Inhysningssystem för tjurar : fallstudie

Abstract: It´s important when you are about to build a new stable or just increasing your production that you choose the right housing system and that it fits your own farm. In this study I have put together facts about different housing system for fattening bulls in order to get a clearer picture of witch system is the most suitable for my own farm depending on the conditions I have. The background of this work is my own interest for breeding bulls and I will hopefully increase my own production. Due to this I wanted to learn more and increase my knowledge about different housing systems. Through a literature study I have found out the facts about the housing systems I find suitable for housing bulls. There are of course more alternatives and combinations between different systems but these are the most common in Sweden and I find them suitable for housing bulls. The systems I have looked closer at are: pens with slatted floor, straw bed, deep straw bed, straw bed with manure scraper, sliding straw bed, straw bed with outside pen and finally loose housing with cubicles. I have also interviewed two farmers who have newly built stables with some of the systems I have gone through. They have given their reflections about things to consider and how to get the systems to work properly and what they would like to change. To be able to compare the different systems and reach some result I have compared the systems advantages and disadvantages to the needs and conditions for my own farm. A deep straw bed demands a lot of straw but if you have an alley with a manure scraper in the front of the pen or a sliding straw bed it drastically reduces the need of straw. Cubicles often demands a larger investment and a more expensive stable building then a stable with straw bed, but the need of straw is smaller. The work effort for littering and taking out the manure can be hold on a low level in a well planned and functional stable with cubicles, thanks to the fact that the manure can be taken out mechanically and the consumption of bedding material is low. What system you should choose depends on the conditions of your own farm, access to straw, work force and what system you want to have for dealing with the manure. It also depends on if you have available structures that you would like to use or if you are about to build a new stable. For my part the access of straw is an important issue, because in the case of great consumption of litter I have to buy it from a great distance and that can be rather expensive. This means that a system of low consumption of litter for example loose housing with cubicles is a suitable choice for me. In the end it is important that you carefully calculate the systems that you like and think is suitable for you. To combine an inexpensive building with a low operating cost and a low work effort is not an easy task.