Penn State Housing Plans for Calves and Heifers

This is coil bound, 274 pages, and includes 74 idea plans that were developed based on research and field experience with the aim of increasing the comfort, productivity, and longevity of dairy cattle. While drawn for specific number of animals, most plans provide guidelines to fit the actual number of calves and heifers. The plans provide for individual housing for the baby calf with liquid feed, solid feed, and water usually delivered to the pen twice a day. When a calf is successfully consuming sufficient solid feed, plans provide for transferring her to group housing beginning with a small weaned calf group and graduating up through a variety of group housing situations based on her size and the number of animals kept in a group. The plans provide for a clean dry living environment that accommodates health and management needs and convenience of moving the animal from one age or size group to the next. There are 55 housing plans including plans for calf pens and shelters, bedded pack heifer shelters, freestall heifer housing, drive through systems, and heifer self cleaning shelters. Four plans show how housing needs from birth to breeding-age can be met in one housing system. There are four plans for utility rooms and buildings. Ten additional plans show details for typical sidewalls (including curtains), ridge openings, freestalls, fenceline feed barriers, water stations, freestall crossovers and floor surface, gates and pen work, freestalls, and more. The book also includes growth charts and space requirements for Jerseys and Holsteins from birth to pre fresh. The 55 housing plans show a variety of complete layouts and dimensions for calf, heifer, and worker friendly housing. One four-page plan for a heifer freestall shelter shows freestall alley, feed alley, and feed driveway dimensions and slopes. Two groups of 30 freestalls are included, one for heifers 500-700 pounds and one for 700-900 pound heifers.