clean pens in winter- rest of year animals were outside.
Great video very informational me and uncle have around 20 goats and use this method of bedding. Also I was wondering if you will be at the 2024 national farm machinery show would love to see you there
Thanks Pete for sharing your deep bedding experience! I always glean a nugget from your commentary! Do you think this system works for horses?
How does the urination on it affect it, or is it one in the same as moisture ?
Does it work with pigs thru a winter?
This video made my day. I love the educational videos as well as the others. Thanks for keeping the diversity
Thanks Pete, I love it when you use your channel to educate us.. Even those of us who don't actively farm need to keep learning.
Mantap
Hi Pete,
We Love your channel. My wife and I are big fans. Maybe you can help me answer a question about my Kioti Rototiller that I bought from a Massey Furgeson dealership. It was corroded with old oil and dirt but still turned so I purchased it for what they gave for it which was $200. I'm changing the gaskets on the gearboxes, so my question is. Do I need to put some Permatex sealer on the cork gasket?
Thanks, Ron
I’ve only been watching for a little over a year, just recently I’ve find myself hooked on this channel..what an informative and great story teller we have in Pete..I’m envious and would luv to be in a similar situation as they are but I’m too old now..lots of luv to Pete and Hilary..
Thanks Pete!
I'm curious – do you ever have to trim the cattle's hooves (or have someone come in to do it)?
That was a great explanation Pete. Lots of practical discussion mixed with just enough science. I think you're doing a fantastic job. Regarding the wood chip option, I'm sure you've thought of this… Besides the hassle of transporting wood chips there's a few drawbacks to using them. 1) Would it be a reliable source of material? If the supply gets used up at the city, then it's gone and you're left to find other bedding. 2) Wood chips hold moisture, and you'd be putting down a material that's often saturated where right now your top layer is dry when put down. 3) With hay, you know what's in your bedding material. With wood chips, you're getting god knows what from the city/town. Things like carpenter ants, misc chemicals, molds and fungus that may be detrimental, etc. And it would never come to you in a state where it likely never got hot enugh to kill off many of the undeseriable elements. 4)
This video just goes to show that, some of the old methods of animal husbandry are best and that some of the "modern" methods actually detract from what nature already does for us. Thanks Pete, for bringing this up, when I was a kid, my Dad used to mention how the bedding would keep the cows warm when it was below zero, I just never knew that there was actually science behind it. Very informative, thanks.
8:23 this must be the first time ever Ive seen Pete convert temperatures correctly without joking about it haha
Very interesting it only makes sense and how nice for the cattle’s comfort for those cold winter nights.
As always great info. Great way to learn farming from my Office Chair. Thanks for what you do.
👍
Excellent video Pete 🙂 also didn't know Deep Bedding was till my dad and uncle talked to me when in my childhood also did inside in barn also pole barn for adults cows and calves to did every second day on home farm plus rents ! Did from September to April each year if bad strom in November to March keep cows warm and found Deep Bedding keeps animals more healthy also clean too ! Funny part even close animals warmer like blanket on us humans wear clothes Lol! Also found even Deep Bedding put on feilds helps crops very nice too and good yields too plus much more! Another funny part my dad and uncle used say we inside barn animals outside before let in for night and outside to after! Yes my grandparents and others did for years before I did to Pete on farm days ! Also found keep barn water supply from freezing up in Winter Season months too!