Comfort for the Cows - Barn design

[Guest guest]

ISCOWP (Balabhadra Dasa & Chaya Dasi - USA) wrote:

 

>SB 10.8.16

>PURPORT:

>

>For the cowherd men and the cows, Krsna is the supreme friend. Therefore He

>is worshiped by the prayer namo-brahmanya devaya go-brahmana-hitaya ca. His

>pastimes in Gokula, His dhama, are always favorable to the brahmanas and the

>cows. His first business is to give all comfort to the cows and the

>brahmanas. In fact, comfort for the brahmanas is secondary, and comfort for

>the cows is His first concern.

>

 

It's interesting that you should post this quote. I was just thinking

of it when I saw the new issue of Dairy Herd Management.

 

In big 2 inch letters across the front cover was the theme for this

issue: "Make Them Comfortable." The photo showed two cows resting

quite comfortably in their stalls.

 

Sometimes it seems ironic that the karmis -- who ultimately slaughter

their cows -- so often provide nice facilities for their cows that

devotees, whose religion is supposed to be, as Prabhupada indicates in

the quote above, to make the cows comfortable. In spite of their

fundamental and significant philosophical mistake -- still there is a

lot we can learn from them about improving our cow facilities. Below is

an article on barn design -- oriented to cow comfort -- from the current

issue of Dairy Herd Management http://www.dairyherd.com Although

much of it is oriented to commercial herds, which are much larger than

devotee herds, there are many useful points to consider. Also, when

trying to raise funds for different cow program improvements, sometimes

GBC or donors will be swayed when we can demonstrate that these are the

professional standards, even among people who kill their cows. Surely,

Krsna's cows deserve at least as good or better.

 

I'll post their other article -- comfortable stall design -- in a

separate note.

 

your servant,

 

Hare Krsna dasi

 

******************

 

Dairy Herd Management (2/1/2003)

AVOID THESE 7 MISTAKES IN BARN DESIGN

By Shirley Roenfeldt

When it comes to building free-stall barns, "We've learned a lot over

the years. However, when visiting dairies, it's also evident that we

still have a few things we can do better when it comes to ***cow

comfort,***" says Dan McFarland, extension agricultural engineer, Penn

State University.

 

There are five things you should never take away from a cow, says

McFarland. In order to produce up to their potential cows need good air

quality, ***a dry comfy resting place,*** good access to feed, good

access to water, and confident footing. Unfortunately, when push comes

to shove during construction, sacrifices often get made that impact the

cow negatively.

 

Remember, you don't have to pay for the building tomorrow, says Brian

Perkins, technical services specialist with Monsanto Dairy Business in

Canandaigua, N.Y. You can amortize it out over a few years in order to

help with cash flow. Otherwise, if you make too many sacrifices during

construction, you could end up with a new barn that's "cow-unfriendly

and will limit milk production 10 years from now," he says.

 

Sometimes, changes have to be made. Just be sure that any changes you

make are based on what's best for the cows. After all, they pay the bills.

Listed below are seven of the most common mistakes still made in barn

design. Use this guide to help you avoid making the same mistakes.

 

Mistake #1 Skimping on barn width.

 

Why it happens: If you reduce the footprint of the barn, you reduce the

overall cost. The thought is that if you take 6 inches from here and 6

inches from there, it won't hurt anything, explains John Smith,

extension dairy specialist at Kansas State University. However, by the

time you get done stealing a few inches from each dimension, soon your

100-foot wide four-row free-stall barn becomes a 95-foot wide barn. That

makes a big difference to your cows.

 

The goal: A four-row free-stall barn should be 100 feet wide. That's two

10-foot back alleys, two sets of head-to-head free-stalls at 16 feet

apiece, two front alleys at a width of 14 feet apiece, and a center

drive-through feed alley at 20 feet. Added up, you need a 100-foot wide

barn.

 

When you start scrimping on those dimensions, you could end up driving

over the feed put out for the cows because the feed alley is too narrow.

Or, cows could hang out of the back of stalls, causing stall usage to go

down.

 

Mistake #2 Too short of sidewalls.

 

Why it happens: Reducing sidewall height is one way a contractor will

tell you that he can help save you money. In addition, some contractors

don't like to work on roofs with the recommended 4/12 pitch and will

urge you to change the pitch in order to reduce cost further.

 

However, both of these changes will make it more difficult to ventilate

your free-stall barn properly.

 

The taller the sidewall, the more available space above the cows to let

air in and out of the building. By moving more air, you can do a better

job of removing dust, humidity and odors from the air to keep the cows

comfortable. And, with a higher roof, the cows are that much further

removed from the radiant heat that the roof gives off in the summertime.

 

The goal: For sidewalls, the minimum recommended height is 12 feet.

However, that is quickly moving to 14 feet, and in warmer climates

sidewall heights of 16 feet are becoming common.

 

You also will need to ensure that the roof is built with the correct

pitch and adequate ridge openings. Currently, the recommended pitch is

4/12 -- 4 inches in rise for every 12 inches of barn width. For the

ridge opening, you will need 3 inches of open space for every 10 feet of

barn width.

 

Mistake #3 Not enough crossovers.

 

Why it happens: If you want to get a few more stalls in the barn, it's

tempting to cut out a crossover or reduce crossover width.

 

However, doing that means cows will have fewer places to get water, and

cows that use the stalls located away from the feed alley will have to

walk farther in order to access feed. And, boss cows will have an easier

time staking out a water tank in the summer and preventing others from

using it, and even from getting to the feed bunk.

 

"I still walk into barns and see crossovers placed every 140 to 150

feet," says Perkins. "That's just not a good decision for the cows."

 

The goal: For every group of animals, you want three crossovers -- one

on each end of the pen (this prevents dead-end alleys) and one in the

center of the group. Crossovers should be located every 100 feet at a

minimum.

 

Researchers have found, as a general rule, that cows clean up the bunk

space closest to the crossovers -- 30 feet in each direction of the

crossover to be precise. Therefore, placing crossovers closer together

will lend cows greater access to the feed, and you'll have more of the

bunk cleaned up.

 

Based on those observations, McFarland recommends the construction of

crossovers every 60 to 80 feet.

 

Crossovers must be 14 feet wide. That way, you have room for a 2-foot

wide waterer, room for cows to stand and drink at the tank, plus room

for two-way cow traffic behind the cows at the tank.

 

Research conducted by Kansas State University shows that the middle

crossover is the most popular -- 40 percent of the water consumed by

cows in free-stalls comes from that location. To accommodate the cows

and encourage intake, some producers have installed a 16-foot center

crossover with water tanks on each side, (see picture on page 27) or

installed a center island water tank that cows can access from both sides.

 

Mistake # 4 Don't settle for poor concrete work.

 

Why it happens: The lowest bid is not always the best bid for your cows.

Before you select a contractor, ask for references and view the work

they have completed on other dairy facilities. Go to facilities where

the work was done recently, as well as facilities completed a few years

ago, and examine the quality of finish and grooving.

 

The goal: Cows need confident footing that does not injure. That means

grooved concrete floors, with grooves spaced 2 inches apart. Flooring in

the cow areas should be flat, smooth and grooves cut at right angles.

(Please see "Get a good groove" in the December 2002 issue of Dairy Herd

Management.)

Eating surfaces should be as smooth as you can get.

 

Mistake # 5 Using a north-south orientation for your barn.

 

Why it happens: Many still believe that barn orientation doesn't make

that much difference, or that sidewall curtains can block the sun from

entering the barn without impeding air flow. However, research at Kansas

State University shows that orienting your barn east-west is the better

choice for cow comfort.

 

The goal: An east-west orientation allows you to take advantage of

prevailing winds, reduce the amount of direct sunlight entering the

barn, and minimize heat stress on the cows. All are good reasons to

rethink this issue. (Please see "Orient your free-stall barn east/west"

in the May 2001 issue of Dairy Herd Management.)

 

Mistake #6 Not matching your barn with your management plan.

 

Why it happens: Part of the decision of whether to build a four-row or a

six-row barn must be based on how you manage your cows. If you build a

six-row barn to maximize the number of cows you can put in an allocated

space, but still plan to use headlocks for vaccinations, bST shots,

A.I., and pregnancy checks, you're just asking for trouble. You won't be

able to lock up all of the cows at once, and cows won't be able to use

each of the narrower headlocks that people tend to select in that

situation. With narrow headlocks -- 24 inches on center -- cows' bodies

are wider than the headlock space and they tend to pie out, rendering

some headlock spaces unusable.

 

The goal: If you want to build a six-row barn, you need to also build a

palpation rail for cow-management activities and use a post-and-rail

feeding system, says Smith. However, if you prefer to use headlocks to

manage your cows, then build a four-row barn.

 

McFarland suggests using headlock that are 27 to 30 inches wide. You

don't want cows to have to twist or tilt their heads to get in and out

of the headlock.

 

Mistake # 7 Not matching manure-management system with bedding type.

 

Why it happens: Sometimes people just don't think far enough ahead.

You've got to remember, not all bedding types and manure-handling

systems will work well in any barn. You must first design your barn for

cow comfort -- that includes your selection of bedding. Then, after

those parameters have been set you should design a manure system that

will work in that barn. This is especially true of sand bedding.

 

"Too many times," says Perkins, "I see somebody design a manure system

that won't handle sand and then they build a cow-unfriendly barn because

they made mistakes on their manure system."

 

The goal: Decide what type of bedding you will use, and what type of

manure handling system you want before you ever pour any concrete.

 

While this list doesn't cover all of the mistakes made in free-stall

barn construction, it does point out that taking the time to do it right

is well worth your time. Spend more time thinking about the entire

process -- and how every change affects the cows -- in order to come out

with a completed product that meets or exceeds your goals.