best floor surfaces

[shortybreeder]

I'm sure there are threads on here about this, but I have no idea what to search in order to find them, so here goes: What is the best floor material for keeping show calves on so that their feet don't get screwed up? I learned the hard way last year with my show steers because we kept them in the old dairy tie-stall barn where all of the floors are covered in mats and unfortunately they started to walk on their toes and we were unable to correct them before the show. I've got a few calves this year that I'm hoping to take out to Denver, and I REALLY don't want to screw up their feet. I want to put them in our shed with fans blowing on them all day, but the floors are concrete. We have some cornstalks that we can use as bedding if that helps. The plan would be have them inside during the day, and send them outside at night (out on the lawn).

 

[zac_norwood]

If you can find them locally cedar fiber bedding works very well for absorption, keeps smell down. Iv always used about a 2 foot wide strip of rubber mats toward the front so they don't start digging.

 

[Spencer10218]

My lot is concrete and that's where they get turned out to at night but I just keep then on saw dust all day
Knock on wood, I'm yet to have any problems

 

[shortybreeder]

If you can find them locally cedar fiber bedding works very well for absorption, keeps smell down. Iv always used about a 2 foot wide strip of rubber mats toward the front so they don't start digging.

So when you have them in during the day, are they tied up like they are at a show?

 

[zac_norwood]

(pop)if you plan on keeping fans on them, and rinsing regularly then I would keep them tied down during the day. Gets them used to being tied down, and keeps them in front of the fans.

 

[Tallcool1]

Dirt.

Put whatever you want on top of it.  Mulch, cedar fiber, straw, stocks, sand, whatever else you can think of.  But the main surface that I like is dirt.

The turn out on concrete is probably working for Spence because they can move around on it.  We tied in an old milk barn our first year, put in a bunch of rubber mulch, and blew the hocks up on all 3 steers. 

Dirt.

 

[vc]

Ceded fiber, 8 to 10 inches deep, wet it down and pack it. You have to keep it mucked out well and rework it every time you pull the calves off of it. If you have a set up so the water and urine can drain off the better. We flipped it and and added new once a week. Our calves were kicked out in an 80 by 120 pen at night, they could run and stretch out every night.