Tett liggeareal til økologisk sau - Praktiske fjøsløsninger

Summary

The Norwegian Centre for Organic Agriculture (NORSØK), in collaboration with the Norwegian Agricultural Extension Service (NLR), Debio and the Norwegian Association of Sheep and Goat Farmers (NSG), has written this report to provide practical solutions to meet the requirements of the EU-regulation about a solid lying area for at least 0,75 m2 of 1,5 m2 per sheep and 0,18 m2 of 0,35 m2 per lamb in organic production.
In a survey done by Debio, which was answered by 354 of Norwegians 579 organic sheep producers, 37 % answered that they either had to make changes with the new regulations or that they didn’t know. Half of these respondents thought it would be difficult and comprehensive to adapt to the new requirements. Some of them would rather switch to conventional production or quit working with sheep production.
We have made drawings and cost estimates for six different examples in this report. To satisfy the requirement about solid lying area for sheep, there are two main alternatives; either wooden resting platforms with or without rubber mats, or deep bedding of wood chip or straw.
With a resting platform, it’s important that the entire sheep can lie down comfortably on the solid area. At the same time, it shouldn’t be too much work with cleaning the resting platforms. A narrow resting platform with much slope will maintain clean without extra work, but the sheep prefer to lie where it’s no slope. We recommend resting platforms with a width of 0,60-0,80 m and a slope up to 10 %, as well as adding a little wood chip to the platforms daily. Wood chip keep the resting platforms softer, cleaner and less slippery.
If you use deep bedding, this can be for the whole area of the barn, but it may be advantageous to have draining floor like expanded metal by the feeding area, or have free access to an outdoor area and feed the sheep outside. In some buildings, the best solution may be a combination where some parts inside the building have drainage floors and resting platforms, and other parts, like simple, uninsulated extensions of the building, have deep bedding of either wood chip or straw.