Environmental Conditions for Farm Livestock

Environmental Conditions for Farm Livestock

Farm livestock have many accommodation requirements; just like any other animal, whether they live indoors, or outdoors. There are many legislations and codes of practice to protect farm animals that farmers must meet, otherwise they could be put in prison, have their animals taken away from them, or at the minimum they will be given a fine. The main legislation is The Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007.

Outdoor requirements -

For my outdoor reared farm livestock I’ve chosen to talk about outdoor pigs. The Welfare of Farmed Animals Regulations 2000 states ‘Animals not kept in buildings shall, where necessary and possible, be given protection from adverse weather conditions, predators and risks to their health and shall, at all times, have access to a well-drained lying area.’ This statement sums up, generally what pigs require when housed outside.

The first thing that must be thought about when housing outdoor pigs is the land that you’re going to be housing them on. Pigs naturally come from woodland areas and so therefore you would not want to house them on stony land. You  also do not want to accommodate them on low lying land that is prone to flooding or land that doesn’t drain very well because if you look back at the statement above then one of the requirements of pigs is for them to have a well-drained lying area and this would not be possible on that kind of land. Figure 1 shows the ideal land for outdoor pigs to be housed on.

The next thing that must be considered when housing outdoor pigs is the space you have and how many pigs you have because there are regulations on how many pigs are allowed to be housed per hectare of land. This is to ensure that pigs have space to roam and that the fields do not become overcrowded because this could cause fighting etc. Part of the main legislation is that a pig must be able to move about easily at all times.

Another accommodation requirement is having a health and safety plan. This should include a strategy for dealing with emergency situations such as adverse weather conditions or an outbreak of a serious disease. This is important because you must be prepared for anything otherwise your animals could come to serious harm. A good thing to have in your health and safety plan is an isolation system so that you can control a disease if there is an outbreak in your pig herd. Another thing a farmer should have in their health and safety plan is safe handling practice for staff and this should include appropriate PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and training. The equipment should also be regularly checked to ensure that they are not broken or damaged etc.

In order to be able to protect outdoor pigs from the weather they should have a hut or an area of shelter. These should also be provided with suitable bedding and a suitable lying area where they can rest that is kept clean. This also provides natural insulation for the pigs to keep it warm in cold weather. Figure 2 shows ideal shelters for outdoor pigs, as you can see adequate shelter is extremely important when piglets are involved. The most important thing is that the shelter is rain proof because otherwise the pigs and piglets could become extremely cold. Wetness also provides ideal conditions for micro-organisms to live and this could be extremely harmful to the pigs. Shelters also provide pigs with good protection from the sun as the sun can seriously burn a pig’s skin.

Routine maintenance must be provided for the pigs and their accommodation on a regular basis. This involves someone changing the bedding, disinfecting the shelters and any concrete and cleaning up any excretions. You also must ensure that the enclosure is safe and secure and that there is no way that they could harm themselves (sharp edges etc.) You also should check the fences to the enclosure to make sure that they are all fully secure and that there are no weaknesses and there are no way that the pigs could escape. There are also legal requirements on the disposal of waste which are that any pig excretion or dirty bedding must be burnt or destroyed in some way. Shelters should also be recited occasionally to avoid and prevent the build-up and transfer of disease organisms.

Another thing that you should have in place if you are accommodating outdoor pigs on your farm predators programme; this will help to protect the pigs against any predators that are in the wild such as foxes. Ways that this can be done are through fox fencing or the pigs being housed at night when the foxes are most likely to be hunting. Figure 3 is an example of fox fencing. A predator’s programme is especially important when you are housing piglets outside because they are more vulnerable.

The boundaries of an outdoor pig enclosure are also very important things to think about, the most common thing to use to create a boundary is an electric fence because it gives the animals a slight shock if they touch it so therefore they are unlikely to go near it often so will not escape through it. Most farmers also have extra fencing just outside of the electric fencing to ensure the pigs safety in case the electric fence became broken and also to protect again predators as stated above. It is also very important that the fencing around the boundary of the enclosure is designed, constructed and maintained correctly because otherwise it could harm the animals.

The last very important factor to consider when accommodating outdoor pigs is the management of the grassland, this is very important because if the field is not maintained then this could be seen as very poor welfare towards the pigs because they will be living in squalor. It is very important that the grass is regularly cut and the animals should be provided with mud baths or wallows because this encourages them to behaviour naturally and when they bath in it, it acts as a sun block on their skin to avoid them becoming sunburnt. You also must provide them with hedges and trees so that they are in a natural environment and these can also act as natural shelters.

All of this are included in common codes of practice for farmers and are also relevant to the main legislations. These are in place to protect farm animals from cruelty and neglect; farm animals are some of the most commonly mistreated animals due to them being part of businesses that eventually use them for food.

Indoor requirements –

For my indoor farm livestock I’ve chosen to research the indoor accommodation requirements for cows and calves. The main legislation on indoor cattle accommodation is The Code for the Welfare of Livestock – Cattle. The Welfare of Cattle states that indoor cattle’s needs include comfort and shelter, fresh water and a healthy balanced diet, freedom of movement, company of other animals, the opportunities to exercise the most normal patterns of behaviour, natural daylight, suitable flooring, veterinary care, avoidance of unnecessary mutilation and emergency arrangements.

The first and most important thing that you must consider when housing cattle indoors is ventilation. The main reason for this is because respiratory infection is undoubtedly the most common and the most financially damaging disease in housed calves and cattle. There are three different ways in which you can provide indoor livestock with ventilation; these are by wind effect, by outlet, or by inlet. You must remember that cows release a lot of heat and gas and therefore good ventilation also helps to control the air space/humidity and the gas concentrations. Good ventilation also allows cattle to have unlimited access to fresh air, so that it is as if they are outside.

The next thing that must be considered is the drainage that you will need in the cattle accommodation. This is also a very important because cows produce a huge amount of urine and you do not want them to be living in damp conditions because of this as it would be against the welfare act and also could cause the cows to become ill. So therefore by providing suitable drainage there is somewhere for the urine to go. This is done by slanted flooring leading to drainage pipe-ways or by drainage flooring shown in figure 4.

The next thing that is required when housing indoor cattle is appropriate insulation. This is done by providing them with bedding (usually made out of straw). This provides the cows with all of the insulation they need as they do not need a lot because cows release their own heat. Insulation also links to temperature, it is important that cows are kept at a suitable temperature because otherwise it could cause illness. Cows release a lot of their own heat and therefore they do not need to be kept in very heated conditions. The recommendations for the temperature that calves should be kept at are 5-20 degrees Celsius and the range for adult stock is 0-15 degrees Celsius.

Another important thing to think about when you are accommodating indoor cattle is what flooring to use. This can link in with drainage because you must have to include this into your flooring plan. The most common flooring that is used is fully slatted flooring because cattle lie down regularly and bare slatted flooring would be uncomfortable. Figure 1 shows the type of flooring that should be used. You could also use slightly slanted flooring.

Lighting is also important in cattle housing requirements; all cattle are required to have access to light at the normal daily hours. If you are using artificial light then it is not allowed to be too bright and if you want to observe in the darkness then red night lights are permitted but once again they must not be too bright. Usually dairy cattle have access to more light than beef cattle when they are kept indoors because dairy cattle need to have a high milk yield.

Like with any animal, it is important that they are not kept in overcrowded conditions as it is seen as poor welfare and can increase the spread of disease. It can also cause the cattle to fight (especially common with males) because they do not have enough space and it can also be caused by restricted access to food. With cattle it is especially important that you do not overstock when you have calves. The minimum recommendations for the size of a pen for 20 cattle are 12000mm by 7500mm.

Overall, the main aim of the indoor accommodation is to provide shelter for the cattle; it should protect them from the extremes of rain and snow and protect them from the wind. This is really important because if cattle are not kept correctly and not kept in the correct conditions then it is not only seen as unfair to  the animal but it can also cause the animals to become ill or die and therefore farmers end up losing lots of money because of it. An ideal example is shown in figure 5. It not only provides adequate shelter for the cows, it also provides a good ventilation system because it is open planned and this also helps to be able to avoid the temperatures becoming too hot inside the building.

It is also very important to make sure that the cows are fully secure and that they have adequate boundaries around their pens. This is because you don’t want the cattle escaping or injuring themselves. It is very common for indoor cow accommodation to have 2 sets of boundaries, an inner boundary which goes around the cattle’s pen, and then an outer boundary around the shelter itself or around a group of pens. This helps to increase the security and the outer layer also helps to keep pests out so that they do not disturb or harm the cattle.

Cleaning and maintenance is also an important part of farm animal welfare because not all farm animals are naturally clean (especially not cows) and so to avoid disease and illness and mistreatment it is important that you have a planned, routine cleaning programme in place which includes the correct containment and disposal of waste is arranged and controlled. It should also include the regular replacing of bedding and disinfecting the pen properly. Maintenance is important to ensure that both animal and people stay safe; you should ensure that everything is secure (fences around pens etc.) and that there are no escape routes or breakages in the enclosures or on the outside of them which could harm the animals or people. You also must have relevant safety signs around in the cow shelter to remind people and make them aware of any dangers. It is also essential for indoor cattle systems to have strong handling facilities and personal protective equipment (PPE) because cattle are very strong animals and you need to be able to control them otherwise things could become very difficult and dangerous. PPE should be checked regularly to ensure that it is in good working use because otherwise it could put someone in a very dangerous position.

As you can see there are many different things that must be considered when accommodating for farm animals and there are also many different codes of practice and legislations which are in place to protect farm animals. There are also many differences and similarities when housing animals inside or outside. Overall the most important thing is that you see things from the animal’s point of view and you provide it with everything it requires, wherever it lives.