Tips: How to keep the resting area clean using partitions

Two ways to keep the resting area clean:

• Encourage resting or playing behavior in the area of the pen with solid flooring:
  • Provide small amounts of straw daily.
  • Adjust the available space so that the animals can only rest there.
  • Make this area darker than the rest of the pen.
• Redirect defecation behavior to another area of the pen:
  • Create an uncomfortable situation in the slatted area:
    • Moisten the area at the start of the finishing period using a sprinkler or a drip irrigation system.
    • Place the waterers in the outdoor yard (in open-air barns).
    • Create a flow of fresh air using the ventilation system.

Points to consider for implementation

• In enclosed barns with partially slatted floors, the resting area must not exceed 30% of the pen's floor area.
  ➔ Above this percentage, the risk of animals defecating in the resting area increases.
• Always have a solution available that allows the rest area's size to be adjusted.
  ➔ If it becomes dirty, it will be necessary to reduce the available area again for a few days to force the animals to change their habits, and then expand it again.
• The cleanliness of the resting area varies greatly: it depends on the batch, the season, the pen, and even the animals' individual characteristics.

Advantages

• Provides the animals with two types of flooring and allows them to choose how to use the pen.
• Better distinguishes the three functional areas of the pen: resting, defecation, and enrichment.
• Encourages rooting behavior by placing straw on the solid floor.

Limitations

• Partitions are repositioned manually.
• Poor animal hygiene when the resting area becomes soiled.
• The manure removal system must be adapted to the amount of straw distributed:
  gravity flow < manure with a flotation system < mechanical scraper.