Water is one of the simple things at winter housing we so often overlook. It’s one of the first things I always look at when I enter a shed. Sometimes the forgotten element, it plays a huge role in making sure we have healthy animals.

Make sure there’s clean water, for a start, as stale water can lead to a buildup of bacteria, which is not good for animals. Then it’s all about the size of the drinker, height from the ground and – most importantly – flow. Cows and sheep drink with their tongues so it is important there is enough depth. Make sure also that the flow of water is good, they can be cleaned easily and that there is enough drinkers in pens with larger groups of animals.

One of the best investments you can make for winter is to focus on getting water right.

Cubicles that allow movement offer good cow comfort.

Cubicles: it’s all about dimensions

For many cows, winter housing involves a change from the comfort of pasture and the free choice of bedding to a cubicle space. A well-constructed cubicle will mean a cow will lie down when she has to. We want to maximise the time a cow spends lying down when indoors. This reduces the risk of lameness and when milking it is good for udder blood-flow.

When lying down outside, the cow will go through an arc motion which requires more space than her actual body length. She needs space and grip to lie down and stand up again. When a cow is lying down, she needs head space as well.

Instead of giving dimensions for the perfect cubicle I have found going back to basics and measuring some cows on farm. Why? Because cow length and size can vary a bit on farm, with the smaller crossbred and the big Holstein differing by up to 15%. This can cause problems when you have big cows and small cows in a herd. Wrongly or rightly, I aim to have cubicles large enough for the biggest cows, which does pose a challenge with smaller heifers, as they may lie up too far or turn around.

Another big advancement is cubicle tubing made from flexible material, which allows it to move with the cows. This again allows the cow to lie down more comfortably. The height of the neck rail and positioning of the brisket board are key. I like a flexible neck rail and small brisket board; when positioned well, these are like airport landing lights for the cow to help her get in the right position.

It’s also very important that the base of the cubicle is comfortable. This avoids sores and also encourages longer lying times. High-quality cubicle matts are a good long-term investment.

A cow lying right in a cubicle should mean her dunging in the passageway – this doesn’t always happen, meaning regular cleaning and liming of cubicles is so important. Cubicle lime increases the pH (stopping bacterial growth) and locks up moisture. It should be spread twice daily – especially where you have milkers or freshly dried-off cows.

Finally, if you want to keep your cows and cubicles clean, regular scraping of yards and passageways is a must. You would be very surprised what this attention to detail can do on farms: less mastitis, less lameness and happier, more productive cows lasting longer in your herd.

Maximise light in sheds for the winter months

Maximising fresh air

There are many costs in a modern farm, especially at winter time when animals are housed. However, nature has a gift for farmers and livestock this winter: fresh air. In our houses, if we maximise fresh air we maximise one of the most natural and efficient disinfectants there is.

With animals housed and in close proximity, we all know the risk of diseases spreading goes up. One of those diseases is of course pneumonia.

Most pneumonia is spread through aerosol from one animal to another through coughing or nasal discharges. Most of these agents are bacterial or viral in origin. There are many reasons why they take effect in some animals and cause disease while others remain unaffected. One of those factors is the amount of infection present that the animal is exposed to (infection pressure). If you have heavy numbers of bacteria or viruses, they can overwhelm even a healthy immune system.

This is where fresh air can help. It contains a thing called ozone, which acts to kill microbes. Fresh air moving around the animals also sweeps away bacteria and viruses from the environment. When air isn’t moving, things like ammonia build up in the air. Ammonia is that smell you get when you walk into a stale, stuffy shed – often with wet bedding. Ammonia also can irritate the airways which in turn affects the local immune system of the nasal passages. This is often the first line of defence when bugs invade.

So should we just open up our sheds more to let fresh air in? In certain cases I do find this to be true, where most sheds with adult cattle can be quite open with great benefits for animal health.

And it’s not just with cattle – sheep sheds really benefit from increasing fresh air flow. However, there is one important factor we need to consider and that is wind speed. While fresh air is good, direct draughts (high wind speeds) can be bad for animals.

Stacking for air flow

This creates a challenge and most modern sheds for adult cattle have been adapted for this by utilising the stack effect. This is the principle of hot air rising. Adult cattle produce heat and this rises. In our modern animal housing, the rising hot air escapes through an outlet and cold air is then drawn in via an inlet to replace it. A fully functioning stack effect works reasonably well if stocking densities, floor slopes, etc are managed correctly.

We can check this airflow in our sheds using smoke bombs and sometimes just our noses. Don’t underestimate the value (since it’s free and very good value) of fresh air this winter.

Let there be light

It’s a simple thing but light in a shed can make so much difference. In fattening animals, good LED lighting can actually improve feed intakes and growth rates. It also allows for simple things like looking at stock and working in a safer environment. If timing lighting, some suggest going for 150-200lux and aim for 14-16 hours day of lighting. Put your lighting on a timer to switch on early, maybe 5am. The neighbours will think you’re up working before dawn too.