In order for the livestock farm to function most actively, it is necessary to provide for a number of important points during its arrangement, one of which is the manure removal system. The waste products of farm animals pollute the territory of livestock holdings and worsen the working conditions of service personnel. They also have an extremely negative impact on the environment, and therefore the timely and highest quality disposal of this kind of waste is necessary.
Cows in the barn
Types of manure removal systems
The option of choosing a manure removal system depends not only on the features of the arrangement, the size and location of the farm itself and the method of keeping livestock, but also on the possibility of further use of manure as a fertilizer.
There are two ways of manure removal systems:
- mechanical;
- hydraulic (flush and gravity systems).
Mechanical
This method of manure removal is considered one of the most common in rural areas and on private small-scale farms with a traditional litter method of keeping animals. Cleaning of the territory from accumulated waste is carried out mechanically using various kinds of conveyors.
So, on a small scale, these can be ordinary shovels, but if we are talking about enterprises of a larger format, then we use:
- scraper tools of circular action;
- rod conveyors;
- reciprocating scrapers;
- suspended or ground trolleys.
Scraper
Along the contour of the farm premises, paddock or sections, there are manure ditches, where manure is removed with the help of scrapers powered by an electric motor. Electrification and partial automation of equipment reduce the labor costs of workers and qualitatively affect the functionality of an agricultural enterprise.
Reference. As a result of the operation of such a system, a universal type fertilizer is produced – solid manure, which is disinfected through composting.
Гидравлический
This method has several varieties.
There is a flushing system, which is designed for daily flushing of channels, obviously built into the floors of the room, with water using special nozzles. Excrement is removed either with a flowing stream of water, or the pressure is increased by means of a booster pump. When mixed with water, animal waste turns into slurry, which flows into an extensive sewer. It is stored there for a certain time.
The gravity system ensures the removal of manure, which also accumulates in the longitudinal channels, but this happens due to the discharge of animal waste when opening special gate valves – valves built into the pens. To do this, manure channels are made with a rounded edge and placed in a cascade so that the level decreases when approaching the manure collector and the slurry moves freely along these rapids. Most often, this method of manure removal, as well as a flush system, is used for non-bedding and preferably box keeping of animals.
Important! In both cases, no less useful fertilizer is created – liquid manure. But the storage of such fertilizer is very expensive and requires special standards, including sanitary ones, and therefore such systems are not always used.
Features of manure cleaning in barns
In modern barns, it is common to store manure under the floor. During the construction of such a farm for cattle, the floors are equipped with slotted depressions and an extensive storage under them, where manure is subsequently placed. It falls into the floor or is trampled there by animals, after which it is cleaned with scraper tools.
This procedure is carried out once a year or seasonally. Despite its practicality, barn manure removal in this way is not so popular. Completing the floor with slotted holes made of cast iron or reinforced concrete is costly and experts call the construction of farms of this type expensive.
barn
Conclusion
Taking into account the features of the device and the functionality of each particular farm, its remoteness from waste disposal sites, the form and specifics of keeping animals, you should choose the most appropriate manure removal system. Currently, farmers are trying to modernize already known methods, as well as using combined methods of manure removal. The hydromechanical method is recognized as very effective, when the cleaning of slurry and solid waste from the longitudinal channels is carried out by stationary manure harvesting units, and the transportation and unloading of manure from the transverse channels occurs due to hydraulic systems.
