Single row system : In single row system, 12-16 numbers of animals can be kept.

Double row system

• If it is greater than 16, then double row system is preferable.
• In double row system up to 50 animals can be maintained in a single shed.
• The distance between two sheds should be greater than 30 feet or it should be twice the height of the building.
• Tail to tail system
  Advantages
  • Cleaning and milking of animals easy.
  • Supervision of milking also easy.
  • Less chance for transmission of diseases from animal to animal.
  • Animals can get more fresh air from outside.
  • This system is more labour friendly system.
• Head to head system
  Advantages
  • Getting animals into the shed is easy.
  • Feeding of animals also easy.
  • Disinfection of gutter will be more due to the direct fall of sunrays over the gutter.
  • Animals are better exhibited to visitors

  Disadvantages

  • Milking supervision is difficult.
  • Possibilities of transmission of disease are more.
  • Not labour friendly.

Milking Barn / milk parlour

• This is a barn where milch animals are milked and is fully covered.
•  It should be located at the centre of the farm with all other farm buildings arranged around it. 
• There shall be an individual standing in the milking barns and the number of standings required should be 25% of total number of milch animals in the herd.
• The milking operation should be carried out in batches.

  Dimensions of milking barn

  • Length of standing space : 1.5 – 1.7 m
  • Width of standing space : 1.05 – 1.2m (80% of length, of standing space)
  • Width of central passage  : 1.5 – 1.8 m
  • Width of feed alley           : 0.75 m
  • Width of gutter                : 0.30 m
  • Overhang                        : 0.75 m

•  Pregnant animals are transferred to a calving pen 2 to 3 weeks before the expected date of calving.
•  Calving pen of 3m x 4m (12 m2) is essential to keep the animals in advanced stage of pregnancy.
•  It should be located nearer to the farmer’s quarters for better supervision.
• The number of calving pens required is 10% of the number of total breedable female stock in the farm.

Calf pen

• This is meant for housing young calves separately.
• It can be located either at the end or on the side of the milking barn.
• This facilitates taking calves to their dams quickly.
• If there are large numbers of calves, the separate unit of calf shed should be arranged and located nearer to the milking barn.

Young stock/ heifer shed

• It is meant for housing young heifers separately.
• Older heifers calves from about six months of age to breeding age are to be housed separately from the suckling calves.
• When a large number of young stocks are there, they should be divided into different age groups and each group housed separately to facilitate scientific feeding.

Dry animal shed

• In large farms, milch and dry cows are housed separately.
• The floor in the covered area should preferably be made of cement concrete.
• Under Indian conditions, in smaller farms, milch and dry animals can be housed together.
• Normally, one third of the animals in a farm will be in dry or in dry cum pregnant stage.

Bull shed

• It is meant for housing bulls separately in a farm.
• It should be constructed towards one end of the farm.
• There shall be one shed for each bull.
• The number of bulls required being one for every 50 breedable females on the farm, if natural breeding is practiced.
• When artificial insemination service facilities are available, no necessary to keep the bulls on the farm.
• The bull shed shall have covered 3x4 metre dimensions, leading into a paddock of 120 square metres.
• The bull sheds shall be located in such a way that the bulls are able to see the cows and hear their sounds.

Isolation shed

• It is the separation of sick animals from apparently healthy animals to avoid transmission of diseases to healthy stock.
• It should be located at the corner of the shed so that these sheds are inaccessible to other animals.

Quarantine shed

• It should be located at the entrance of the farm.
• The newly purchased animals entering into the farm should be kept in quarantine shed for a minimum period of 30 to 40 days to watch out for any disease occurrence.

• All the four walls should be closed and it should be rat proof.
• There should be one concrete store room with feed mixing unit at a distant place and a smaller feed store room behind the milking parlour.
• The floor and walls of store room should be impervious and damp proof.

• It is essential to keep the milk and also to chill the milk in larger dairies having 400 to 700 litres production capacity that requires 3.7 m x 5m size of room and an additional 0.37 m2 for every 40 litres of milk production.
• For a smaller dairy unit below 100 litres a small room with a dimension of 3.75m x 3m can be sufficient for storing milk and concentrate feed.

• An adult animal consume about 5 to 10 Kg of hay or straw per day, while young stock consume about 2 to 5 kg of hay or straw per day.
• The annual requirement can be calculated and the space requirement can be arrived.