Care should be taken when spraying oil not to inhale the mist. Do not use a sprayer that will atomize the oil into fine particles and avoid spraying around animals. Milk-house wastewater is sometimes directed into the channel to provide extra water. Care must be taken since excessive amounts of milk-house wastewater left in channels within barns can result in odors. The channel width for these units can vary from 4 to 10 feet, sometimes more, and usually depends on the slat construction.
Good management is critical to the successful operation of gravity-flow channels under slats.
The consistency and movement of manure should be carefully watched at all times because the wider channels expose a larger manure surface to the air, which can cause it to dry rather than flow, especially during dry weather. Units that have sloped areas feeding manure through the slats and into a channel can also cause problems because manure tends to build up on the channel's side walls. Such problems are minimized when the slats run perpendicular to the channel flow. Flow of manure through slats can also be slowed by freezing temperatures or the buildup of hay and feed along feed bunks. The consistency of manure varies with the number and type of animals.