Tips from Valacon-Dairy in Dutch weather conditions

- Fill empty (new) boxes first with a layer of sand, saw dust or straw and then add biobedding weekly.

- Preferably do not start in autumn or winter if the temperature is low and humidity is high.

- In principal, replenish a deep bed once a week is sufficient. Depending on the type of cubicle, add between 70 liters and 100 liters per cubicle at a time. This is a layer of 5 to 6 cm of fresh material (25 kg of fresh weight per 100 liters). When bedded too often and too thickly the bed dries less easily.

- It is advisable to take enough time to fill up the bedding so it can dry. Too much moisture in the bed leads to a lower quality of the bed with heating and a hard surface.

- In a bed that is filled op in the right way and is given sufficient time to dry, raking is not necessary.

- In shallow beds, such as cubicles with mattresses, (and a tube on the back edge) the biobedding remains dryer but will soon disappear from the cubicles. Bedding more frequently can improve comfort.

- With deep boxes it is recommended first to fill with sand and limit the thickness of the bed on top of sand to 15 cm. The barrier in front of the cubicle should also be 15 cm higher than the back edge.