Housing of Animals: Construction and Equipment of Animal Houses

437 Pages·1985·17.94 MB·English

by  A. MATON

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Developments in Agricultural Engineering 6
Housing of
Animals
CONSTRUCTION AND EQUIPMENT OF ANIMAL HOUSES
A. MATON
Doctor h.c. of Agricultural Sciences (Univ. of Keszthely, Hungary)
Doctor of Science (Univ. of Lille, France)
Agricultural Engineer (Univ. of Gent, Belgium)
J. DAELEMANS
Doctor of Agricultural Sciences (Univ. of Giessen, W. Germany)
Agricultural Engineer (Univ. of Gent, Belgium)
J. LAMBRECHT
Master of Management Sciences (Univ. of Leuven, Belgium)
Industrial Engineer (Agric.) (Gent, Belgium)
Rijksstation voor Landbouwtechniek, Van Gansberghelaan 115, B-9220 Merelbeke, Belgium
English Text: F. LUNN, Gr.Sc.
Drawings: A. STEVENS
ELSEVIER
Amsterdam - Oxford — New York - Tokyo 1985
ELSEVIER SCIENCE PUBLISHERS B.V.
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Distributors for the United States and Canada:
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Maton, A. (Andre)
Housing of animals.
(Developments in agricultural engineering ; 6)
Translation of: De huisvesting van dieren.
Includes "bibliographies.
1. Livestock—Housing. I. Daelemans, J.
II. Lambrecht, J. III. Title. IV. Series.
SF91.M3713 1985 728».92 85-l6020
ISBN 0-hkk-k252Q-k
ISBN 0-444-42528-4 (Vol. 6)
ISBN 0-444-41940-3 (Series)
© Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., 1985
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Printed in The Netherlands
xi
PREFACE
Animal husbandry plays an Increasingly important role throughout
the world In the fulfilment of the prlmahjy need of mankind : food.
The growing demand for food leads to an Intensification of the pro-
ducti,on of livestock. Climatic condition* In large parts of the
world require the accommodation of livestock In imitable building*
during certain pernods In a year. The housing mut also contribute
towards cheating a healthy environment for the animale and thoJji
attendant* and ha* to make po**lble a national organization of the
Involved labour, an economically, ecologically and ethologlcally
justified production of live*tock, conform to the late*t *tandard*
of Public Health. The housing mu*t also blend with the landscape.
QUA research car/Ued out *lnce the fifties In the National In-
*tltute for Agricultural EnglneeAlng In Uerelbeke and a thorough
*tudy of the literature concerning the housing of animal* have led
*ucce**lvely to a first edition In the dutch language of a book on
this *ubject [494 pp.) In 1971, which wa* tran*lated Into French
and published In Ρ axis In 1972 and was later also translated Into
Spanish and published In Madrid In 1975. The *econd and third com-
pletely revised edition* of this book In the Dutch language mere
re*pectlvely published In 1976 and 19S3.
The English edl,tlon of 1 1Housing of Animal*" by El*evler Science
Publishers is In fact not merely a translation of the last edition
of our book In the Dutch language but is a new text. It is true
that large part* of this book were taken from the Dutch edition,
but on the other hand a great deal of recent Information of Inter-
national dimension concerning animal husbandry, construction and
equipment of animal houses has been IncZuded In this edition.
La*t but not least the book ωα* updated with the latest *clentlflc
and technological finding* on this *ubject published In 19S3 and
1984.
xi î
I would certainly fail In my duty not to express very special
thanks to my collaborator of the National Institute for Agricultural
Engineering In Merelbeke : Or. ir. J. Oaelemans and M. Sc. Ing. J.
Lambrecht who, to gather with myself, wrote the original manuscript.
Their knowledge and devotion were of great value In completing this
book.
I am especially grateful to Gr. Sc. F. Lunn, attached to our In-
stltute, for the elaborate work Involved In writing the English text
and In the editorial preparation of this book.
To Mr. A. Stevens I owe a special debt of thanks for making the
many drawings with great skill.
I also want to thank M. Sc. Ing. J. Lambrecht for taking as well
as developing and printing the many photographs .
I am particularly grateful to Mrs . M. Man den Hauwe for preparing
and typing the manuscript In a professional way and for betng 6ο
patient with alt of us .
I finally wish to thank Mrs. M.C. Ve Ghouy-Oe Wandel and Mr.
H. Van Ve Sype for the preparation of the numerous plates.
We hope that this new book, like It* predecessors In the other
languages will prove Its services to all who are Involved In or con-
fronted with the housing of animals, such as agricultural engineers,
veterinary surgeons, architects, students, progressive farmers and
all who for various reasons show Interest In this subject. We dare
to hope that this book will facl.lltate a scientifically based and
judicious choice between the large variety of technical means which
are nowadays at the disposal of the animal keeper and that It will
serve the Interest of agrl,culture and of mankind throughout the world.
The authors would be grateful to those readers who want to make
suggestions or remarks.
Merelbeke, Belgium, March 2, 1985.
A. MATON
3
Chapter 1
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE HOUSING OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS
The housing of domestic animals has through the centuries been
linked to the way animal breeding was practised, so far that the
history of cattle breeding and the housing of animals cannot really
be separated from each other (Lindemans, 1952 ; Trefois, 1978).
In ancient days man had to provide for his own supplies of food
by picking fruits and parts of plants which he found in nature, and
by hunting and'fishing i.e. by killing wild animals, mainly mammals,
birds and fishes. Soon he found that more plentiful and regular food
provision was possible by domesticating certain animals and so cattle
breeding, which is older than arable farming, originated some ten
thousand years ago. The keeping of animals and the cultivation of
plants gave greater freedom and possibilities to mankind. They formed
the basis for the development of settlements, towns, states, cultures
and civilizations (Rohrs, 1974). This development took place in
several steps.
At the time of the first civilization man already possessed herds
to produce wool, meat and dairy products. These people were wandering
herdsmen who drove their herds from one place to another. The animals
found their pastures in the landscape and as soon as the surroundings
of "the camp" were grazed, the herdsmen drove the herd to new pastures.
Each community required an extensive wandering area in order to find
pastures for their herd throughout the year. During the winter the
herd was brought to sheltered places viz. under the dense cover of the
forests, in gorges or in secluded valleys ; the animals survived from
dry leaves, young saplings and moss. This was the nomadic pastoral
cattle husbandry It disappeared in Europe probably before the his-
m
torical chronology, at least in the form as it still exists nowadays
in some Asiatic steppes.
In a further stage each tribe or community had its own fixed loca-
tion and the first rudiments of agriculture originated with produce
of the field. In this first period of sedentary agriculture the land
was not fertilized : the crops utilized the humus and nutrients which
were abundantly present in the cultivated primitive soil. New fields
were cultivated when the peasants found that the fertility of the
soil diminished and the previous fields were abandoned and left fallow.
Later this land became farmhold with a three course rotation (land
divided in three parts where the principle of three course rotation
was applied : winter-grains as food for man,summer-grains as feed
for the animals and the third part was left fallow), using straw-
manure and livestock droppings. The surrounding pastures became a
permanent part of the settlement.
As the number of villages increased, it became necessary to de-
marcate and delineate the pastures of each community. In this way
each community had its own land and the peasants kept it scrupulous-
4
Ly for their own, if need be by force. ALL Land that was not culti-
vated and was not appropriated by a "Lord" for his own use, couLd
be used as pasture for the herd beLonging to the community. The Land
was and remained wiLd and covered with its originaL vegetation. It
was generaLLy denoted as pasture Land. CattLe breeding was stilt
pastoraL. The herd of the community grazed for the greater part of
the year under the vigiLant eyes of the herdsmen. It grazed the wiLd
herbs and Low shrubs. To protect the animaLs against the rough cli-
mate during the winter, pounds and primitive confinements were buiLt
by the farmer.
In the period of sedentary pastoral cattle husbandry the
herds were quite numerous, at Least during the summer. Apart from the
fieLds beLonging to the viLLage community, the Landscape was covered
with forests and heaths, where the herds ranged over an immense pas-
ture. The winter was however rather peri Lous for the farmer : the
residue of the grain harvest, which in fact was owned by the commu-
nity, certainLy did not suffice to bring the herd through the winter,
even if hay was availabLe. Therefore, all s Laughter-ready animaLs
and certainLy a number of saLeabLe horses were taken to the market.
SLaughtering aLso took pLace in the viLLage where the meat was sal-
ted, dried or smoked and the hides were tanned. Meat and hides to-
gether with wooL were in fact the main and probabLy even the onLy
products which the farmer couLd seLL since the fieLd crops were main-
Ly required as nourishment for his famiLy. There were mainly herds
of pigs and flocks of sheep. Which animals overwintered and the way
this happened is still a mystery. Probably the pedigree sheep and
horses were kept and fed in confinements, while for the pigs the pe-
digree-animals and non-slaughterable remained in the forests and had
to provide for themselves just like the wild boars.
The community sent its animals to a common pasture under the care
of the herdsmen. Every type of animal (horses, dairy cows, sheep,
piQS, geese) formed a separate herd. Early in the morning the herds-
men blew their horns to notify the villagers to open their sheds and
the animals joined the herds. Along certain paths the herds were ta-
ken to the respective pastures by the herdsmen, where they remained
alL day. At midday the herd was assembled under the shadow of the
trees for the time of rest. Before darkness the herds were brought
back to the village and after the herdsmen blew their horns again,
the animals found their way back to their sheds.
The domains, just like the village communities, practised pasto-
ral cattle husbandry. Their herds of sheep, pigs, cattle and horses
were driven into private wild pastures. By the standards of sedentary
pastoral husbandry these herds were rather large and often each was
under the care of a different herdsman. The numerous herds which were
owned by the abbeys were under the care of a pastor equorum, a pastor
ovium, a pastor vaccarium and a pastor porcorum.
In sedentary pastoral cattle husbandry the animals were the root
of the whole active business of the farmer. The cultivated Land was
rather small compared to the wild heaths and forests in which the
animals were driven. The cultivated land was fertilized with the
5
droppings from the animaLs in the pasture- A Lot of these droppings
were Lost at the pasture but those Left behind in the sheds during
the night were probably sufficient to give a certain degree of fer-
tilizing to the cultivated land. The produced straw-manure was pro-
bably rather scarce since the straw was used more as feed for the
overwintering herds and less as littering. When the animals could be
driven in forests where oak and beech dominated the husbandry was
mainly concentrated on pigs. Near the sea and the rivers mainly sheep
were kept but also dairy cows (vaccariae). Sheep produced wool for
the drapery, but sheep and cows also delivered milk to the cheese-
monger.
On the heaths the sheep dominated since only they found enough
food on the scanty grounds. They produced wool and sheepskin and pro-
bably mutton. There were also herds of horses found on the heaths
which were bred in the wild, in large fenced heath pastures. Pastoral
horse breeding already existed for many centuries on the immense
heaths.
In many regions the pastoral cattle husbandry with its immense,
often collective pastures evolved into a cattle husbandry with
limited and privately owned pastures . A more intensive cattle
breeding arose. One of the most important causes of this new kind of
husbandry was the disintegration of large early-medieval domains and
their alienation by donation or sale to the minor landed nobility
and especially to religious communities. The rough grounds, which
previously were pastures for extensive cattle husbandry were now cul-
tivated and converted to arable land. The new independent farms still
possessed some pastures for their cattle, although they were now ne-
cessarily restricted.
To provide a pasture for the cattle the farmers were forced to let
a limited part of the land uncultivated or to create some artificial
pastures in the cultivated land, covered for instance with peas or
vetches and mixed with oats.
The permanent housing of dairy cattle already existed in
the Middle-Ages : fodder was collected on the land and fed to the
stalled animals.
Contrary to the permanent stalling as practised in some regions
where the animals were kept in the stalls winter and summer, the stall-
ing was interrupted in other regions in the summer during daytime to
allow some grazing. Here the farmers possessed some permanent pastures
and orchards near the farm. During Late summer the remains of hay
pasture was grazed and during autumn stubble supplemented for instance
with turnip leaves was grazed. The cattle were stalled during the
night and the hottest hours of a summer day, where they consumed
clover in the stall ; the remaining hours were spent grazing.
This type of cattle keeping with alternate grazing and housing was
from a hygienic and zootechnical point of view much better than per-
manent stalling. It aimed at the highest quantitative and qualita-
tive yield from the cattle together with a good manure production.
This method of cattle keeping superseded that with permanent stall-
ing in most regions in the course of the 19th century. Due to the
permanent or interrupted stalling of the cattle, the dairy cows
6
became more important and privileged. The flocks of sheep became
less numerous and finally disappeared from most farms except from
some privileged farms which owned the right to keep a flock of sheep
on the common grounds.
The different periods in the development of cattle husbandry have
not succeeded each other in Europe during the course of the cen-
turies. They arose or were forced, due to the circumstances, earlier
in one area than in another. The population, the type of landed pro-
perty which was dominating in a certain region - small, medium, large
or very large - and the extent of the forests in the landscape were
the main factors influencing the cattle husbandry. In places where
small and medium landed properties were dominant, sedentary pastoral
cattle husbandry became impossible and the farmer was forced to keep
the cattle on restricted, private pastures ; on large and very large
domains however and also where immense forests provided unlimited
pastures, it was advantageous for the farmer to practise pastoral
husbandry.
As cattle husbandry with permanent or periodic stalling gained
acceptance, it became necessary to pay more attention to the housing
of the animals and especially of dairy cattle whereby the following
description gives an idea.
We may assume that in many countries the cow-shed, where cattle
were stalled during the winter, was a construction of woodwork and
loam, without windows and covered with a low straw roof. A wide door
formed the entrance for the dung-cart. The animals were tied to wooden
poles which were driven into the soil, at a safe distance from the
walls to prevent damage from the horns. The straw and eventually the
hay was thrown in front of the animals. In the cow-shed the space
above the animals was probably reserved as storage for straw and hay.
This hay-loft had previously been in the byre. The walls supported
a frame of wooden stakes which formed the hay-mow. Houses without a
hay-mow are more spacious : an empty hay-mow provided a cool and airy
space to the animals during the summer.
At an early stage the farmer on poor sandy soils learned to appre-
ciate the fertilizing power of farmyard manure and knew that it formed
the most important factor for his whole farm and for his existence.
He kept treating the manure as in the old sheds : he left it there,
piled up under the animals even if they were permanently stalled.
Therefore these byres were dug out to about one metre and sometimes
deeper, whereby the animals initially stood in a pit ; the straw to-
gether with the solids of the manure held by the straw, accumulated
in this pit. In one or both of the opposing walls wide gates were
provided allowing free entry of the dung-cart.
In the old, improved, Flemish cow-shed, the animals were placed
next to each other, in one row. They were tied to horizontal stakes,
connected to the poles. They were at a safe distance from the loam
wall to prevent damage from the horns. In this way a passage was
created in front of the animals which was useful to "serve" their
fodder. This passage was floored with bricks and was connected,
through a door, with the room used for the feed preparation. Such
byres were already mentioned in the 16th century (figs 1.1, 1.2).
7
Fig. 1.1 View at and Layout of a FLemish Long façade farm (Belgium).
Legend : A = living quarters ; Β = oven ; C = bedroom ; D = room ;
Ε = cow-shed ; F = swing-beam with feeding kettle.
Description : In the living quarters: projection of the swing-beam
which brings the kettle from the fireplace to the en-
trance of the feed passage.
In the cow-shed : projection of the stakes and the wide
door to evacuate the manure.