The document outlines general principles for planning animal houses, emphasizing the need for proper design and site selection to ensure animal health, productivity, and cost-effectiveness. Key factors include topography, soil type, water availability, and building construction techniques, which should utilize local materials while ensuring comfort for the animals. It concludes that efficient animal management requires well-planned housing to avoid increased labor costs and discomfort for the livestock.

1. GENERAL PRINCIPLES IN PLANNING
ANIMAL HOUSES.
Prepared by
Dr. Subhrajit Das,
B.V.Sc & A.H (CAU, Mizoram)
M.V.Sc (LPM) DSVCKV, Chattisgarh

2. INTRODUCTION-
 Animal Housing is required to protect the animals from inclement
weather, provide clean, comfortable stay for good health of animals
and for efficient management. Inadequate and improper planning
results in additional labor charges and increased costs in
maintenance of sheds. Adequate housing to animals is aimed at
increased milk production, better labor utilization, better health of
animals, disease control, better care and management of animals
resulting in production of high quality milk resulting in a
remunerative price and better profit of the farm. The farmer has to
select the suitable housing system keeping in view the local
environment and economic status. Minimum investment should be
put towards housing of animals by utilizing the locally available
materials for construction of roof, floor and walls without
compromising the comfort of animals.

3. FACTOR TO BE CONSIDERED BEFORE SITE SELECTON.-
 Topography and drainage.
 Soil type.
 Availability of land.
 Availability water.
 Exposure to the sun and protection from wind.
 Protection from noise and other facilities.
 Accessibility.
 Durability and attractiveness.
 Water supply.
 Surroundings.
 Labour.
 Marketing.
 Electricity.
 Transport facility.
 Facilities, labour, food

4.  1.Topography and drainage-Animal building should be at a
higher elevation than the surrounding ground to offer a good slope
for rainfall and drainage for the wastes of the dairy to avoid
stagnation within.
 2.Soil type-Soil must be suitable for strong foundation .Fertile
soil should be spared for cultivation.Marcy, clay, sandy, rock soils
are not suitable. Loamy and gravely soils are best suited for
building construction.
 3.Availability of land-There should be vast area to construct all
building and should give way to future expansion of farm.Atleast
2-3 acre land is required for 200 cows accommodation. For 2 cows
1-acre land is essential for fodder production.

5.  4. Availability water- Plenty of water is needed for farm
operations like washing, fodder cultivation, processing of milk and
by-products and for drinking.
 6. Exposure to the sun and protection from wind-A dairy
building should be located to a maximum exposure to the sun in
the north and minimum exposure to the sun in the south and
protection from prevailing strong wind currents whether hot or
cold. Buildings should be placed so that direct sunlight can reach
the platforms, gutters and mangers in the cattle shed. As far as
possible, the long axis of the dairy barns should be set in the north-
south direction to have the maximum benefit of the sun If the farm
building in open or exposed area, the wind breaks in the farm of
tall quick growing trees should be grown near the building. This
will reduce the wind velocity and solar radiation.

6.  7.Protection from noise and other facilities-The farm site
should be away from noise producing factory/chemical industry,
sewage disposing area. The industrial effluents in the form of
gaseous or liquid may pollute surrounding resources. Noise is also
found to affect the animal production. Hence the farm should be
away from city
 8.Accessibility-Easy accessibility to the buildings is always
desirable. Situation of a cattle shed by the side of the main road
preferably at a distance of about 100 meters should be aimed at.
 9.Durability and attractiveness-It is always attractive when
the buildings open up to a scenic view and add to the grandeur of
the scenery. Along with this, durability of the structure is
obviously an important criterion in building a dairy.
10.Water supply-Abundant supply of fresh, clean and soft water
should be available at a cheap rate.
 11.Surroundings-Areas infested with wild animals and dacoits
should be avoided. Narrow gates, high manger curbs, and loose
hinges, protruding nails, smooth finished floor in the areas where
the cows move and other such hazards should be eliminated.

7.  12. Labour-Honest, economic and regular supply of labour is
available.
 13. Marketing-Farm buildings should only be in those areas from
where the owner can sell his products profitably and regularly. The
farm should be away from the city but at the same time it should
be nearer to city thereby the products produced from the farm
could be marketed easily.
 14. Electricity-Electricity is the most important sanitary method
of lighting a dairy., it is desirable to have an adequate supply of
electricity. It should be available at the site. It is needed for
operating various machines used in the farm and is the light
source to the animals.

8.  15. Transport facility- The farm buildings should be provided
with good road and also have the accessibility to reach the market.
This will reduce the transport cost and avoid spoilage of products.
 16. Facilities, labour, food-Cattle yards should be so constructed
and situated in relation to feed storages, hay stacks, silo and
manure pits as to effect the most efficient utilization of labour.
Sufficient space per animal and well arranged feeding mangers
and resting are contribute not only to greater productivity in
animals and make the work of the operator easier also minimizes
feed expenses. Feed storages should be located at hand near the
centre of the animal house. Milk-house in case of cattle farm
should be located almost at the centre of the barn.

9.  Factor to be considered while designing animal house (Outer
section)-
 Designing Unit- It is desirable to design the accommodation for a
workable unit. It will give opportunity to study the need of smaller
group with regard to floor space, feeding space required for different
kinds of animals.
 Structural form- Shape and design of building should meet the
needs of all classes of livestock. Uniformity in the appearance should
be maintained. We have to decide the number of animals to be
housed in the building and number of buildings to be constructed.
 Designing for flexibility -Animal building has to be designed to
meet the requirement of changing enterprises. This will increase the
utility of buildings. Spacious building without pillars can be easily
being adopted for different enterprises with little modifications in
the building. For example large intensive dairy buildings can be
used for rearing pig or sheep and goat with little modification

10.  Shape of the roof- It is designed to suit the local climatic
conditions. Gable with roof ventilator is necessary for hot
condition. Monitor roof is suitable for building with smaller
width.
 Standard width of building- Single row cow shed should
have length of 3. 80 to 4.25 metres and Double row cow shed
should have 7. 90 to 8.70 metres length.
 Standard height of building The standard height of the
building may differ according to the roofing material and
agro climatic condition.
 Length of the buildings-The standard length of building
may be of any. It may vary depends upon the number of
animals housed. Length can be determined based on the
total stock to be housed within the building. Example: In
case of dairy 15-20 animals in single row system and 20-50
animals in double row system and above 50 animals a
separate shed should be provided

11.  Factor to be considered while designing animal house (Inner section)-
 Floor- Floor is the important part of the building. Floor is the one, which
is frequently used by animals for various purposes as resting, movement,
feeding and milking etc.The inside floor of the barn should be of some
impervious material which can be easily kept clean and dry and is not
slippery. Grooves and roughened surface should be provided. Different
materials are used for animal house flooring. The choice depends on
availability, cost and other quality required for the animal houses.
 Walls-The inside of the walls should have a smooth hard· finish of
cement, which will not allow any lodgement of dust and moisture=. The
open space in between supporting pillars will serve for light and air
circulation.
 Roof-Roof of the barn may be of asbestos sheet or tiles. Corrugated iron
sheets have the disadvantage of making extreme fluctuations in the
inside temperature of the barn in different seasons. However, iron sheets
with aluminium painted tops to reflect sunrays and bottoms provided
with wooden insulated ceilings can also achieve the objective. A height of
8 feet at the sides and 15 feet at the ridge will be sufficient to give the
necessary air space to the cows.

12.  Manger-Cement concrete continuous manger with removable
partitions is the best from the point of view of durability and
cleanliness.Mangers prevent feed wastage. The height at the back
of the manger should be kept at 2'-6" to 3". An overall width of 2'
to 2 1/2' is sufficient for a good manger.
 Alleys-The central walk should have a width of 5'-6' exclusive of
gutters when cows face out, and 4'-5' when they face in. The feed
alley, in case of a face out system should be 4' wide, and the
central walk should show a slope of 1" from the centre towards the
two gutters running parallel to each other, thus forming a crown
at the centre.
 Manure gutter-The manure gutter should be wide enough to
hold all dung without getting blocked, and be easy to clean/
Suitable dimensions are 2" width with a cross-fall of !" away from
standing. The gutter should have a gradient of 1" for every 10'
length. This will permit a free flow of liquid excreta.

13.  Doors-The doors of a single range cowshed should be 5" wide
with a height of 7', and for double row shed the width should not
be less than 8" to 9'. All doors of the barn should lie flat against
the external wall when fully open.
 Calving Boxes-Allowing cows to calve in the milking cowshed is
highly undesirable and objectionable. It leads to insanitary in
milk production and spread of disease like contagious abortion in
the herd. Special accommodation in the form of loose-boxes
enclosed from all sides with a door should be furnished to all
parturient cows. It should have an area of about 100 to 150 sq.ft.
With ample soft bedding, it should be provided with sufficient
ventilation through windows and ridge vent.
 Isolation Boxes-Animals suffering from infectious disease must
be segregated soon from the rest of the herd. Loose boxes of about
150 sq.ft are very suitable for this purpose. They should be
situated at some distance from the other barns. Every isolation
box should be self contained and should have separate connection
to the drainage disposal system.

14. Standard width of buildings-
 Single row cow shed-3.80-4.25 metre
 Double row cow shed-7.90 -8.70 metre
 Poultry and other- 20to 30 feet

25.  Floor space requirement-
Type of
animal
Floor specae
requirement(m²)
Maximum
no of
animal/pen
Height of
the shed
Covered area Open area
Cattle and buffalo-
Bull 12.0 24.0 1 175cm in
medium and
heavy rain
fall and 3330
in dry areas.
Cows 3.5 7.0 50
Buffaloes 4.0 8.0 50
Down-calver 12.0 12.0 1
Young calves 1.O 2.0 30
Old calves 2.O 4.0 30

26. FEEDING AND WATERING SPACE REQUIREMENT-
Type of
animal
Floor specae
requirement(m²)
Maximum
no of
animal/pen
Height of the
shed
Covered area Open area
Sheep and goat
Ewe/Nanny 1.0 - 60 300-dry areas
and 220 in
heavy rain fall
areas
Lamb/Kid 0.4 - 75
Ram/Buck 3.4 - -
Milch doe 1.4m×1.2m - Single stall
Pig
Boar 6-7 8.8-12 - 200-250
Farrowing
sow
7-9 8.8-12 -
Weaner
/fattening
pig
0.9-1.8 0.9-1.8 30
Dry sow
/gilt
1.8-2.7 1.4-1.8 3-10

27. FEEDING AND WATERING SPACE REQUIREMENT-
Types of
animal
Width(cm) Depth(cm) Height of
inner (cm)
Adult cattle and
buffalo
60 40 50
Calves 40 15 20
Adult sheep and
goat
50 30 35
Lambs and kids 50 20 25
Adult pigs. 50 20 25
Growing pigs 30 15 25

28. DESIGNING OF ANIMAL BUILDING FOR PRODUCTION AND
PRODUCT CONTROL-
Animal house is to be design to have control over production of
product and also the quality of product.
 Environmental control house-Recent trends in animal house is
to control the bad effect of environmental factors to provide comfort
condition to the animals. In tropical buildings ,choice of building
materials and method should be employed to prevent heat
radiation from sun into the building through roof,wall,and
surrounding ground. Non conducting materials with sufficient
insulation will prevent various kinds [f heat radiation .Comfortable
air velocity, optimum humidity should be maintained. These entire
factor will have effect on growth ,reproduction and overall health
status of livestock.

29.  Quality of product-High quality milk and egg can be
produced only in certain type of house, which are specially
designed for it. For example certified high quality eggs are
produced only in cages with rollaway flow management or
in slatted floor management,
 Certified high quality milk with low bacterial counts can be
produced only in the parlour system of milk
 Labour control-Labour cost can be reduced and designing
the animal house properly and labour efficiency can
improved by double row arrangement of animals and
animal buildings faciliti9s circular travel and two way job.
 Construction of alley like feed alley, milk alley, egg
collection alley, and animal weightment yard are designed
to reduce the labour cost.

30.  Disease control-Animal house should be designed
properly to effect disease control. Provision of washable and
easily drained floor, washable walls will control spread of
disease .Designing of suitable drainage system for quick
and hygienic disposal of waste is required for preventing
disease.
 External loose box accommodation is necessary for isolation
of sick animal. Dampness resistant surface will reduce the
high humidity, which is the predisposing cause for
respiratory disease in pigs and young animals.

31.  CONCLUSION-An efficient management of animal is not
possible without a well planned and adequate housing .Improper
planning in the arrangement of animal housing may result in
additional labour charges and as well as it may result a severe
uncomfortable condition to animals, so proper planning is
necessary before any animal house construction.

32.  REFERENCE-
 1.Agricultural Information Centre. Livestock
development technical handbook. Nairobi, Kenya.
 2.Attfield, H.D. 1977. Raising rabbits. Mt. Rainer
M.D.,Volunteers in Technical Assistance (VITA).
 3.Chepete, H.J., Xin, H., Puma, M.C. & Gates,
R.S.2004. Heat and moisture production of poultry
andtheir housing systems: pullets and layers. ASHRAE
Transactions 110: 286–299.

33. To contact- drdasacademy@gmail.com

34. THANK YOU