Purdue University
Agricultural Extension Service
Mimeo DH-33
August 1952 (5c)
STANCHION BARN vs. OPEN, LOOSE HOUSING BARN
....this is a 5-year summary (1945-50) from the Dairy Barn Research project conducted by the departments of dairy husbandry and agricultural engineering of the University of Wisconsin and the Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corporation.
The Dairy Barn Research Project has completed its ninth year of operation.
The basic objectives of this project are to compare the conventional stanchion barn with the loose housing system of handling dairy cattle and to improve upon these systems whenever practical.
Complete records have, been maintained for the nine test years. During the first four years of the project, a considerable number of changes were made in the design of the physical plant. Observations and records obtained served as the basis for these changes. The last five years there have been no major changes in the physical plant. For this reason the summary compares only the last five years, although the results of previous years are in line with those reported at this time. The Dairy Barn Research Project has been set up to operate for a ten year period in order to average out discrepancies that may occur in any one year’s results.
The physical plant at the Project consists of
1.	A 17 cow, conventional stanchion barn (A Barn)
2.	A 17 cow, insulated loose housing bam (B Barn)
3.	A 17 cow, uninsulated loose housing barn (C Barn)
4.	An 8 stall, floor level milking parlor used in conjunction with the loose housing barns
5.	Feed storage units, milk house, living quarters and office.

The test periods at the Project have a normal duration of six months. They occur between October 1 and May 1 of the following year.

Three herds of 17 high producing Holsteins are selected each year. This selection is made on the basis of each cow’s current and past production. Freshening or due date, weight, age and previous health history. When division of the herds is completed, numbers are drawn to allocate them to the three barns.

The conventional stanchion barn (A Barn) is operated in the same manner a farmer would operate a modern stanchion barn. B Barn is an insulated loose housing barn. This unit was operated as a closed loose housing barn for three years, 1944 to 1947. The results obtained were not favorable. The reasons for this were:
1.	The barn was very moist. Excessive condensation was apparent throughout the greater part of the test periods, even with the use of mechanical ventilation.
2.	Due to this excessive moisture, more bedding was used than in the cold, loose housing bam. Even with this extra bedding, the manure pack was always damp and moist.