OPEN SHED COMPARED WITH BARN FOR DAIRY COWS. 11 



streams of milk to lower the bacterial count, and driving the cows out 

 again. The time of milking was not taken into consideration, as the 

 operation consumed practically the same time under each system. In 

 the closed barn the time required to perform the same sanitary duties 

 described above was considerably less because the cows were already 

 stabled and the time of driving in and out was saved. 



REMOVING MANURE AND FLUSHING OUT MILKING ROOM. 



The second operation shown in Table 6 in the case of the open barn 

 consisted in removing the small quantity of manure dropped by the 

 cows while in the milking room and washing the floors, platform, and 

 gutter of the milking room once daily. While the manure from the 

 open shed was not removed daily, an allowance of time required to 

 remove it has been included under this operation. It was assumed 

 that the same quantity of manure was produced daily by the cows in 

 the open shed as by the same number of cows in the closed barn. 

 The time required to remove the manure from the open shed has been 

 added to the time required to clean and flush but the milking room. 



The operation in the closed barn included the time required to 

 load the manure on a wagon and to remove it from the barn; also the 

 time to wash up the floors, platforms, and gutters and to put the 

 barn in the same sanitary condition as the milking room in the open 

 shed. 



With reference to the time required to keep both milking rooms 

 clean, it may be noted (Table 6) that considerably less was needed 

 for the small barn used in connection with the open-shed group. 

 Doubtless the saving of time would have been even more marked had 

 more cows been used. The figures were compiled for a herd of 16, 

 handled in two shifts of 8 cows each. With a very little extra time 

 for cleaning out, a much larger herd could have been milked in the 

 small barn. It should be noted also that the figures are based on the 

 assumption that the manure from the closed barn is to be hauled 

 directly to the field. If it is necessary either on account of the small 

 quantity or because of bad weather or soft fields to store the manure 

 and haul it out later, about 1|- minutes should be added to the figures 

 for the closed-barn cows, which would make the labor required, aside 

 from milking and feeding, 10 minutes and 32 seconds, as against 11 

 minutes and 14 seconds for the open-shed cows. 



BEDDING— TIME REQUIRED, POUNDS NEEDED, ETC. 



By referring to Table 6 it may be noted that the time required to 

 bed the cows did not vary widely in the two stables. A few seconds 

 more for each cow were required in the open shed. It was observed 

 throughout the trial, however, that the cows in the open shed kept 

 themselves cleaner than those in the stalls. 



