Dairy - Housing and Environment

In this section of our website, Ontario dairy producers will find information on dairy barn construction, dairy barn design, lighting, use of on-farm generators, dairy animal comfort, and dairy management.

Barn Construction

• Constructing a Farm Building in Ontario (Order No. 07-007)
• Engineering Requirements for Farm Structures (Order No. 10-089)
• Stray Voltage Problems in Livestock Production

Barn Design

• Dairy Cows Need to Allocate Time
• Grooming Upgrade
• Keep Your Dry Cows Cool for Optimum Milk Production
• Low Profile Cross Ventilation Barns
• Manger Space Can Be Restricted With TMR
• Recent research claims sand is an excellent bedding option for cow comfort and bacteriological control
• Sand Bedding has Benefits and Costs
• Self Locking Head Gates and Crowding Change Eating Behaviour
• Spick-and-Span
• Sure Footing
• Wisdom on Wind

Dairy Housing

• Dairy Housing - Compost Bedding Pack Barns (15-025)
• Dairy Housing: Developing the Plan and Procuring Services and Materials for Constructing a New Dairy Barn (16-013)
• Dairy Housing - Floor Finish Options for Dairy Free-Stall Housing (16-017)
• Dairy Housing - Layout Options (15-015)
• Dairy Housing - Lighting Options for Freestall Housing (15-011)
• Dairy Housing- Milking Centre Design and Construction for Parlour Milking (15-021)
• Dairy Housing - Positive Pressure Air Tube Ventilation for Calf Housing (15-009)
• Dairy Housing - Ventilation Options for Free Stall Barns (15-017)
• Dairy Housing - Using Separated Manure Solids for Compost Bedding (15-019)

Animal Comfort

• Air Quality Inside Livestock Barns (Order No. 93-001)
• Bedded Pack Close Up Dry Cow and Calving Pens
• Bedding Alternative
• Cooling Cows - Bovine bathing
• Dairy Cow Comfort - Tie-stall Dimensions
• Dairy Cow Comfort - Cow Behaviour to Judge Free-stall and Tie-stall Barns
• Dairy Cow Comfort - Free-stall Dimensions
• Heat Stress - Stress Threshold
• Hutch Alternative
• Lying Down on the Job - cow mattresses
• Planning to manage heat stress in the summer months
• Waterbeds Revisited
• Alternative Bedding Materials for Livestock (Order No. 18-011)

Fans

• Keeping Cool - Set Up Supplemental Fans Now To Comfort Cows Next Summer
• Large Ceiling Fans Offer Energy-Saving Way to Reduce Heat Stress

Generators

• Farm Generators: Making Connections the Safe Way (Order No. 99-007)
• Standby Electric Generators for Emergency Farm Use (Order No. 99-005)
• Tractor-Driven Generators: Producing Quality Power (Order No. 00-059)
• Understanding Portable Generators (Order No. 00-057)

Lighting

• Energy Opportunities: Lighting for More Milk (Order No. 06-053)
• Photoperiod Management of Dairy Cattle
• Providing Additional Lighting After Calving Boosts Milk Production

Management

• Handling Milking Centre Washwater (Order No. 14-047)
• Mix and Match - Grouping Cows According to Aggressiveness Can Reduce Herd Stress
• Not so Good Vibrations - Reducing Somatic Cell Counts
• Recycling Farm Plastic Films (Order No. 95-019)
• Rodent Control in Livestock and Poultry Facilities (Order No. 13-057)