The winter period can increase the occurrence of health disorders in livestock farming, such as higher somatic cell counts in milk, recurrent mastitis, lameness, respiratory disorders, and more.
Some of these issues are promoted by suboptimal housing conditions, which negatively affect animal comfort in the building and can result in losses of €20–30 per tonne of milk, depending on the situation.
The objective is to identify the key areas where action can be taken and to implement improvements in order to enhance animal comfort and strengthen health status within livestock housing systems.
Lying comfort
Lying comfort is essential to allow animals to fully express their production potential. This includes providing sufficient lying space: namely, one cubicle per animal adapted to its size, or 3–4 m² per animal in straw-bedded systems, along with clean and dry bedding (which helps limit the development of pathogenic bacteria).
Hygiene of exercise areas
Exercise areas must be kept clean and as dry as possible to avoid compromising the hoof and leg health of the animals. A sufficient scraping frequency is therefore recommended (for example, 3–4 passes per day in cubicle housing systems).
Ventilation
In livestock buildings, animals and bedding release moisture as well as respiratory and fermentation gases. These can be irritating for animals and must be efficiently removed in order to maintain respiratory comfort and immune status. For this reason, optimal ventilation is essential: ensuring sufficient air renewal (no ammonia odour and no condensation on walls or roofs) without creating draughts. Good ventilation helps maintain stable temperature and humidity levels within the building.
Light levels
Optimal lighting inside the building is essential for animal movement (access to the feed trough, bedding area and milking system) and for vitamin D production, which plays a role in calcium and phosphorus absorption. As a practical reference, good lighting should allow a newspaper to be read in all animal circulation and resting areas.
Final thoughts
The design of livestock buildings and their internal layout must comply with the points outlined above in order to ensure optimal animal comfort. Failing to do so may negatively affect animal longevity (early culling) and the profitability of the production system, with potential gains of up to €31 per tonne of milk produced.
The winter period can increase the occurrence of health disorders in livestock farming, such as higher somatic cell counts in milk, recurrent mastitis, lameness, respiratory disorders, and more. Some of these issues are promoted by suboptimal housing conditions, which negatively affect animal comfort in the building and can result in losses of €20–30 per tonne […]
...The winter period can increase the occurrence of health disorders in livestock farming, such as higher somatic cell counts in milk, recurrent mastitis, lameness, respiratory disorders, and more. Some of these issues are promoted by suboptimal housing conditions, which negatively affect animal comfort in the building and can result in losses of €20–30 per tonne […]
...The winter period can increase the occurrence of health disorders in livestock farming, such as higher somatic cell counts in milk, recurrent mastitis, lameness, respiratory disorders, and more. Some of these issues are promoted by suboptimal housing conditions, which negatively affect animal comfort in the building and can result in losses of €20–30 per tonne […]
...