Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
It is important to design your facilities so your animals are comfortable. Here are some tips to
follow so your cattle are happy in their new facilities.
• When you bring them into a holding area, give them enough space to follow one another
and maintain visual contact with the leader cow.
• They do not like to go around corners unless they feel like they can see where they are
going. Make sure turns are gentle and rounded rather than sharp and angular.
• Bright lights, shiny reflections, and shadows alarm cattle, as do loud noises such as
clanging gates. Inspect your facilities to eliminate these distractions.
• Be sure that your fences and pens are well maintained. Animals can hurt themselves on
nails, sharp corners, or broken boards.
• Provide sufficient lighting because they will not want to enter a dimly lit milking facility
and will hesitate to walk up steps until they are allowed time to investigate.
If you do have to house an animal for an extended period, it is important to have a well-ventil-
ated facility and to provide clean bedding. Bedding materials include sawdust, ground
corncobs, straw, or wood shavings. The depth of bedding should be 10 to 12 inches or more.
Be sure the bedding stays clean and dry by removing soiled areas and recovering those areas
with new bedding.
Holding pen
If you are starting a farm from scratch, plan your holding-pen area first. You need a holding
pen for routine herd management tasks, for treating sick animals, or to receive new animals. A
holding area is a pen where groups of animals stand while they wait to be moved into another
area, such as a loading chute or health care area. The ideal holding pen is round with enough
space for each confined animal to turn around. This holding area is usually attached to an al-
leyway or chute, which is a panel on either side of the cow, leading to a head gate that re-
strains the animal's head during health care procedures. The holding area also could lead to a
loading chute for cattle that are leaving the farm. You need an entrance gate that leads from
the pasture, a gate leading into the chute to the head gate, and a gate to release the animal
back into the pasture after treatment.
The walls of your holding pen should be at least 60 inches tall, and it should be made of
boards, plywood, or some type of solid, non-transparent material such as steel. When the
