Keeping dairy cows indoors means that farmers can help to control the temperature to keep them as comfortable as possible. Overheated cows can become stressed and sick very quickly. Wouldn’t want the ladies to get hot while they’re being milked!Ĭows can’t sweat like we can, so keeping them cool in the summer is very important. The water is blown around by the fans, and this works wonders to keep the air cool in the summer months! There are also more misters in the milking parlor. It sprays a very fine spray of cool water into the air. The entire barn is equipped with this mister system along the feeder. You can see the little nozzles in the photo below. In addition to the fans that keep the air moving, this barn also has a system of misters. Each barn has 122 3-foot fans, and there are more fans in the milking parlor to keep the cows cool there. We’ve seen the cows at their buffet feeder in another post, but did you notice all the fans? There are large fans throughout the barn – near the feeders (which are part of their pens) and in the milking parlor. Keeping the barn open as much as possible allows for great natural ventilation (in other words, wind), and there is no shortage of that in this area of Indiana! When the wind gets to be too much (like in the winter) these curtains are closed to keep the wind off the cows. This is similar to the curtain ventilation used in Heather’s pig barns.
The ends of the barn have large overhead garage-style doors that can also be closed. The long sides of the barn have curtains that can be lowered during cold or bad weather. All the walls of the barn are open when the weather is nice out (which it sure was on the day I visited!). You can see that the barn has an open design. The grass field to the right of the picture was recently harvested for chopped alfalfa to feed to the girls. The gravel drive goes all the way around the farm. This is one “wing” of the New Generation Dairy. Keeping cows inside is one way that farmers can control the temperature they live in, protect them from predators and diseases, and monitor how much they are eating and drinking. Keeping dairy cows comfortable in their home (barn) is just as important as making sure they are fed a good-quality food and have access to plenty of water.
Have you ever wondered why? Farmers keep dairy cows inside so they can stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter, among other reasons.
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