PastureMat®, PackMat™ and Poly Pillow™, the premier “patented” cow mattress bedding systems, has since 1990 been providing a product that achieves the highest levels of animal comfort and product durability at reduced costs. This combination makes all other cow mattresses obsolete!

PastureMat® or PackMat™ System Components

The Mattress

The mattress forms the stable base of the PastureMat® or PackMat™ bedding systems. It comes currently in 5 standard lengths, (54”, 60”, 63”, 66”, or 72”); depending upon the size of animal it is needed for. The mattress is a 12 celled (multi-celled) product that contains recycled tire rubber crumbs. The tire rubber is 99.9% free of wire.

The Top Cover

Depending upon the bedding system used, either PastureMat® or PackMat™, the top cover will be chosen to fulfill those needs. Each top cover has proven its durability and longevity over 15 years of trials in tie stall and free stall applications. It has a reinforcing scrim on the back to eliminate stretching possibilities. Each installation determines the type of top cover that will be used. No matter which top cover is used, though, the top cover always starts out the same.

The PackMat™ bedding system uses a CS untreated top cover which is porous. We call it the “white” top cover. This is our starting base top cover.

The PastureMat® bedding system uses either the CS treated or the VRC Latex top cover. Each top cover starts as our base, but is later treated two different ways. The CS treated top cover, also known as the “gold” cover, is treated with paraffin wax which makes it water resistant. For fifteen years this has been the standard bearer in top covers in the industry. The new VRC Latex top cover, also known as the “grey” cover, was developed to fulfill a need in the industry. It is treated with a vulcanized rubber compound (latex) which makes it waterproof. Each product has been impregnated or injected with their specific treatment.

The Premium Pad™

Three years ago, dairymen were asking us to provide more padding to the PastureMat®. We developed the Premium Pad™ that can be added to the PastureMat® bedding system. It is a resilient foam pad with tremendous memory life that is placed between the mattress and the selected top cover. Some dairymen have added this to revitalize existing mattresses.

The Poly Pillow™

The Poly Pillow™ is an ergonomically-designed plastic brisket barrier that places the dairy cow correctly while lying down. It is friendly to the cow’s legs, especially the dew claws, and her brisket than wooden or concrete brisket boards. It allows natural leg extensions to take place with ease. The Poly Pillow™ also allows the dairy cow to rise naturally extending one front leg forward while getting up.

Important Notes:

With any system it would be best to contact your local representative to show you the options and provide the proper installation that will best suit your Cow Comfort program. They will be able to show you each specific bedding system and give you the positives and negatives about each option. All costing is dependent upon specific dairy situations and the type of management each dairy wants to achieve. For additional information please contact us via email at info@cowcomfortzone.com or phone at 920-766-0603 or US toll free at 800-236-0603.

PastureMat® and PackMat™

Both bedding systems feel and behave like natural pasture. It provides firm footing for cows without pillowing forward. They absorb the shock of repeated impacts and eliminate the risk of injury to even the heaviest cows. PastureMat® provides the ideal surface for all bedding materials except sand. PackMat™ provides the ideal surface to be used with sand, but also other bedding materials.

There is one major difference between PastureMat® and PackMat™. PastureMat® is installed over concrete. PackMat™ was the first mattress system that is installed over tamped gravel, sand, or dirt.

Over 40 years, dairymen have been using sand as a bedding material in dairy barns. Sand, when used as bedding, has some deficiencies that dairies have been struggling with since the beginning. The two situations that keep cropping up is consistency and manure handling.

The PackMat™ bedding system was developed to solve these problems. First it provides a more consistent base. Videotape analysis shows that dairy cows love comfortable consistency. With the base staying the same day in and day out, and with proper stall dimension, we lower one of the stress factors in the cows’ environment. No more does the dairymen have to spend hours raking trying to get a consistent stall base. Second, it removes sand from the manure system. According to the experts the dairy cow will remove 40 – 75 pounds of sand per day into the alley. Most dairymen with the PackMat™ bedding system have found a sand savings of 50 – 80%. Less sand being used in stalls means less sand out into the manure handling system. This is great news for pumps and lagoons. Thus, problems such as digging and large amounts of sand in the manure are in the past. This allows the dairy to have all the benefits of sand.

The key to either the PastureMat® or PackMat™ bedding system is bedding maintenance by the dairy. Each system has to be cleaned by removing the wetted or dirtied bedding when necessary. Dairymen have found that bedding less and more often is the proper routine that works in keeping the cows clean. Also proper alley cleaning assists in keeping the bedding clean longer. As you can see, nothing can eliminate proper manure management.