Project farms

Barns for dairy cattle, fattening bulls, camels, sheep, goats and horses.

We are specialized and experienced barn construction for high yield dairy milking cows for zero grazing intensive farming.

The engineering and construction of dairy farms are tasks of great responsibility, blending the art of animal care with the science of efficient farm management. We offer the services involved in the engineering and construction of dairy farms, highlighting our commitment to excellence, animal welfare, and the advancement of sustainable agricultural practices.

Optimized husbandry methods lead to more economic efficiency in dairy farming. We support you in planning your barn construction for maximum comfort for animals and humans.

Site Selection and Initial Assessment

The foundation of a successful dairy farm is laid with careful site selection and initial assessment. This essential stage ensures that the farm’s layout and infrastructure are optimally designed for the health and productivity of the dairy herd. Services at this stage include:

• Thorough assessment of soil quality, topography, and water availability, crucial for farm sustainability and animal health.
• Climate analysis to understand the environmental conditions and design suitable housing and care for the dairy herd.
• Environmental impact assessments to gauge the farm’s influence on local ecosystems and ensure adherence to environmental regulations.
• Development of a preliminary farm layout, planning for efficient movement, animal housing, waste management, and feed storage.

To plan proper shelter and other facilities for taking good care of the animals. Your location decision must consider the land requirement with the following in mind:

• Well-ventilated sheds or barns for the cattle, adequately protected from the weather.
• Irrigation system for pasture
• Milking area
• Facility for pasteurization and storage of milk
• Feed storage
• Manure storage
• Proper waste management system.

To be considered in dairy farming

There are three aspects that form the basis for healthy, productive animals: If the cows feel comfortable, there are less cases of illness, feed intake increases and as a result, the farmer gets a higher milk yield.

Fresh air supply

For an optimal stable climate, fresh air must flow into the stable continuously, while the air burdened with harmful gases is discharged to the outside. Draughts have to be avoided.

Light

Natural light and a certain amount of sunlight also make cows happy. However, as they quickly suffer from heat stress, a shading function should also be considered.

Comfort

Cows do not like to lie on hard ground, but prefer elastic and soft lying surfaces with adequate space.

Cattle houses / sheds

Cattle are domesticated for thousands of years and many different breeds are developed and adapted to highly different environments and conditions. They graze and ruminate most of the day. When grazing, they will stand with one front leg a little in front of the other, and graze as they slowly walk forward.

In recent years, the housing of dairy cows has become much more animal-friendly and work-friendly for the farmer thanks to wider aisles, optimized cubicles and spacious stable constructions.

• They do not naturally walk backwards, and therefore most cattle housing bed and cubicle systems force them to unnatural movements for their anatomy.
• They are remarkably strong and robust animals and they can cause a lot of damage if they are scared and confused and can get easily scared if they see unknown things, which is often due to mistreatment or lack of guidance on what they should do.
• They do not want to walk from light to darkness, they prefer to walk uphill rather than downhill, and they do not want to walk around sharp corners.

Housing

A dairy house is required in order to protect cattle from inclement weather conditions. It should include cow sheds, calving boxes, isolation cum quarantine box and sheds for young stocks. Loose housing system is not advisable due to extreme weather conditions during hot summer and winter.

Design of comfortable, well-ventilated, and hygienic housing for the dairy herd, ensuring optimal animal welfare and productivity.

• Planning and implementation of nutritional programs to ensure the health and productivity of the herd.
• Integration of milking parlors and equipment, designed for efficiency, animal comfort, and milk quality.
• Implementation of herd health monitoring systems to ensure early detection and treatment of any health issues.

The points to be taken into account before the construction of dairy buildings

Topography and drainage. A dairy building should be at a higher elevation than the surrounding ground to offer a good slope for runoff and drainage for the wastes to avoid the creation of unsanitary environment within and outside the buildings. Flood plains, low lands, water- logged /marshy areas/bogs and areas having proximity to unhygienic places like dumping grounds should be avoided.

1. Soil type. Soil must be suitable for strong foundation. Marshy, clayey and sandy soils are not suitable. Loamy and gravely soils are best suited for building construction.
2. Exposure to the sun and protection from wind. As far as possible the long axis of the cattle house should be set in a manner so as to have the maximum benefit of insolation.
3. Accessibility. The dairy farm should have good road connectivity. Proximity of dairy farm to market and veterinary aid cum semen center should be preferred.
4. Water supply. Adequate supply of clean water should be available.
5. Electricity. A modern dairy farm requires electricity for lighting, operation of electric equipment, etc. Utilization of solar energy in this regard is preferred.
6. Planned layout. The dairy farm should be constructed in a way that it is easily accessible to the feed stores, hay stacks, silos, etc keeping in view the accidents like fire to save the precious animals. There should be a provision of appropriate and comfortable accommodation for labourers.

Cow sheds

They can be arranged in a single row if the number of cows is up to 10 or in a double row if the herd is a large one. In double row housing, the dairy house should be so arranged that the cows either face-out (tail to tail system) or face-in (head-to-head system).

More space – higher milk yield?

So far, there have been few holistic studies on the effects of different husbandry systems on animal welfare and the performance of dairy cows.

However, studies indicate that although pasture management increases animal welfare, it has weaknesses in terms of feeding. Milk yield is significantly higher with year-round (loose) housing, provided that the barn offers soft, spacious lying areas and walking surfaces that mimic the grazing surface.

Plinth

Depending upon the topography of land, plinth should be 30-60 cm higher than the ground. Ramp. It should be having a non-slippery surface and a gradient of 10 degrees for easy entry and exit into the shed.

Floor

The inside floor of the cow shed should be of some impervious material which can be easily kept clean and dry and must not be slippery. Slated/ grooved/corrugated concrete floor or rubber floor is such a good example. The floor of the standing space should have a slope with a gradient 2-3% (1 in 40) towards gutter. However, during winters proper bedding like paddy straw is recommended to keep the animal warm.

Walls

Load-bearing walls to support roofs, floors and ceilings; to enclose a space as part of the building envelope along with a roof to give buildings form; and to provide shelter and security. The wall should be made of bricks or concrete to to divide floor area into different sections and utilities and protect animals also provide draught-free conditions. The inside of the walls should have a smooth finish of cement (preferably white-washed) to prevent any lodgment of dust and moisture. As an alternative, the farmer can use mud plaster instead of cement. Corners should be round.

Roof

The roof of the cow shed should be corrugated by Roof Panels insulated sheets. A height of 250 cm at the sides and 450 cm at the ridges is sufficient to give the necessary air space for cows. There should be hang over 90 cm beyond wall to prevent rain water from entering cow shed. Ceiling is mandatorily required to protect animal from sun exposure. Roof slope about 30-35% for best natural ventilation (4 meters for 12) and must provide enough Chimneys for air extraction and some transparent parts allowing day light in to shed.

Manger

Concrete manger is recommended from the point of view of durability and cleanliness. A height of 45 cm (18 inches) for a manger is sufficient. The height at back of the manger should be kept at 75cm to 90 cm. If need is felt to prevent cows from jumping over the manger, cast iron pipe may be used as a barrier. An overall width of 60-75 cm is sufficient for a good manger. A manger length of 60 cm per animal is sufficient. For watering, separate spaces between adjacent mangers for drinking water troughs (of approx. 20 liters capacity) with automatic water flow regulator (Ball cock valve) to ensure all-time water availability from the main supply are advisable.

Alleys

With loose housing, cows are not tied up and can walk around freely. Such systems usually have a loafing area and a lying area, with the feeding area separated from the lying area. As the cows are forced to walk frequently, the manure is spread over a large floor area so has to be collected by scraping the dung by hand (or sometimes mechanically) into a manure pit.

With adequate water supplies, rapid flushing of large amounts of water can clean alleys, directing effluent into a pond. Milking is usually carried out in a specific milking parlor or area in the shed. The feed trough is separated from the loafing alley by either a feeding rack or wire rope.
Loose housing can be of two types, either with a common lying area with open lounging or with cubicles or free stalls.

Free stalls

A free stall shed is essentially a feed line with the addition of specific bedding areas for the stock to lie down. It is generally a covered shed and may include a loafing area for cattle to also be loose housed where they can stand, ruminate or idle. In these sheds each cow is provided with a stall which she may enter and leave at will.

When well designed and managed, free stalls optimize the system to operate efficiently with minimal labor. However, they are relatively expensive to construct and can become very unprofitable if stock suffers from poor welfare, animal health and milk quality due to poor feeding and herd management.

Free stalls provide the ideal system for intensively managing dairy cows off pasture as each animal is provided with a specific place to rest, their management (feeding, cleaning and relaxing)

Care should be taken to ensure the stall construction or installation does not interfere with either the natural movements of the rising and reclining cows or the ventilation of the shed. Consider the effects of the stall structure on air flow at cow head level. For example, using smaller dimensional steel rather than larger wooden planks when constructing the stalls can result in more open areas for better ventilation.

The free stall environment should be made safe for the stock through ensuring they cannot put their heads through gates and fences or get stuck under stall divisions and barriers. There should be no projections, such as broken boards or rails or rough, sharp edges on the concrete. Rails should be strong enough not to break when cows lean on them. Walking surfaces can be grooved to minimize slips and falls and so encourage normal oestrus activity.

The free stall facility should be designed to ensure smooth and quiet cow flow. There should be no sudden changes from light to dark, reflections or drains across the cow alleys. Cows will move more smoothly along curved races, up a slight incline and where they have “sure” footing. Gates could be muffled by attaching rubber strips to prevent excessive noise. Yards must be designed for easy drafting of targeted cows. Stock should only be moved around using “flappers” (leather strips attached to a cane, sometimes known as cattle talkers) rather than using wooden or metal pickets or pipes. Excessive twisting of an animal’s tail is unacceptable and electric prods should only be used in emergencies.

Check stalls at least three times daily (at milking and feeding), remove manure and wet material and rearrange bedding, if necessary, to provide a uniform surface. Adding large amounts of bedding material less frequently can lead to increased bedding waste after filling which can reduce cow comfort and lead to undesirable cow positioning prior to the next bedding application.

Loose housing with Deep-Bedded Sheds

In open lounging systems, cows can lie down anywhere although they are usually allocated a particular place to rest. The floor can be earthen or concrete, generally with bedding material, the base being well drained. In dry climates, earthen floors without bedding can be used so long as the dry manure is frequently removed. The loafing area behind the feed troughs should be concrete and at least 3 m wide. Each cow should be allocated at least 9 m2 resting area

Open lounges create their own problems of regularly removing and cleaning the bedding and ensuring all cows will use it in preference to lying on dirty concrete walkways, and hence increasing potential mastitis problems.

In a deep-bedded system, straw, sawdust, shavings rubber mats and mattresses or other bedding material is periodically placed in the resting area so that a mixture of bedding and manure builds up in a thick layer. Although this increases the bulk of manure, it may be easier to handle than wet manure (slurry) alone. This system is most practical when bedding material is plentiful and cheap. Table gives the space requirements for various ages of animals when there is access to a yard. By designing the building to be partially enclosed on the east and west, the shading characteristics can be improved. In as much as a well-drained earth floor is quite adequate, such a building will compare favorably in cost with a shaded area which is paved.

“Compost barns” are becoming popular in which the fresh manure is removed at least daily and the dried manure is regularly turned over to create a type of compost bedding which remains relatively free of pathogens.

Proper selection of stall dimensions, partition, design, stall base type and bedding material are essential in encouraging their daily use but regular management and maintenance are necessary to assure clean, comfortable cows.

As organic bedding can more readily support bacterial contamination than inorganic material, they should be replaced more frequently, with soiled organic material removed from the rear third of the stall every day. The first step a cow makes into the stall is near the place the udder and teats will come in contact with as she settles down into a resting position. The regular cleaning of walkways can reduce manure tacked into the stall surface. Depending on the frequency of milking and on the movement of the cows, cleaning the walkways up to three times a day can be appropriate.

Monitoring free stall use

The cow is the final inspector of free stalls and if cows are not successfully and regularly using them, or they are dirty and show signs of injury, action is required. There are a variety of ways to monitor the cows’ use of free stalls and free stall sheds, such as:

Tie-Stall Sheds

With tie stall systems, each cow is restrained in a separate stall. Feed is delivered in a trough in front of the cows. Milking usually takes place individually in the stall, by hand or machine, the latter using either a bucket or a pipeline system. Manure is collected in a gutter behind the stock.

With cows tied up all year round, they can suffer from foot problems and become stiff.

As far as the cow is concerned, tie stalls are

Tie stalls are not appropriate for the well-being of milking cows and these conditions can negatively affect milk yields and cow longevity. Tie stalls have been the traditional method of maintaining dairy cows in some European countries for many decades. This has created so much public concern that certain countries, such as Norway, have recently legislated against their future use in preference to lose housing.