Care and Housing

Question 1

What aspects of location must be considered when creating housing?

Answer 1

• Weather (protect from extremes)
• Other sheds (wind direction)
• Water drainage (run off into shed)
• Access for farmer (distance)

Question 2

What aspects of ventilation must be considered when creating housing?

Answer 2

• Temperature
• Humidity
• Transfer of disease (stocking density, air borne pathogens)
• Air quality (ammonia, dust (bedding), CO2, hydrogen sulphide.

Question 3

What aspects of air flow must be considered when creating housing?

Answer 3

Natural Ventilation - Common in livestock sheds. Uses stack effect.
Mechanical ventilation - uses a fan or a duct to draw in or extract air out. Extracting version more popular.

Question 4

What sort of ventilation method is the most appropriate for calves?

Answer 4

Mechanical ventilation because the calves don’t generate enough heat to cause sufficient upward air movement for the stack effect to work effectively.

Question 5

What is the stack effect?

Answer 5

Warm air rises creating a constant movement of air - cold air enters through space boarding. If cobwebs are present - shows that the stack effect is not working efficiently.

Question 6

What aspects of flooring and bedding must be considered when creating housing?

Answer 6

Slatted floors - removes waste from direct contact, reduces moisture and ammonia buildup, but still needs emptying.
Concrete floor - needs to be non-slip and scraped regularly.
Wet floors can create issues, for example slips, falls, humidity, and foot disorders.

Question 7

What are 4 types of bedding material that can be used?

Answer 7

Straw
Wood shavings
Sawdust
Sand

Question 8

What 3 types of beds can be used in dairy yards? What are the pros and cons of these?

Answer 8

1) Loose yard; good = comfort, normal behavior expressed, less risk of slips and harm. Bad = lots of bedding, mastitis risk, treading on teats.
2) Cubicles; good = Cheap for bedding, more cows per building, cleaner. Bad = more complicated, greater capital investment, variable comfort, not as natural for behavior, more risk of lameness and injury.
3) Tie stalls - illegal in UK. Good = less bullying and spread of disease. Bad = less ability to express natural behaviors.