Application of Date Palm Trees Mulch as a Bedding Material for Dry Heifers, Part 2 –Preparing the Bedding Materials

Abstract

Date palm trees mulch can be safely and effectively used as a bedding material for cow feedlots. Feedlot managers will need to adjust bedding rates according to facilities, environment, and cow comfort. Feedlot managers interested in using date palm trees mulch as bedding will recognize that absorbency of date palm trees mulch is lower than that of sand. However, utilizing of date palm trees mulch eliminates costs of harvesting sand. A total power consumption for horizontal grinder machine, grapple to loading the grinding machine and loader for handling mulch material. Were 468 kW/h, specific energy was 46.8 kW/ton and 7.49 kW/m3. Total Power consumption to preparing the barn to use mulch bedding material for m3 were 7.84 kW/m3 every day and 78.4 kW/m3 after finish experimental time 10 days. Total cost for using date palm trees mulch as a bedding every 10 days were 3180.0 SR/m. Total cost for traditional manure management every 10 days were 3180.0 SR every 10 days for all operation Introduction Bedding for livestock animals must be comfortable, clean, and absorbent. There are several materials, both organic and inert, that may be used for bedding, and most may be used for all types of livestock. When organic materials are used, ammonia volatilization is reduced, improving the air in the housing facility. Bedding, as with other aspects of livestock management, can be manageable through proper care and attention [18]. The removal of accumulating manure reduces odors, a control fly larvae, and minimizes the potential for surface and groundwater contamination. Maintaining a firm, dry feedlot surface is an important factor in good animal health and a healthy environment. While this is labor intensive for feedlots, it does indicate that pen cleaning as frequently as feasible for your specific operation is good management [9]. Resting dairy cattle should have a dry bed. Stalls ordinarily should have bedding to allow for cow comfort and to minimize exposure to dampness or fecal contamination. When handled properly, many fibrous and granular bedding materials may be used, including long or chopped straw, poor-quality hay, sand, sawdust, shavings, and rice hulls. Inorganic bedding materials (sand or ground limestone) provide an environment that is less conducive to the growth of mastitis pathogens.. Bedding should be absorbent, free of toxic chemicals or residues that could injure animals or humans [13]. Compost barns have a concrete feed alley, a bedded pack area that is stirred two times a day, and a 1.2-m high wall surrounding the pack. The wall that separates the pack and feed alley has walkways to allow cow and equipment access to the stirred pack area. The stirred pack is sized to provide a minimum stirred bedded pack area of By-Products of Palm Trees and Their Applications Materials Research Forum LLC Materials Research Proceedings 11 (2019) 169-185 doi: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644900178-12 170 7.4 m2/cow. Producers use dry fine wood shavings or sawdust for bedding. Fresh bedding is added when the bedded pack becomes moist enough to stick to the cows. The pack is stirred (aerated) at least two times each day to a producer recommended depth of 25 to 30 cm. Stirring aerates and mixes manure and urine on the surface into the pack to provide a fresh surface for cows to lie down on. The pack can provide manure storage for 6 to 7 months [11, 12]. Two of the most common methods of manure removal are the wheeled frontend loader and the box scraper. Both are effective at: 1) providing a smooth pen surface and 2) maintaining the integrity of the compacted protective hard pan under feedlot pens. A wheeled front-end loader requires a professional operator. A combination of a wheeled front-end loader for major manure removal and a scraper for final cleaning would be an effective compromise [9]. Evaluate different types of bedding materials included: pine sawdust (control) (SD), corn cobs (CC), and soybean straw (SS). material were collected twice a month and analyzed for dry matter. C:N ratios and pH . were measured weekly at various depths (15.2, 30.5, 45.7, and 61.0 cm) Moisture content of SD was 59.7; CC, 44.5 and SS, 60.6. ideal bedding material for compost barns should be dry, processed to parts length less than 2.5 cm, and have good water absorption and holding capacity [7] To produce high quality organic fertilizer in large scale using date palm trees mulch produced from local farms. Date palm trees mulch (DPM) was mixed with fresh farmyard manure (FYM) as nitrogen source. The mixtures were prepared by using 3 ratios (w/w) of 1:1, 2:1 and 3:1 (DPM : FCM).The results found for mixtures of 2 and 3 were better than mixture 1, therefore these mixtures are considered to be the best for composting date palm trees mulch. Regulated elements (N, P, K, Organic matter, pH, electrical conductivity, and TDS) were improved in all mixtures. The end product was free of salmonella, total coliform and faecal coliform bacteria [17]. The challenges of working with sand-laden manure are related to the physical properties of the sand. Sand has a density of 1,750–2,100 kg/m3 depending on its moisture content. Sand does not absorb moisture, This increase in weight, volume and density makes sand-laden manure extremely hard on manure-handling equipment, The simplest method of collecting sand-laden manure is to scrape with a tractor or skid steer Wear and tear on equipment is a major concern when handling sand-laden manure [8]. Manure is classified as one of the following: 1)Solid Manure is as-produced manure with a large amount of bedding, usually long stalk straw or hay. It is moved manually or by mechanical devices such as front-end loaders and skid-steers. To maintain a solid consistency during storage, 2) Semi-Solid Manure is as-produced manure with less bedding than solid. Conveying semi-solid manure with long stalk bedding from stanchion barns is the same as solid manure.3) Slurry Manure is as produced with limited bedding material, which allows the manure to flow and seek a level plane. It is handled as a liquid material, Conveying slurry manure from stanchion barns is usually by gutter cleaners or gravity flow gutters to a collection structure [15]. Organic bedding materials kind of straw, hay, saw dust, wood shavings, crop residue (corn stalks, cobs, etc.) shredded paper, paper pulp residue, composted or dried manure. They are used as bedding because their high moisture absorption. They are compatible with manure handling systems and are readily available [14]. The trailer box scraper is one of the equipment used for cleaning pens need professional operators. One of the problems is the hard of getting the corners of the pens along the feed bunk. Therefore, the front end loader, rear mounted scraper or a scraper on a tractor with a three point attachment are used to clean out the manure from the corners [14] .Solid manure is usually collected using scrapers, box scrapers, blades, front-end or skid-steer loaders or similar devices. Equipment sizes ranged from small blades suitable for tractors of 50 hp or less to large bucket loaders mounted on dedicated power units for operations generating large volumes of manure.[5]. Using semi trucks By-Products of Palm Trees and Their Applications Materials Research Forum LLC Materials Research Proceedings 11 (2019) 169-185 doi: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644900178-12 171 or tractors and manure tanks is the most common way today to transfer manure from one location to another. Tanks are readily available, may already part of a farms equipment package, and would not require any additional infrastructure [2,3] . Our objectives for this study were: 1) Calculating the consumed power for all mechanical operation. (2) Estimating the machine costs for grinding date palm trees and mechanical operation to preparing the barn to distributing mulch bedding. (3) verifying the efficiency of using date palm trees mulch as bedding materials and its effect on livestock animals comfort ability and safety. At the time produce a suitable mix for further compost production. (4) Evaluate the physical, chemical and microbiological characteristics of the produced composite bedding material after 10 days. Materials and methods A. Animals and housing The investigation on the ability of date palm trees mulch as a bedding material, to absorb dry heifers cow manure and urine was done at a large scale animal farm, Al Hasa City, K.S.A. Study consists of 120 dry heifers. Heifers sections were classified into 3 sections. Section A is an animal concrete feeding area (40 x3m). Section B is an animal comfort sandy area (40 x 5 m). Section C is an animal sandy floor movement area (40 x 19m). Total barn area of section A and SectionB (320 m) was bedded with date palm trees mulch. Integrated pest management program was selected as an optimum strategy of manure recycling to prevent the reproduction of house fly and change the medium of larva. First step, manure was removed from feeding area by tractor attached scraper 6 ft, to transfer the manure outside the area. Second step, feeding area was cleaned by using a high pressure water pumping machine in order to remove the remaining steak manure on the concret floor within trial areas, to ensure complete cleanliness of the barn. Third step, Water was sucked from concrete basin resulting assembly by using trailer Vacuum operating by tractor before date palm mulch was applied as a bedding material. Study area was sprayed using Larvacide. Finally, the mulch was distributed by using hand-fork. Fly density was measured within the bedding 10 days period. Movement of animals and bedding layer thickness were observed daily. B. The bedding product is produced by grinding date palm trees using horizontal grinders machine from Al Hufof Stars Station, AlAHSA K.S.A . The finished product is very dry compared to industry standard. It is lab tested at(IDAC LABE ) to have a dry matter 95% and moistu