Housing III: Design & Considerations

Question 1

Basic concepts of housing cattle

Answer 1

• Comfortable, clean, well-drained and dry lying area.
• Shelter from adverse weather.
• Space to allow the animal to move, lie down and rise freely as well as access to adequate food and water.
• Adequate provision of calving pens and sick pens.
• Provision for isolation and quarantine of bought-in animals in a separate building

Question 2

Wet and soiled cubicle beds associated with:

Answer 2

• Increase risk of udder disease • Lameness and claw lesions

* physical damage to the cows • Soiled hooves and bedding

Question 3

Cubicles – design & considerations

Answer 3

Appropriate cubicle length
̶ accommodate the need for both forward lunging space and rear clearance to ensure the animal doesn’t soil the bedding
Wide enough
̶ for the cow to lie down without rubbing against the partitions but narrow enough to prevent them turning around.

Question 4

optimum cow comfort

Answer 4

Extra feed and resting space and wider travel lanes all help provide optimum cow comfort

Question 5

Cubicles main priorities on most farms are:

Answer 5

Bed comfort and cushioning.
̶ Hock sores suggest the bedding material are too abrasive.
Cubicle access.
̶ At least one useable cubicle positions per cow. Accumulations of slurry in one alley and
cows queuing for cubicles reveal a preference that needs equalising.
Cubicle divider design and positioning
̶ Cows show a clear preference for wider cubicles and high neck rails, reflecting their fear of striking these as they lie down or rise, roughly 12 times per day.
̶ Lying times can be influenced by design.
̶ Neck calluses, rib swellings, stifle hair-loss, back swellings indicate a need for alteration.

Question 6

Loose Housing

Answer 6

̶ Important to have appropriate design of yards, avoiding dampness and contamination from water troughs and narrow entry points.
̶ Separate housing of first calving heifers should be considered

Question 7

Cow Comfort

Answer 7

̶ Use of grooming aids

̶ Brushes have proven to positively contribute to the welfare of housed animals.

Question 8

Ventilation

Answer 8

Key aspects include:
̶ Adequate air space in the building
̶ An open ridge to allow ‘chimney ‘effect to allow stale air to escape and avoid dust.
̶ Draughts /excessive air speed around the animals - will increase the rate at which they lose heat in cold weather.

Question 9

Surfaces and Flooring

Answer 9

The lying surface of a housing system can influence udder health.
Floor surface must be easy to keep clean.
Flooring must be non-slip to avoid injury, particular around feeding or non- bedded areas.
A good floor should:
̶ provides a relatively dry walking surface
̶ provide firm and comfortable footing ̶ durable

Question 10

Types of flooring

Answer 10

Grooved flooring
Slatted flooring
Rubber slatted flooring

Question 11

Rubber flooring

Answer 11

More comfortable for cattle than slats due to:
̶ less mechanical force on cows feet when standing
̶ cows more confident when getting up or down
̶ increased thermal comfort when they are lying down

Question 12

Health warning - Hydrogen sulphide (H2S)

Answer 12

• H2S - extremely toxic gas that can be released by slurry stored below slats.
• Death from inhaling fumes released into sheds with slatted floors.
• Smell is similar to rotten eggs.
• Loss of the sense of smell at high concentrations.
• Main risk occurs when slurry is agitated
• A secondary risk of H2S release occurs if an alkaline product such as limestone dust/gypsum from bedding products is mixed into the slurry.

Question 13

Lighting

Answer 13

• Required for efficient and safe working.
• Light intensity is measured in units of lux.
• A daily period of darkness (<30 lux) is essential to maintain hormone balance in cattle.
• The concentration of plasma prolactin was reported to be low during the dark hours than during the light hours (Gustafson, 1994)

Question 14

Impact of housing on cattle health and welfare

Answer 14

• Studies have shown that the welfare quality of dairy cows is greatly influenced by the housing system (Popescu et al., 2013).
• Loose system is more advantageous when it comes to the feeding, housing and behaviour of the dairy cow.
• Free stalls had a 6% lower prevalence of lameness than tie stalls
• Cows in stalls with a long lying area had, on average, a 10% lower prevalence of lameness in 1999 and a 4% lower prevalence in 2000 compared to cows in stalls with a short lying area
• Injuries of the skin around the joints were 12% and 16% less frequent in free stalls than in tie stalls (Regula et al., 2003).

Question 15

Basic concepts of housing for pigs

Answer 15

• Group size and dynamics to accommodate ease of management
• Space allocation and pen shape or layout.
• Flooring – particularly slat and gap widths etc.
• Space divisions/mixing pens to facilitate social hierarchy formation and stability.
• Space to segregate individual sows if necessary.
• Ability to attend to and feed individual animals.
• Temperature and heating

Question 16

Farrowing accommodation

Answer 16

Farrowing crates reduce the risk of preweaning live born mortality attributable to crushing

Question 17

Weaner, Grower and Finisher Accommodation

Answer 17

Can utilise slatted floors for greater hygiene, solid floors or a combination of both.

Question 18

Housing on health & welfare of pigs

Answer 18

• Increased mortality due to crushing has been reported in loose housing systems.
• Poor pen design associated with a risk of colostrum intake being impaired
• Limited space for boars restricts their freedom of movement and can promote body lesions in the mating area, enhanced with bad flooring conditions.
• Stress due to insufficient space allowance in loose housed sows (< 2.25 metre sq/ sow)

Question 19

Basic concept of poultry housing

Answer 19

Requirements for poultry housing:
̶ Protect from the wind, rain, and the effects of rapid changes in temperature.
̶ Dry at all times, and provide good ventilation while being free from draughts.
̶ Birds should not need to walk more than 3m to find water and food
̶ Dark areas to be avoided except for nest boxes.

Question 20

Housing and health issues in poultry

Answer 20

• Ammonia levels correlated with the moisture levels in the litter.
• Ammonia volatilised from broiler litter diminishes indoor air quality, which
can potentially decrease bird productivity.
• Controlling ammonia in the broiler house can reduce ammonia generated by between 38-77%.
• Improved broiler welfare and meat quality reported on housing enriched with perches, sand bedding and wood shavings has been reported.

Question 21

Design and considerations sheep housing

Answer 21

There are many different types of housing that can be used for sheep. Traditional barns, pole buildings, and metal buildings are usually the most expensive, but they provide the best protection for the shepherd, sheep, feed, and equipment.

Space requirements

When confined to a building, a bred ewe requires 12 to 16 square feet of pen space. Lambing pens should be 16 to 25 square feet in size. In group housing, a ewe with her lambs needs 16 to 20 square feet. Feeder lambs need 8 to 10 square feet.

Less space is required if sheep are raised on slatted floors or if they have access to an exercise area or pasture. Shearing before housing will allow stocking rates in the barn to be increased by up to 20%.

Ventilation

Barns should not be heated or closed up. Good ventilation is an absolute must. Respiratory problems (e.g. pneumonia and bronchitis) often result from poor ventilation. If ammonia can be smelled in the barn, ventilation is likely inadequate. It is always a good idea to sit at the same level as the sheep to determine the air quality they are breathing.
Bedding

Bedding provides warmth, insulation, and comfort to housed animals. Various materials can be used for bedding for sheep, depending upon cost and availability: straw, hay, dried corn stalks, corn cobs, peanut hulls, cottonseed hulls, oat hulls, sawdust, wood shavings, wood chips, pine shavings, sand, paper products, peat, hemp, and leaves. Each type of bedding has advantages and disadvantages.