Analysis of environmental conditions and management in a compost-bedded pack barn with tunnel ventilation

B. Yameogo¹, R.R. Andrade², C.G.S. Teles Júnior³, G.S. Laud⁴, V. Becciolini¹, L. Leso¹, G. Rossi¹ and M. Barbari¹*

¹University of Florence, Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry, Via San Bonaventura, 13, IT50145 Firenze, Italy
²Federal University of Viçosa, Department of Agricultural Engineering, Av. Peter Henry Rolfs, s/n Campus University of Viçosa, BR 36570-900, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil
³Federal Rural University of the Amazon, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Av. Perimetral, Terra Firme, BR 66077830, Belém, Pará, Brazil
⁴Federal University of Viçosa, Department of Animal Science, Av. Peter Henry Rolfs, s/n Campus University of Viçosa, BR 36570-900, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil
*Correspondence: matteo.barbari@unifi.it

Abstract:

The housing system based on compost-bedded pack for dairy cows is spreading rapidly in Brazil. Completely open buildings without curtains and simple roofs are usually provided. However, in the last years some new completely closed barns have been realized. This study aims to analyse one of these closed barns, located in the State of Minas Gerais. The two main sides of the facility are provided with polyethylene curtains of blue colour and five deflectors. The barn is equipped with an evaporative adiabatic cooling system, associated with the tunnel-style ventilation, realized with exhaust fans, continuously operating 24 hours a day. 85 lactating Holstein cows were housed in the barn during the trials carried out in the winter season 2019. Microclimatic data were collected continuously. Air speed, illuminance and bedding temperature were measured during the farm visits. Pack moisture was calculated. The results state the importance of bedding management and climatic conditions inside the barn. It emerges that the cows housed in this kind of closed barn, with forced ventilation, are in good thermal conditions, which are fairly constant. The average illumination of the barn can be considered acceptable (55.06 lx), even if some areas of the barn present values below the minimum ones reported in literature. The bedding temperature varies between a maximum of 36.33 °C and a minimum of 25.44 °C with an average of 31.26 °C. The values of bedding moisture are between a maximum of 64.36% and a minimum of 60.81% with an average of 62.48%.

Key words:

compost-bedded pack barns, dairy housing, tunnel ventilation, ventilation systems

Behavioural patterns of cows housed in two different typologies of compost-bedded pack barns

B. Yameogo¹, R.R. Andrade², C.G.S. Teles Júnior³, G.S. Laud⁴, V. Becciolini¹, L. Leso¹, G. Rossi¹ and M. Barbari¹*

Abstract:

The compost-bedded pack barn (CBP) is an innovative housing technique which has the improvement of animal welfare as main objective. A comparative study of the behaviour of Holstein-Friesian dairy cows housed in two different compost-bedded pack barns located in the State of Minas Gerais (Brazil) was carried out during the winter season. One barn (CBP A) is closed and applies a wind tunnel ventilation (negative pressure). A second barn (CBP B) is open with natural ventilation, without curtains on the sides, and has fans placed in the resting area. Infrared video cameras were installed in the two barns to allow continuous and simultaneous monitoring of cows’ behaviour. Air temperature and relative humidity inside the barns were monitored continuously and Temperature-Humidity Index was consequently calculated. The results show that the cows housed in the closed barn, with forced ventilation (CBP A), were in good thermal conditions, which were fairly constant, while in the open barn (CBP B) the internal microclimatic conditions were more subject to outside climatic conditions. A close relationship was found between the trend of air temperature and relative humidity inside the facilities and the behaviour of the cows. The number of cows at rest, in CBP B, decreased as the THI value rose. In CBP A, the behaviour of the cows in relation to THI was much more constant.

Key words: