Tethered stall
The tie-up barn is a barn for livestock in which the animals are fixed in one place. The type of husbandry is still used in Europe for cattle . In the past, horses were tied up and sows and small animals such as sheep and goats were kept in this way.
Keeping horses in tethered stalls is prohibited in many countries, and since an EU directive in 1997 the tethering of pigs is only permitted by way of exception regulations. For cattle, there is no corresponding regulation at EU level except in the organic sector. For cattle, tethering is currently in a phase of conversion in Austria with a few exceptions, so that this type of keeping was likely to continue until the end of 2013 or, under certain circumstances, will be allowed until 2020.
How tethering works
Fixation
Cows are tethered at least during the stall period, i.e. H. Fixed in winter ( e.g. Grabner chain, self-locking grille, central articulated neck frame ). Each animal stands on its own place / stand parallel to each other and cannot walk through the barn. The cows stand or lie at this stand the whole day, are fed and milked here (required: pipe milking system ).
Older attachment systems (Grabner chain) are more complex, as each cow has to be attached individually. With the articulated neck frames, however, it is easier and quicker to drive the animals in and out, as several grids can be opened and closed at the same time. If a Grabner chain is used to fix it directly to the neck, the fur can be rubbed off there. When using metal chains, the louder noise when moving is also annoying. The animals react nervously to the noise made by the chains. It can lead to behavior disorders. This problem does not occur with self-locking grids and central articulated neck frames.
Stand space
The area on which the cattle stands can be about 10–15 cm higher than the rear area, where faeces and urine accumulate. Depending on how long the stand area is, one speaks of a short, medium or long stand .
Actually, it is important to adapt the stand area to the size of the cows - or to stock up on cows / breeds that match the stand area. The problem lies in the fact that larger and larger cows have been bred over the last few decades (because of the associated higher milk yield). Another way to reduce damage to the ankle is to have an outlet. Based on a model estimate, dairy cows need a minimum of 50 hours of exercise per month in order to reduce ankle damage. Here it is important to organize the run in such a way that the duration of the individual let-out is chosen as long as possible, instead of allowing run-out frequently - but only for a short period.
- When standing short , the animal often comes to lie with the ankle on the edge, which causes pressure points and abrasions.
- In a long stance , faeces and urine often fall on the stance, and when lying down the animal becomes soiled and damp and pathogens can more easily penetrate the udder.
- Problems can be prevented in a stable with the sizes of the stalls adapted to the length of the individual animal.
The stand can be made of wood or concrete. A mat made of straw or a rubber mat (also known as a cow mattress ) is better for the animals, but with litter there must be a threshold at the end of the stand so that too much litter does not get into the manure or liquid manure. The threshold, however, increases the disadvantages mentioned in the short stand.
Between every second stand there can be a partition made of metal brackets, which prevent the animals from lying very diagonally or diagonally and taking away space from the neighboring animal or injuring it by kicks.
Feed and water supply
The supply of water via unilateral or bilateral Water Bowl, rare journals soak . The feed supply via troughs and / or feeding tables . The trough or the feeding table should be about 15 cm higher than the standing surface of the animals so that they can eat in their natural position. The separation between the standing area and the eating area should ideally be made of stable but flexible rubber so that the animals have enough space to swing their heads when they stand up.
Manure removal
The manure removal of the tied barn can be done by hand with a pitchfork or with mechanical support from a (permanently installed) manure removal system or from particularly small and agile tractors ( farm loaders ), but also wheel loaders . Manure and liquid manure are in this case separated, as the urine of the animals through slots or holes in the ground in a small channel in the septic tank is derived. The manure, however, is stored on the manure plate. In the tethered stall, however, feces and urine are mixed and collected as liquid manure . For this purpose, in the rear area of the stand, a slurry channel is covered with gratings made of oval flat steel bars, through which manure and urine fall. The animals can stand on the bars with their rear claws if they are too long to stand. Therefore, every animal should have a stand with a suitable length. In the past, so-called cow trainers were used to avoid soiling the lying areas with faeces and urine . Their use has been banned in Germany since 2010. In other countries, too, they may no longer be used or at least no longer be reinstalled.
Dissemination and Legal Norms
In cattle husbandry, tethering is a discontinued form of husbandry in German-speaking countries. Most of the new systems are box stalls . From the point of view of animal welfare it is questionable, see § 2 Paragraph 1–3 TSG. Nevertheless, the permanent keeping of cattle in the tethered stall will only be prohibited in Austria from 2020. Suitable opportunities for movement or suitable exercise or grazing must be granted (e.g. on at least 90 days a year according to the Austrian Federal Animal Welfare Act 2004). The ban on tying calves applies without exception. Around half of all dairy cows in Switzerland are kept in tie stalls. In organic agriculture tethering is in principle not permitted (up 2,010 temporary exceptions). At Bio Suisse , tethering is permitted if the animals can move around regularly outdoors.
In addition, however, in Austria , for example, there is a regulation for small businesses that stipulates that farms with up to 35 livestock units have access / pasture at least twice a week: These stalls are still widespread for night-time stalls in farms with smaller herds, for example in the Alpine region. Here is the place for is playpens often not given, and consistently well not be necessary if the animals (cattle and sheep, often horses) during the day, partly at night, in the freewheel are and also spread to summering (mountain grazing). Therefore, the guidelines of the EU, which take little account of special agricultural forms in mountain areas, are viewed critically in southern Germany, Austria and South Tyrol (and, if adapted, also in Switzerland). After protests by the organic farmers, who are more widespread here, the ban on tethering was postponed by the EU in July 2008 until the end of 2013. Outside of these agricultural areas, tethering is no longer taken into account for new buildings.
See also
literature
Dairy cattle:
- Rolf-Dieter Fahr, Gerhard von Lengerken: Milk production: Basics - Processes - Quality assurance . Edition Agrar. Ed .: Rolf-Dieter Fahr. Deutscher Fachverlag, 2003, ISBN 978-3-87150-726-7 , attitude, p. 191 ff .
- Frank Groh, Gerhard Schwarting: What influence does the changeover from tethered housing to cubicle housing have on the various performance parameters of dairy cows? 1996.
- P. Jakob, T. Oswald: The tethering of cows . FAT, 1986.
- Free stalls versus tethering: ethological and economic aspects of dairy farming . Lectures at the 3rd outdoor conference on October 10, 1996 at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna. In: Marietta Lehner, Association for Ecological Animal Welfare Farming and Healthy Nutrition Freiland (Hrsg.): Freiland-Tagung . tape 3 . Freiland-Verb., 1996, ISBN 978-3-9501920-9-4 .
Other livestock:
- Reinhard Deckert: Studies on the performance and behavior of suckling sows and piglets when tethered . 1968.
Individual evidence
- ^ NM Keil, TU Wiederkehr, K. Friedli, B. Wechsler. In: Preventive Veterinary Medicine 74/2006, pp. 142-153.
- ↑ German Animal Welfare Act (PDF; 119 kB).
- ^ Federal Animal Welfare Act 2004. Steirischer Bauernbund, Hartberg district, February 23, 2005, archived from the original on March 9, 2005 ; Retrieved August 2, 2008 .
- ↑ a b Brigitte Walser: Cows in motion. In: derbund.ch . May 4, 2019. Retrieved May 19, 2019 .
- ↑ Guidelines for organic farming and organic processing. (PDF; 354 kB) BIOS - Biokontrollservice Österreich, January 2014, p. 4 , accessed on June 13, 2014 .
- ↑ Thomas Hödlmoser: Organic cows stay on the chains . In: Salzburger Nachrichten . July 31, 2008, local section Stadt und Land , p. 6/7 .
- ↑ Section for organic farming: Pasture and tethering: What really applies after the transition periods have expired. (No longer available online.) In: LK Oberösterreich Bio Tiere. Chamber of Agriculture Austria, November 22, 2012, archived from the original on March 7, 2016 ; Retrieved November 22, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
