Slatted floor
A slatted floor in a cattle or pigsty consists alternately of the bars, the stepping surface for the animals, and narrow gaps, these are a passage for excrement and urine .
In the case of partially slatted floors, only the area for defecating and urinating is equipped with slatted floors; the eating and lying area can be strewn with straw , for example . With fully slatted floors, on the other hand, the entire eating, lying and walking area is equipped with slatted floors.
Legal regulations in Germany
Pigs
The so-called Pig Keeping Ordinance (since 2001 TierSchNutztV , Section 5 “Requirements for keeping pigs”) describes the exact requirements for slatted floors. The pigs must not come into contact with faeces and urine any more than is unavoidable. They must also have a dry area to lie on.
The gap width for pigs under 125 kg may be a maximum of 18 mm and for pigs over 125 kg a maximum of 20 mm. Likewise, the tread width of the bars must at least correspond to the column width; for concrete slatted floors it must be 80 mm.
Bovine
The animal husbandry ordinance for calves (since 2001 TierSchNutztV , section 2 “Requirements for keeping calves”) stipulates that the lying area for calves must be littered. In addition, the width of the gap in the walking and eating area may not exceed 25 mm, whereby the tread width of the bars must be at least 80 mm.
Situation in Austria
criticism
In April 2019, the Verein gegen Tierfabriken (Austria) started a nationwide campaign to abolish fully slatted pigs. The association argues that the floor causes unnecessary pain for the pigs. Pigs had bursitis 92% more often on fully slatted floors, and the death rate was four times higher than when kept with straw. In addition, the animals would get pneumonia and inflamed eyes more often from the ammonia vapors from faeces and urine. According to the association, 60% of the 2.7 million pigs in Austria live on fully slatted floors.
cleaning
If the animal's excrement falls on the slatted floor , only a small part slides through the crevices into the slurry cellar or the slurry channels. So that the remains of the animals' walkways disappear and the paths can dry off again, the so-called crevice scraper is used to drive over the path on which the manure is lying and push it through the crevices.
Alternatively there are automatic column scrapers. These are boards or sheets mounted on chains, which automatically move down the stable floor at intervals.
See also
Web links
- Animal husbandry ordinance for calves (PDF file; 8 kB)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Petition against fully slatted floors and for straw litter in pigs. Retrieved April 30, 2019 .