A Review: Effect of Bedding Material on Production, Reproduction and Health and Behavior of Dairy Animals

Abstract

Proper housing is necessary to obtain improved production, reproduction, health performances along with the well-being of dairy animals. Proper bedding is an inevitable part of proper housing. It provides overall comfort, encourages production performance, and helps in avoiding injuries and lameness to the dairy animals. It is equally important to have proper bedding for better udder health of dairy animal. There can be various bedding materials for the animals like sand, wood shavings, rubberized mats, concrete floor, saw dust, straws, etc. Selecting a good bedding material is always advisable for better health, production and reproduction performance of dairy animals. New approaches are being made to enhance the comfort level of dairy animals for which they are provided with suitable bedding materials. Selection of bedding material may depend also upon various climatic conditions. This review article enlightens the important research works done in this field for better understanding and selection of proper bedding material for dairy animals.