Free Stall Barns

Discussion and questions about, "what is a free stall barn", "are you still going to milk in a parlor", and others that asked in person got me thinking that I should maybe do a little education today.  Okay students, pull out your notebook!  ;~) 

My husband and I are tentatively planning on putting in a free stall barn.   As discussed yesterday briefly, my husband and I struggle with our dairy cows as we have clay ground which creates a mud problem yearly.  This leads to stress on the cow, hairy warts on their feet, muddy teats, feed loss (as it is stepped into the mud), increases the cost of bedding, increased dirt work costs yearly, and is just plain miserable to drive, walk or do anything in.  This last year alone I figured the loss of milk from environmental stress, or mud, to be approximately $40,000. 

A free stall barn provides as seen in the first picture here, shows how each cow has a stall to lie in so they don't step on each other and are comfortable.   They usually use baked sand as bedding which lowers the bacteria count, is comfortable and keeps the animals cleaner.  These units would be placed on the outer edges of the barn and are raised from the cows walkway.  In the center of the barn is a wide alley which is used for feeding.  The tractor and mixer would be able to drive through the center and spit feed out along each side.  The cows would then walk up to the center alley and be able to eat throughout the day.  There is little feed lost as the cows can't walk or poop in it, and it is spread on concrete so none is lost to the elements. 

The barn is set up with gates to be able to move the cows and connected to the catch pen by a breezeway as seen in the second picture here.  Once in the catch pen the gates are switched and they return to the free stall barn through the same breezeway. 

The free stall barn is profitable not only because it will save on the loss of milk production due to the improved environment, but actually should create a 10-15 lb. increase per cow due to the overall comfort and improvements.  To clarify this a little, a 10 lb. milk increase per cow per day = approximately $25,500 per year at a low-average milk price.  (The milk price varies)  This is additional to the expectation that we wouldn't have a $40,000 loss. 

I'm not going to bore you anymore with all the numbers, but wanted to explain a bit more about a free stall barn and how it's beneficial.  The benefits, in our case, significantly outweigh the cost of building.  Now I just need to convince the Farm bankers...  ;~)