All our livestock, although bred to be domesticated, are descended from animals adapted to live in the wild. As such, they are tough and arguably do best in conditions that are more like those of their forebears.
For reasons of convenience or increased production, these livestock may be housed in buildings for shorter or longer periods or for most of their lives. When this is done, however, it is important to make sure that the structures promote their health and wellbeing. And the best way to do that is to design and construct them to tick all the boxes of fresh air, sunshine, soft earth underfoot, and cleanliness. In short, as close to their native environment as can reasonably be accomplished.
When asked what key features of his buildings help keep his cows and pigs healthy and injury-free, my friend in Shawano County, Wisconsin, replied, “No sharp edges. Nothing sticking out to poke them. A layout that they flow smoothly through that limits them getting ‘stuck’ physically and mentally.” He added, “From a health standpoint, ventilation is key. Better to be cold and dry than warm and damp.” There is much to be learned from this simple answer and a lot of ways to accomplish those key items depending on the type of livestock and scale of operation.
Better Cold and Dry Than Warm and Damp
Sunshine and fresh air ventilation are the ideal natural conditions to mimic in a building. A combination of lighting, translucent roofing, and adequate ventilation is the way to go. Essentially, promote health by reducing the three key components of disease: the host, the pathogens, and environments in which pathogens thrive.
Since the livestock (the host) is necessary, and it may not be possible to completely prevent the presence of the pathogen (although ensuring good hygiene will be a major factor in prevention), the best option for disease control is to design an environment that is bad for the pathogen but good for the animals.
Whether an active or passive ventilation system is used, more ventilation is usually better. Curtains, roof vents, or fans and buildings with open ends can all be designed to fit ventilation needs. The general rule for dairy buildings and similar structures is to have air replacement every 15 minutes in winter and every minute in summer. That is a lot of air and a lot of variability to manage seasonally, but a well-designed ventilation system will pay dividends in the animals’ health and longevity.
Akin to ventilation is drainage. It is best to keep floors dry as possible to reduce livestock from slipping and to keep their hooves healthy. Since times when water is used for cleaning and when water seeps through doors r vents, an efficient way to move water out of the building is needed. The ideal setup is a system of trench drains (basically gutters in the floor) with strong grates covering them that can’t trap livestock hooves. The drainage system needs to be adequate and easily cleaned, as it will routinely get bedding, manure, and dirt in it.
Hygiene Features That Reduce Disease and Parasites
A livestock building should also include efficient designs for handling bedding and manure. It isn’t healthy to have animals standing or laying in their own excrement. This, of course, creates a challenge because the animals may spend quite a bit of time in the building, but no one likes shoveling manure.
One way to handle manure is to flush it away with a slotted floor and a collection basin beneath the building. This is water intensive but can be very effective. The cleanest looking dairy I have ever seen had a flushing system like this in which manure was routinely washed down through the slotted floor. That operation used sand bedding that was cleaned and recycled to be used again. Sand may not sound like a great bedding option, but it is quite hygienic for animals and can be recycled.
Other labor-saving options for manure and bedding removal are automated manure scrapers that can be mounted in alleys or covered gutters in the building. These allow the use of organic bedding such as straw or wood shavings, but simultaneously keep parts of the floor clean and clear for better traction. Organic bedding creates a challenge for sourcing materials but is often good for the soil that it’s added to. For example, sawdust has been shown to reduce the number of flies. Some operations recycle organic bedding using a heat treatment process to deactivate pathogens and parasites. This can be energy intensive but, in the case of a large operation I observed, can be done using the methane produced with an onsite anaerobic manure digester. Whichever bedding system and manure management system is used will be of great benefit to healthy animals for everything from hooves to fly control.
Keeping Animals from Getting “Stuck” Physically and Mentally
A livestock building should allow animals to move freely and be able to turn around in most places. It may be desirable to have partitions and stalls. When they’re used, they should be smooth, easy to clean, and corrosion resistant. The structure should include enough space in the stalls that the animals don’t feel crowded (20-35 square feet per cow, 8+ square feet per pig, or 3 square feet per chicken). This allows enough room for the animals to stand up, lie down, move about, and groom themselves.
Depending on the operation, buildings may be designed so the animals can come and go from the building with ease at least some of the time. If there is consistent access to the outdoors, a slightly smaller building can be used.
In some places it’s best that animals can’t turn around. At some point, livestock need to be restrained and examined or treated. This typically requires some type of head gate and chute. Equipment like this allows someone to monitor livestock health, from caring for their hooves and administering injections to checking pregnancy.
The chute should be sized so the animal can’t turn around or back up. Ideally, the animals will not be able to see out the sides of the gate, only forward at the animal in front of them or to the head gate or slightly beyond it into an open area. They will naturally want to move forward, especially when they can see an opening. The restricted vision to the sides will decrease distractions from people and other animals. The limited vision keeps animals calm which helps prevent injury to themselves and other livestock.
The floor in a livestock building is a health feature too. In addition to being part of manure and bedding handling, the floor material can aid in an animal’s comfort and lifespan. Just as it’s hard for humans to stand on a concrete floor all day, it can be hard on animals too. I remember the difference I encountered in college sports with player endurance and injuries when they finally got access to better practice fields instead of the highly compacted overused community fields. Everyone on the team performed better.
Rubber coatings, rubber flooring, or mats can go a long way to reduce fatigue and in key areas improve traction to prevent animals from falling. Some dairy research has shown that rubber flooring not only reduces cows slipping but also allows them to have a more natural and efficient gait (more like walking in a pasture) compared to concrete. In addition, rubber flooring has been shown to reduce the amount of bedding needed compared to concrete (especially if it’s organic bedding). It’s also easy to keep clean.
There are many small things that add up to a good outcome for animal health in buildings. Paying attention to those details in the design and build phase will help keep livestock healthy and lead to a happy customer in the long term.
Jacob Prater is a soil scientist and associate professor in Wisconsin. His passion is natural resource management along with the wise and effective use of those resources to improve human life.
