. 2010 Mar 18;87(11):3736–3745. doi: 10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(04)73512-2

Table 5.

Physical characteristics of bedding, bacterial count, amount used, and cost of 5 bedding materials.

Item	Granite fines	Sand	Rice hulls	Wheat straw	Wood shavings	SE
Bedding score¹	2.1^m ⁿ	2.5^m	2.0ⁿ	1.9ⁿ	1.8ⁿ	0.16
Temperature, °C
d 0 to 42	25.8^o	26.3^o	27.2ⁿ	28.1^m	27.2ⁿ	0.29
pH
d 0	8.8^a ^bc	7.8^d	6.3^f	7.2^e	5.1^g	0.08
d 14	8.6^bc	8.7^bc	8.6^bc	8.2^d	7.9^d	0.05
d 28	8.4^c	8.6^bc	8.6^bc	8.2^d	8.1^d	0.05
d 42	8.8^a ^b	9.0^a	8.7^bc	8.5^c	8.6^bc	0.05
Gram-negative bacteria, log₁₀ cfu/g
d 0	3.2^hi	3.1ⁱ	5.1^fg	2.3ⁱ	4.2^gh	0.17
d 14	6.5^a ^b	6.1^bcd	6.1^bcde	6.9^a	6.2^bcd	0.10
d 28	6.4^a ^bc	6.0^bcde	5.5^ef	6.3^a ^bc	5.9^cdef	0.10
d 42	6.1^bcd	6.0^bcde	5.7^def	6.4^a ^bc	6.3^a ^bcd	0.10
Coliform, log₁₀ cfu/g
d 0	1.1^l	2.3^jkl	5.0^bcd	1.8^kl	3.0^hijk	0.21
d 14	5.2^bc	3.9^fgh	4.9^bcd	6.7^a	5.5^b	0.12
d 28	4.1^defg	2.9^ij	4.1^defg	5.5^b	4.2^def	0.12
d 42	3.9^efgh	3.4^ghi	4.1^defg	5.6^b	4.7^cde	0.12
Material added, kg
d 0	190^a	160.1^b	10^efg	7.5^fgh	15^def	1.46
d 21	17.9^de	22.7^cd	1.1^h	1.1^h	3.8^gh	1.46
d 35	31.2^c	33.4^c	2.1^gh	1.5^gh	3.4^gh	1.46
Total used, kg/pen	239.1^m	219.7ⁿ	13.4^o	10.1^o	22.2^o	4.92
Total cost², $/pen	0.53ⁿ	0.97^m	0.07^p	1.01^m	0.24^o	0.03

^{a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i.j.l}

Means within a category without a common superscript letter differ (P < 0.05); bedding by day interaction (P < 0.05).

^m,n,o,p

Means within a row without a common superscript letter differ (P < 0.05).

Bedding score 1 = dry and clean to 5 = > 80% of surface dirty and wet.

Costs did not include ground limestone rock for base (99 kg/pen = $1.71). Calculated based on a cost/ 100 kg of $0.22 for granite fines, $0.44 for sand, $0.50 for rice hulls, $10 for long wheat straw, and $1.10 for wood shavings.