Since the most common housing system in cattle fattening is still the concrete slatted pen, rubber mats are now used to increase animal welfare and improve lying comfort for these animals. Lying on a deformable surface is closer to the natural behaviour of cattle than resting on pure concrete slats. 

There is a wide range of rubber mats available, and careful consideration should be given to the selection process in order to find and use the most suitable mat for the respective farm. Furthermore, there are regulations – such as DIN 3763 – that must be observed when selecting the mat to avoid making a bad investment.  

The most important information on rubberised slatted floors is summarised below. The advantages and possible errors in retrofitting or using new buildings are presented.

When retrofitting, it is recommended to initially equip only one or a few pens with rubber mats, possibly of different types. This allows you to find out which system is most suitable for your particular operation. Care should be taken to ensure that all seasons are taken into account in the "test run". In this way, experience can be gained without significant financial losses.

Rubber mats in cattle walking and lying areas must comply with the requirements of DIN 3763. This standard applies to cattle over six months of age and was published in April 2020. This DIN standard specifies standards for elastic stable floor coverings, among other things with a view to improving animal welfare: "Cattle are grazing animals by nature. As a result, they have adapted to partially malleable ground. This ground surface has an impact on the animals when they are lying down, standing and walking. A sensible floor design based on elastomer mats can meet these needs of cattle. For this purpose, this document specifies requirements for elastomer mats for cattle stalls." Elastomers are dimensionally stable but deformable plastics. This means that they can deform elastically under pressure but then return to their original shape.

From an animal welfare perspective, a two-area pen with separate areas for lying down and feeding/moving is preferable. In this housing system, only the lying area is covered with a rubber mat, while the floor in the activity area at the feeding table is equipped with concrete slats without a mat. Compared to a single-area pen with a complete rubber mat, claw abrasion is more likely to occur here. Abrasive rubber coverings of tested and recognised quality are now also available for the activity area in dairy cow husbandry. However, long-term experience with their use in the husbandry of male beef cattle is still lacking.

The current building regulations for fattening bulls, feeders, fattening calves and suckler cows issued by the North Rhine-Westphalia Chamber of Agriculture in 2020 also provide important guidance. 

It is recommended that rubber mats be laid on a level surface so that there are no points of contact between the floor and the rubber mat or within the rubber mat that could cause premature damage to the mats due to "impact".

Studies have shown that rubber flooring has proven itself in practical tests. The experience of the Bavarian State Institute for Agriculture in Grub shows, for example, that fattening bulls preferred slatted flooring covered with a rubber layer to concrete slatted flooring for resting. The animals spent more time resting on concrete floors because they avoided getting up and lying down more frequently on the hard floor. Physiologically, cattle lie down several times a day for shorter periods of rest. Animals kept on rubberised floors suffered fewer tail tip injuries.

Bulls kept on rubberised flooring also showed higher weight gains compared to bulls fattened on concrete slatted flooring. The slaughter weights of animals kept on rubberised flooring were 4 to 7% higher.

Further information:

https://www.lfl.bayern.de/mam/cms07/publikationen/daten/informationen/p_41132.pdf

The independent test reports from the DLG are recommended for selecting suitable rubberised mats. Regardless of DLG testing, the different mats show qualitative differences in practice. These result, among other things, from differences in durability, deformability, slip resistance and the degree of soiling by the animals. To get an impression of these rubberised mats in practical use, it is advisable to visit farms to see the various rubber mats in use on site.  

• End of the applicable transition period for soft or elastically deformable lying surfaces from 2024 (Animal Welfare Livestock Farming Ordinance)
• Have the manufacturer confirm that the softness complies with the DIN standard (class 2)
• Please note that delivery times may be long in some cases