Satisfaction with slatmats

By Hugh Scanlan

22nd June 2002: The concept of putting rubber mats on top of slats has come of age and farmers are now showing serious interest in installing them, both in new and existing slatted houses.

Adding a rubber covering to slats approximately doubles the cost of your flooring so farmers need to be getting some return on this increased investment. Those who have tried them are giving them a definite thumbs up.

Michael Earls, Athenry, has been marketing a mat made from dense rubber for a number of years, using a variety of different fixing methods to hold the matting onto the slat.

Two years ago he launched the EasyFix system, which is now the market leader in slat matting.

Details of system

The EasyFix system of slat mats are made from dense recycled rubber which means that they are not particularly soft, but should be extremely hard wearing.

They are made in moulds, designed to fit most of the different lengths and widths of slats marketed in this country, including 10.5ft, 11.5ft and 12.5ft long with ribs 127mm to 170mm wide.

Each mat covers two slats but the gap between the two remains uncovered. The mats have studs, measuring 50mm by 50mm by the width of the slat opening, cast on their underside.

These studs fit down into the gaps between the slats and this, combined with their weight, ensures that they do not lift or move on the slats, even under fairly severe lateral pressure as cattle push to get to the feed barrier.

This system has obvious advantages over previous methods of screwing, tying and glueing the mats onto the slats in terms of speed and handiness. It also means that the mats are equally well suited to use on new and existing slats.

The solid standings at the front and rear of the pens are fitted with interlocking rubber tiles, which are held in place by stainless steel screws.

The cross sectional profile of the mats shows that they are 23mm (1 inch) thick in the centre, tapering off rapidly to give an 18mm thick covering over most of the slat surface.

The aim is to ensure good drainage to the gaps between the ribs, while not steering the animal's hoof into the gap.

The mats are available direct from EasyFix, in Athenry (091-850630), and are also being marketed by Banagher Concrete and Campion Concrete.

They cost €40 per square metre, plus VAT, and an extra €5 per square metre if fitted.

In terms of the overall cost of a typical slatted beef unit Tom Ryan, Teagasc, Kildalton, estimates that the slats make up around eight per cent of the total, pre-grant, cost of the building, so fitting mats on them will increase this proportion to around 15 per cent.

Billy Guilfoyle, Banagher Concrete, says that he encounters quite a few farmers interested in the mats, who have lameness problems with their existing slatted sheds.

A visit from a vet now costs around €50 and lame cattle do not suit the increasing number of farmers with off-farm jobs.

The restrictions on cattle over 30 months of age are also a consideration as farmers push for greater performance.

Typically, farmers put the rubber on one pen only to see how it works out and, invariably, Billy has found that they come back at a later date to complete the other pens.

He believes that stock perform better on the mats because they are not burning energy to the same extent to stay warm and because they are less stressed - less afraid of slipping.

Farmer experience

Preliminary trials at Teagasc, Grange, with the DeLaval slat mat, indicated significant improvements in animal performance and cleanliness and the EasyFix mat will be included in a new trial to be carried out next winter.

Farmers buying the mats take a variety of additional factors into consideration and are also experiencing additional benefits.

* Martin McHale, McHale Engineering, Kilmaine, Co Mayo, has set up a pedigree Limousin herd within the past year, in a new four-bay slatted back-to-back lean-to.

He imported a total of 50 animals from France, all of which had previously been bedded on straw.

He felt that straw was going to involve too much work and opted instead for the EasyFix system. Animal welfare was also high on his list of priorities.

After one winter in use he is extremely happy with the performance; 120 days housed and not a single lame animal.

He feeds grass silage and a little hay and the stock have remained quite clean (see photo). The rubber mats seem to have eliminated slipping on the slats, even when the cows are coming in heat and there is riding activity.

* Timmy Joyce built a new slatted four-bay back-to-back lean-to for his suckler herd last year. He installed Campion slats which are 12.5 ft long, with 152mm wide ribs and had the EasyFix mats fitted from day one.

Once again he comments on the non-slip nature of the rubber; he had 20 cows in one pen and he succeeded in getting them all bulled in three weeks because he could see them riding in heat and could pull them out to the bull.

The cows were previously housed in a cubicle shed and he used to get the occasional lame animal but last winter he had none and he says that the cows were never in such good shape.

The dry heifers, being fed silage only, were extremely clean; the meal-fed cows were a bit dirtier but not to the extent that it caused any problems with the calves sucking.

Timmy had intended putting the dry heifers out to grass for a few weeks to clean up prior to selling, but he ended up selling them direct off the slats because they looked so well.

* Tommy Clarke installed the EasyFix mats in a new three-bay, double slat, back-to-back lean-to that he built last year on his farm at Lisduff, Ballindine, near Claremorris, Co Mayo.

Tommy calves around 150 suckler cows and he already had two existing slatted sheds. He always felt that the cows were a bit tender on the feet, particularly older ones carrying big calves after four months on slats.

Six-month winters are the norm here with cows housed in October and never out before the middle of April.

The slats in this unit are 14.5ft long, with a 1.5ft solid standing at each end and Billy Guilfoyle, Banagher Concrete, suggested that he try the mats.

After one winter in use Tommy is thrilled with the performance stating that the cows are much cleaner with no foot problems whatsoever.

A contributory factor to the cleanliness is the fact that he uses a Redrock diet feeder to feed some straw along with the silage.

He believes that the weanling heifers on the covered slats have gained significantly more weight than their sisters who are housed on the standard slats, although he does not have accurate weighings to prove this.

As a result, he is now seriously considering installing mats in the other two slatted sheds.