The revision of the Farm Animal Welfare Ordinance, which came into force at the end of January 2021, brings a number of changes to calf husbandry. Amongst other things, the animal husbandry ordinance was amended to stipulate that calves under the age of six months must not only have a dry lying area in the barn, but also a "soft or elastically deformable lying area". The amendment was published in the Federal Law Gazette on 8 February 2021 and a transitional period of three years was granted for existing stables on 9 February 2024. According to the regulation, bedding or rubber floor coverings are considered soft and deformable. Farms that keep their calves on full slats without a separate lying area must retrofit accordingly. In order to comply with the transitional period of three years, affected farms should think about retrofitting at an early stage in order to obtain suitable rubber or plastic coverings for their slatted floor, as increased demand is expected by the end of the transitional period at the latest.

With regard to the possibility of improving lying comfort in existing barns with fully slatted floors, the Lower Saxony Chamber of Agriculture has offered two web seminars on the topic of "Rubber mats on slatted floors for calves" in cooperation with the nationwide Fokus Tierwohl network. In the first event at the end of January 2021, Prof Dr Heinz Bernhardt (Technical University of Munich, Chair of Agricultural Systems Engineering) provided information on everything that needs to be considered when using rubber mats on slatted floors. Among other things, he discussed the advantages and disadvantages of different mat shapes, slot widths and materials. For example, when using rubber mats on full slats, a maximum slot width of 3cm is permitted. However, it is advantageous if the lower area of the slit is wider than the upper area, creating a kind of break-off edge. A rounded mat shape can improve the dryness of the lying area, but special attention must be paid to slip resistance and stability in order to avoid deformation of the claws. Other important aspects that should be considered before purchasing are the fastening and mouldability of the mats, which should be made dependent on the weight class of the animals kept. Over 130 people took part in the event.

At the beginning of February, Henrike Jansen from the Lower Saxony Chamber of Agriculture gave an insight into the legal framework as part of the second web seminar in the series. This was followed by digital barn tours in the form of a film, which had been produced in advance on farms with different types of calf fattening production. The participants then had the opportunity to talk online with four farmers who have already installed different types of mats in their barns. The interest in the topic was also reflected in the number of participants, which totalled over 100. The feedback on the seminar series was consistently positive, as the knowledge gained was rated as useful for implementing improvements to lying comfort in existing systems.

Author: Alexandra Koch, Lower Saxony Chamber of Agriculture