Herd homes are 'the future'

More farmers are building herd homes, though concerns have been voiced about the amount of time animals spend in them. Photo / File

Herd homes are under the spotlight as new guidelines are debated to protect cows from being "intensively farmed", as pigs and chickens are. The National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee is seeking public consultation on proposed changes to the dairy cattle Code of Welfare 2010. Chairman Dr John Hellstrom says the committee wants the industry to be regulated because there has been an increase in 24/7 dairy housing.

"What happened with pigs and poultry is those industries started intensive farming methods and there was very little scrutiny of that until it got well down the track," Hellstrom says.

"Dairying is starting now so we have got time to put good conditions in place before anything silly happens ... there are still issues around pigs and chickens. Our intention is to be proactive from the start."

Treatment of cows was covered in the dairy code but it did not extend to the herd home.

There was concern about the amount of time animals spent in the home and the size of stalls provided for them. "There are things like if you have animals of widely different sizes in buildings that can cause some animal-welfare problems as they'll be too big for the small animals and too small for the big animals. "We have also put in a recommended best practice that cows should get at least some time on the pasture."

However, the organisation was impressed with all of the herd housing it had seen so far. "In terms of improved welfare for the animals, if given the choice the cows would rather be inside than outside when the weather is bad and their health, performance and production all improves."

Federated Farmers president Bruce Wills says no one wants the controversy that surrounded some of the other intensive farming practices and "we need to learn from that".

It was sensible to have some guidelines in place, he says.

"As long as they are sensible and reasonable and workable ... it goes without saying animal welfare must come first, if we don't have fit, healthy, growing animals we don't make money." Farmers were building herd homes as a means to protect the environment, he says. It gave farmers control of effluent run-off.

This year, Fiona and Shaun Kehely built a herd home in the Bay of Plenty and likened it to five-star accommodation with all the mod cons. The farm supports 1100 cows on a 430ha dairy platform and the state-of-the-art herd home can house 400 cows overnight or accommodate 600 for feeding. The herd home has sleeping facilities in the form of stalls. Its curved roof generates air movement to keep stock warm and dry in winter and cooler in summer.

The Kehelys said they had been able to use 30 per cent less in feed supplements, and cow foot problems were down 60 per cent. 'It's the way of the future," Shaun Kehely says.