Peat, slats and mats for livestock bedding
It costs €1.19 to bed a 200kg suckler calf for a week, with straw priced at €25 for a 150kg bale.
Woodchip costs €1.07, and peat is a fairly trouble-free bedding material which costs only €0.87, according to the latest Teagasc advice. There are viable alternatives to straw for bedding, especially peat, slats for calves, and rubber mats in calving pens, according to Teagasc.
Outdoor woodchip pads as standalone entities have gone out of favour. There is scope to use woodchip as indoor bedding, but there is little experience of this in Ireland.
It is in general very suitable as bedding, animals stay clean and there is little dust.
Peat is a highly absorbent material which keeps livestock warm, clean and dry with minimal labour. Afterwards, it can be immediately spread on the land, adding nutrients and conditioning the soil without depleting nitrogen the way straw and wood chips do. Peat inhibits growth of pathogens. Organic farmers are not allowed use peat.
At about €8 per bale, rushes are viable as as bedding, according to Teagasc.
They can be dusty, and there is some evidence that lice can be a bigger problem.
