In Sweden, there has been a continuous increase in the volume of housing construction for
dairy cattle. Since 2004, the number of new, rebuilt and extended dairy cow houses undergoing preliminary inspection by the authorities has grown. The livestock farms have mostly focused on cow units instead of calf and heifer sheds; which has led to a need for information in this area. The purpose of the study was to improve advisors’ knowledge about bovine building construction and function; to enable them to provide more qualified advice to conventional and organic milk producers who sustain larger herds. The result of this effort was aimed at the production of healthier calves and heifers.
A literature review has been carried out based on both national and international material. Technical descriptions and designs were made for the different housing systems. The biological prerequisites and consequences including weight gain, animal health and room for natural behaviour were presented for the different housing systems. The housing systems introduced for calves from zero to two months of age were single pen, pair pen, calf hutch, foster cow pen and group pen with milk-feeder/bucket. For calves and heifers older than two months, the following housing systems were presented; super hutch, two area pen (with bedded lying area and solid or slatted concrete floor in the feeding area), fully bedded pen (litter on the whole area), fully slatted floor with rubber surface, cubicles and feed cubicles. The ability to offer sound advice at the construction sites of barns for calves and heifers with regard to the environment of the barn, feeding and the proper time to transfer the animals, has been discussed.
When planning the construction of calf and heifer sheds, the maximum control of contagious
diseases should be observed. At the same time, proper calf and heifer management at the farm should be a primary focus. The animals should be separated into different age categories to prevent the older animals from infecting younger members of the herd. From a group management perspective, all the calves should be put into their respective pens at the same time. The size of these groups should be limited to six to nine calves. It is important to observe the animal flow and how they should be transferred between the housing systems. There are advantages and disadvantages with all the housing systems. In order to determine the optimal one, the system the animals are going to be placed in as cows should be taken into acc...
