Many choices exist when selecting calf housing. Although individual calf hutches are the industry’s preferred housing for the pre-weaned calf, dairy operators continue to build calf barns to address the discomfort and inconvenience of cold weather, snow and rain for the calf raiser. Choosing the right one for your operation depends on the environment and the capital, labor and management resources available. There is no single “best design”. Every design involves a trade-off. Regardless of the type of housing provided, the facility must meet certain criteria to provide a healthy environment to optimize calf health:
- Minimize calf stress
- Provide fresh air, while limiting drafts
- Provide clean, dry and comfortable resting places
- Provide adequate feed and water
- Manage effects of extreme weather
Individual calf pens can be “microenvironments” within the calf barn. Inside the calf barns, even when naturally ventilated and maintained as “cold barns”, many calf pens are enclosed on three or four sides to prevent direct contact between individual calves. Some calf pens, in the winter, may have a hover on the back one-third of the pen to minimize draft conditions. Even though air movement appears to be fine in the barn, the enclosed calf pens were found by UW School of Veterinary Medicine Researchers to restrict air movement within the calf’s individual environment. This can result in increased bacteria counts and increased incidence of respiratory disease.
To minimize the effect of individual calf pens becoming microenvironments for the calf, UW-School of Veterinary Medicine’s Dr. Ken Nordlund developed the Ideal Wisconsin Calf Pen to promote a healthy pen environment for the calf in a barn scenario. This factsheet developed by UW-Extension Fond du Lac County Dairy Agent Tina Kohlman shares the concepts associated with the Ideal Wisconsin Calf Pen and how the concepts can make the calf pen less of a microenvironment.
Source:uwex.edu