Richard wanted a simple design that would allow his dry, close-up, and fresh cows to be comfortable, as this transition period can be challenging for cows. He also wanted to easily milk fresh cows in the bedded-pack area, inspiring him to add a rear pipeline in the feed alley.

Sabrina noted that they had a barn fire, which pushed them to make construction decisions on the farm. They decided to try a new calf housing style with group-housed calves and an automated milk feeder. Additionally, their heifers were already housed in deep-bedded packs. Therefore, switching to housing cows close to calving in a deep-bedded pack made sense for cow comfort.

Ana switched her calves to group housing with an automated milk feeder to improve calf welfare. She also wanted a calf housing design that provided more flexibility and optimized time management.

Richard noted the following benefits of housing dry, close-up, and fresh cows on a deep-bedded pack:

• Improved welfare and ease of calving
• Fewer interventions are needed, allowing for more free time
• Can leave calf with the cow for 12 – 24 hours; employees check to make sure that calves are safe and nursing well from the cow
  • Did not have any issues getting calves to switch from nursing on cow to bottle
• Rubber flooring in the feed alley is going well for cows moving from a tie-stall to a deep-bedded pack

Sabrina noted the following benefits of housing cows close to calving on deep-bedded packs and housing calves in groups with an automated milk feeder:

• Cows close to calving had improved welfare and ease of calving when housed on deep-bedded packs
• The automated milk feeder provided extra data to help monitor calves, for example, providing information on how much the calves drank

Ana noted the following benefits regarding group housed calves with an automated milk feeder:

• The automated milk feeder improved time and management flexibility while allowing calves to be grouped with continued good calf monitoring

Richard noted the following challenges and solutions with housing dry, close-up, and fresh cows on a deep-bedded pack:

• Challenge: Increased risk of mastitis for fresh cows on hot days
  • Solution: Developed a vaccination program with the veterinarian
• Challenge: Employees require training on loose-housed cow handling and milking
  • Solution: Lactanet came to provide training
• Challenge: Adding straw 2x per week; it is a long process
  • Potential solution: Thinking of purchasing a Tomahawk to help add bedding
• Challenge: Cows seem to experience some stress for the first few days when they are re-attached to their tie-stall
  • Potential solution: Considering transitioning to a free-stall barn

Sabrina noted the following challenges and solutions to housing calves in groups with an automated milk feeder:

• Challenge: Cross-sucking
  • Solution (helped): Calves always have free access to water, hay, and fresh grain, and house calves individually between 0-15 days of life
• Challenge: Increased risk of disease
  • Solution: House calves individually between 0 – 15 days of life and focus on keeping calves in a clean environment

Ana noted the following challenges and solutions regarding group-housed calves with an automated milk feeder:

• Challenge: Experienced a disease outbreak where all calves had to be separated
  • Solution: Quick communication with the veterinarian and using a more intense disinfectant during cleaning
  • Preventative solutions: New calf vaccination program, house calves in groups when they have proven healthy and thriving (between 7 and 10 days old) and keep calves in small groups (6 – 7) to reduce competition and the spread of disease. Also, continuing to focus on good calf management to maintain healthy calves (ex., Ensure a clean environment and good quality colostrum)

Overall recommendations:

• Visit farms that have made similar modifications to the modifications you would like to make
• Discuss modifications with your veterinarian and other dairy cow welfare advisors
• Take into consideration busy calving periods to ensure you will not run out of space in your calving area
• Do not forget to consider how calves will be safely removed from the calving area and easily moved to the calf housing area