Changed floor requirements for calves – new version of the German ordinance on calf husbandry (TierSchNutztV)

The new ordinance has been in force since 29.01.2021. It specifies the floor requirements for calves up to 6 months old with regard to animal welfare. The new requirements with a transitional period of 3 years do not only affect fattening of veal calves and beef calves – bull fatteners and dairy farmers are also partly affected.

What is new?

“General requirements for keeping calves” are supplemented. The lying areas must now be both dry and soft or elastically deformable (section 5 1/1). This change is based on the implementation of Council Directive 2008/119/EC, according to which the lying areas for calves must be “comfortable”.

What does this mean in practice?

Slatted floors in calf pens must be covered with soft-elastic flooring, for example rubber mats. Plastic slats,
wooden and concrete slats do not meet the new requirements for soft-elastic floors, so retrofitting is necessary
here.

What remains valid?

Up to now, a maximum slit width of 2.5 cm already has applied. For slats with elastic coverings, a maximum of 3 cm. These specifications will be controlled more closely in the future in the case of any partial covering.

Which products meet the requirements of the
TierSchNutztV ordinance?

In order to be sure that the chosen products comply with the TierSchNutztV ordinance, you should ask the manufacturer to confirm compliance with DIN 3763 (quality standards regarding elastic floorings). KRAIBURG products used in fattening of veal calves, beef calves and young cattle rearing – i. e. the product ranges KURA and LOSPA – are DIN-compliant (KURA: class 2, LOSPA: class 1).

Download KRAIBURG focus as PDF file:

Changed floor requirements for calves (TierSchNutztV)

Find out more!

For more detailed information have a look at: