Remodeling Existing Facilities

Changes for the Better

Abstract

The buildings and equipment which comprise a dairy operation are there to facilitate the job of caring for the animals on the farm. Labor requirements, flow of animals and materials, pollution control, future expansion and management requirements are important considerations in design.

Planning for new construction or remodeling of these dairy facilities must be based on a sound management plan. The plan sets forth all factors related to nutrition health and growth as well as all other activities of the dairy farm operation. The buildings and equipment which comprise dairy facilities are merely tools which allow essential tasks prescribed by the management plan to be carried out on a regular basis. Haphazard planning or impulsive acquisition of buildings or equipment will only lead to facilities which impede implementation of updated management plans and hinder future development and expansion.

Providing environments that meet the needs of the animals being housed is important in design, also. While many of these needs may be obvious, the degree to which they are satisfied may vary widely. This may be due to a lack of understanding as to just what the needs of the animals are when it comes to establishing and maintaining their environment. For example, a warm barn for calves may have excessively high relative humidity due a lack of understanding of both the needs of the calves and the design and operation of the ventilation system. Or, it may result from an improper ordering of the priorities being used for design. For example, the establishment of the environment in a barn may place the needs of people and equipment ahead of the needs of the animals which are to be housed, oftentimes to the detriment of the animals.

A discussion of some of the considerations for meeting the needs of dairy animals follows.