Translations:Manfred Klett: Von der Agrartechnologie zur Landbaukunst/1081/en

The deep-litter house does, however, require the highest straw input — up to 15 kg per animal per day — compared with the loose-housing treading-manure system at 3 to 5 kg and the bedded cubicle-run house at 0.5 to 1 kg. In the interests of solid manure production and thereby of minimising slurry accumulation, the quantities of bedding in the treading-manure and cubicle-run systems can be increased accordingly. A combination of tie-stall housing — for feeding and tending — with overnight stays in the deep-litter house reduces straw requirements. The uppermost bedding layers of the deep-litter house, the lying mattress, warm up to around 30°C and pass through the first phase of the compost heap — that is, the heat phase — with moderate breakdown of substance. Under the treading pressure of the animals, the layers beneath compact; they cool down and enter fermentation processes; deprived of air, they become subject to increasing fermentation. Analogous to phase 2 of the compost heap, the rampant proliferation of microbes, of

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