Feeding Floors and Barnyard Pavements
The saving principle of feeding floors has long been recognized by successful breeders and feeders of live stock. The trouble, heretofore, has been to obtain an entirely satisfactory material for floor construction.
Disadvantages of Wooden Floors
Wooden floors kept the feed out of the mud and dust and not only saved every particle of grain but also prevented wheezing coughs and otherwise temporarily improved the health of the animal. However, in a short time, the best wooden floors rotted out and became infected with disease germs. Often floors had to be burned to free the farm of hog cholera.
Advantages of Concrete
In concrete the farmer and ranchman have found an ideal floor material. Such floors not only effect a saving in feed, a shortening in the time of fattening and a decrease in labor, but also afford perfect protection to the health of the animal. Concrete floors do not soak up water and therefore cannot become infected with disease germs. Their surfaces can be easily cleaned and thoroughly disinfected with oils and dips. Rats cannot nest under them. Careful tests have shown that concrete floors, through the saving of grain and manure alone, pay for themselves in the short period of one year.
How to Build Feeding Floors
Feeding floors are merely several sidewalks laid side by side, and the same general rules of construction (given under [ Sidewalks],page 28) apply to them. Choose a site in the lot where the ground is slightly sloping, well drained and wind protected, and convenient to feed and water.