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west michigan | Bedded pack barns can work well when managed properly, just like any other barn. First thing to consider is do you have a reliable source for sawdust? With 225 cows you will probably need to plan on 120-130 yards of sawdust per week, give or take some depending on weather and quality of sawdust. This is assuming around 85 square feet of actual bedding pack space per cow, not including the feed alley, which should be separated from the bedded pack. You will also need to stir it some way everyday. If you can't reliably source that kind of volume then forget it and go with freestalls. Being short of bedding is a recipe for disaster.
I have 160 out of my 210 cows on bedded pack, the remaining 50 in freestalls. I like having both as some cows do well in one but not the other. I also have my dry cows on a bedded pack which I really like.
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 IMG_2539.JPG (181KB - 21 downloads)
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Used parlors and sawdust bedpacks
