Menu

Know How / Housing and handling

Advice and information on livestock housing and shed design to ensure your animals’ welfare and productivity. Compare different types of housing and bedding and read case studies on other farmers. Get tips on stock handling equipment, including cattle crushes and races, dairy parlour design and robotic milking.

Case studies

See all

HOUSING AND HANDLING

Why extra cow space is priority in dairy housing redesign

The concept of living space for cows is a relatively new one. But for Gary Dalton, it has long been a fundamental part of his strategy for the 370-head Holstein…

BROILERS

How poultry unit manages heat stress with misting systems

High-pressure water misting systems are playing a key role in preventing heat stress and performance dips in hot weather at one Derbyshire broiler business. The Adsetts family installed their first…

WHATS IN YOUR LIVESTOCK SHED

What’s in Your Livestock Shed? visits an £11m research unit

A multimillion-pound pig research unit has been designed to test the commercial value of new technology. The £11m unit was the brainchild of Leeds University professor Helen Miller. Its aim…

WHATS IN YOUR LIVESTOCK SHED

WIYLS visits a low-effort, high-welfare beef shed

Buildings on the Morris family’s farm at Lower Drostre, near Brecon, were outdated and poorly positioned. In their place the family has put up a 150-bed shed that allows bedding,…

HOUSING AND HANDLING

Pros and cons of 5 dairy calf housing options

Numerous calf housing options are available and it can be difficult to decide which would suit your farm. Farmers Weekly asked five farmers to set out the pros and cons…

DAIRY

How a slurry robot has improved cow health and milk quality

The installation of four automatic slurry vacuums has helped a Scottish dairy farmer reduce his mastitis cases by 50%, as well as benefiting cow health and saving on labour. Farming…

Practical advice

See all

HOUSING AND HANDLING

A guide to effective cleaning of calf housing

Poor hygiene in calf housing can have a serious impact on the health and performance of calves as youngstock, and when they enter the adult herd. Setting up sheds to…

HOUSING AND HANDLING

Guide to choosing a ventilation system for your dairy unit

Fans are an important consideration for all housed dairy systems where cows may be subject to periods of heat stress that could negatively affect health and production. Heat stress is…

DAIRY

Advice on choosing the best milking liner for your herd

Milking liners are the only parts of the milking machine that directly interact with the cow. It is vital that this interface between cow and machine is optimised for each…

DAIRY

6 steps to optimise milking machine settings for your herd

In the past, there were few differences between individual milking machines. But huge genetic variation between dairy breeds has led to significant variation in milk yield, milk flow rates, teat…

HOUSING AND HANDLING

3 cattle handling kit options to stay safe at calving

Long hours, a lack of sleep, busy workloads and extra handling of livestock make calving a particularly risky time of year for farm staff. In addition, handling stock with protective…

LAMBING

Video: How to successfully wet-adopt a lamb

Smell is the most important factor in the successful adoption of a lamb. This makes wet adoption, where the ewe’s birth fluid is rubbed on the lamb to be adopted,…

Insights

See all

POULTRY

The poultry industry's response to total cage ban proposals

A strong industry response to a vocal home-grown animal welfare lobby has already propelled the UK to the forefront of the global move away from cage systems. Despite that, pressure…

POULTRY

Why the industry is fighting Defra's poultry transport plans

Parts of the broiler industry could be severely threatened unless the government adopts a more commonsense approach to Defra’s Improvements to Animal Welfare in Transport consultation, according to the NFU.…

LIVESTOCK

Best dairy bedding for minimising mastitis-causing bacterium

A study carried out at the University of Nottingham has shown sawdust to be the best bedding for minimising the survival of the mastitis-causing pathogen streptococcus uberis (S. uberis.) S.…

POULTRY

A guide to improving poultry shed insulation

Good insulation will keep poultry housing at an even temperature throughout the seasons, reducing heating and ventilation costs. However, older types of insulation may be less efficient due to outdated…

HOUSING AND HANDLING

Video: Inside a state-of-the-art transition cow shed

One USA dairy has converted a shed, originally built for calves, into a state-of-the-art facility for transition cows. The shed at George DeRuyter & Sons dairy in Sunnyside, Washington State,…

LAYERS

A poultrykeeper's guide to ground-source heat pumps

With farm carbon emissions under the spotlight and an increasing emphasis on sustainable agriculture, many producers are moving away from fossil fuels. Ground-source heat pumps offer a good solution for…

HOUSING AND HANDLING

Better way of measuring reveals ideal dairy cow living space

A new on-farm measurement for dairy cow buildings, known as living space, has been developed to provide a better understanding of space allowances for adult dairy cows. Researchers believe living…

HEALTH AND WELFARE

6 things I learned from visiting US 'mega-dairies'

Dairy farming in the US has become synonymous with the words “mega-dairy”. While the scale of US dairy farms bears little resemblance to UK operations, there are some striking similarities…

FEED AND NUTRITION

Research shows benefits of pair housing calves pre-weaning

Pair housing calves before weaning can help them adapt better to different situations as they mature, leading to improved concentrate intakes and higher growth compared with those housed alone. Professor…

POULTRY

Is now the right time to go into poultry farming?

Consumer demand for eggs and poultrymeat have risen steadily over the past 10 years. Buoyant markets have already prompted hundreds of farmers to diversify into broiler and free-range egg production…

SLURRY AND MANURE MANAGEMENT

Guide details how farmers can reduce ammonia emissions

A  guide published on Friday (27 July) sets out the steps farmers, advisers and contractors can take to reduce ammonia emissions and help improve air quality. The Code of Good…

PIGS

Q&A: Pig housing - balcony systems explained

Balcony systems can offer a practical housing solution for pig units by increasing floor space within the footprint of existing sheds. Few of these systems exist in the UK but…

Advertiser content

See all