Hello Sir
During erection of a house for dairy cattle, care should be taken to provide comfortable' accommodation for an individual cattle.
consider (1) proper sanitation, (1) durability, (3) arrangements for the production of clean milk under convenient and economic conditions, etc.
The points which should be considered before the erection of dairy buildings are as follows.
A dairy building should be at a higher elevation than the surrounding ground to offer a good slope for rainfall and drainage for the wastes of the dairy to avoid stagnation within. A leveled area requires less site preparation and thus lesser cost of building. Low lands and depressions and proximity to places of bad odour should be avoided.
Fertile soil should be spared for cultivation. Foundation soils as far as possible should not be too dehydrated or desiccated. Such a soil is susceptible to considerable swelling during rainy season and exhibit numerous cracks and fissures.
A dairy building should be located to a maximum exposure to the sun in the north and minimum exposure to the sun in the south and protection from prevailing strong wind currents whether hot or cold. Buildings should be placed so that direct sunlight can reach the platforms, gutters and mangers in the cattle shed. As far as possible, the long axis of the dairy barns should be set in the north-south direction to have the maximum benefit of the sun.
The entire shed should be surrounded by a boundary wall of. 5" height from three side and manger etc., on one side. The feeding area should be provided with 2 to 2 ½ feet of manger space per cow. All along the manger, there shall be 10" wide water trough to provide clean, even, available drinking water. The water trough thus constructed will also minimize the loss of fodders during feeding. Near the manger, under the roofed house 5' wide floor should be paved with bricks having a little slope.
Beyond that, there should be open unpaved area (40'X35') surrounded by 5' wall with one gate. It is preferable that animals face north when they are eating fodder under the shade. During cold wind in winter the animals will automatically lie down to have the protection from the walls.
Shed for calves
On one side of the main cattle shed there be fully covered shed "10'x15' to accommodate young calves. Such sheds with suitable partitioning, may also serve as calving pen under adverse climatic conditions. Beyond this covered area there should be a 20'x10' open area having boundary wall so that calves may move there freely.
In this way both calf and cattle sheds will need in all 50'x50' area for 20 adult cows and followers. If one has limited resources, he can build ordinary, Katcha/semikatcha boundary walls but feeding and water trough should be cemented ones.
Cow sheds can be arranged in a single row if the numbers of cows are small. Say less than 10 or in a double row if the herd is a large one. Ordinarily, not more than 80 to 100 cows should be placed in one building. In double row housing, the stable should be so arranged that the cows face out (tails to tail system) or face in (head to head system) as preferred.
The surface of the cowshed should be laid with a gradient of 1" to 1 14" from manger to excreta channel. An overall floor space of 65 to 70 sq.ft. Per adult cow should be satisfactory.
A height of 8 feet at the sides and 15 feet at the ridge will be sufficient to give the necessary air space to the cows. An adult cow requires at least about 800 cubic feet of air space under tropical conditions. To make ventilation more effective a continuous ridge ventilation is considered most desirable.
The animal sheds should have proper facilities for milking barns, calf pens, calving pens and arrangement for store rooms etc. In each shed, there should be arrangement for feeding manger, drinking area and loafing area. The shed may be cemented or brick paved, but in any case it should be easy to clean. The floor should be rough, so that animals will not slip. The drains in the shed should be shallow and preferably covered with removable tiles. The drain should have a gradient of 1" for every 10" length. The roof may be of corrugated cement sheet, asbestos or brick and rafters. Cement concrete roofing is too expensive. Inside the open unpaved area it is always desirable to plant some good shady trees for excellent protection against direct cold winds in winter and to keep cool in summer.
for cowshed economics pls contact
Professor & Head,
Department of Animal Husbandry
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University
Coimbatore - 641 003.
Ph: 0422-6611212
Dr.N.Anandaraja.,Ph.D
Assistant Professor
e-Extension Centre
Directorate of Extension Education
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University
Coimbatore - 641 003.
