UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
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1 BULLETIN No. 736 
Contribution from the Bureau of Animal Industry 
JOHN R. MOHLER, Chi e : 
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Washington, D. C. 
November 15, 1918 
THE OPEN SHED COMPARED WITH THE CLOSED 
BARN FOR DAIRY COWS. 
By T. E. Woodward, W. F. Turner, W. R. Hale, and J. B. McNulty, of the 
Dairy Division. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. 
Present dairy practice regarding open and 
closed barns 1 
Review of previous work 2 
The experimental work 3 
Description of the open shed 3 
The closed barn 4 
The cows 4 
Production records 4 
Feed records 5 
Discussion of results 5 
Labor required 10 
Preparing cows for milking 10 
Removing manure and flushing out milk 
room 11 
Bedding— time required, pounds needed, 
etc 11 
Health and contentment of the cows 12 
Manure— preservation, handling, etc 13 
Summary 13 
PRESENT DAIRY PRACTICE REGARDING OPEN AND CLOSED BARNS. 
In order that milk and butterfat may be produced economically, 
it is necessary to provide shelter of some kind for dairy cattle during 
the cold, stormy seasons of the year. While the length of the stabling 
period varies in different sections of the United States, most dairy 
cows are now housed for at least five months, from November to 
March, inclusive. 
An open-shed barn is usually partly or entirely closed on three 
sides, leaving one side, usually the south or east, open. The shed is 
large enough to allow each animal sufficient room for comfort and 
exercise, the space allowed varying from 35 to 150 square feet for 
each cow. The animals are allowed the freedom of the shed except 
at milking time. Usually there is a separate room into which the 
cows are driven for milking. This room may accommodate all or 
only a part of them. In the latter case they are milked in groups. 
In the milking room the cows are groomed, milked, and fed grain, 
after which they are driven out and another group takes their place. 
Roughage is fed in racks and troughs provided for that purpose in 
the open shed. 
74848°— 18— Bull. 736 
