A Comparison of Dairy Cow Behavior in Sand and Mattress Free Stall Barns in Relation to Lameness

Cook (2003) found a significantly lower prevalence of lameness in a group of Wisconsin dairy herds using sand stalls compared to those using other types of stall surface, which included rubber mats and rubber crumb filled mattresses, in both free stalls and tie stalls. Although sand has been suggested as an ideal stall surface for dairy cows (Bickert, 2000), there exists little data to support improvements in cattle health related to its use. The objective of this study was to identify behavioral differences between cows housed in free stalls bedded with deep sand (SAND) and cows housed in free stalls with ...