Purdue University
Agricultural Extension Service
Mimeo DH-49
August 1954 (2M)
RESULTS OF LOOSE-HOUSING FOR CALVES
Calves have been successfully raised in open sheds located at the Western Washington Experiment Station, Puyallup, and at the main Washington Agricultural Experiment Station, Pullman.
Twenty-three Jersey and Guernsey calves were used on the experiment at Puyallup. These calves were purchased from nearby dairymen at 1 to 3 days of age and put in the open shed. During the winter of 1949-50, 15 calves were raised at Puyallup. The temperature dropped as low as -13° F.
Eight more calves were raised in these pens during the winter of 1950-51. There were no deaths among 23 calves, nor did any cases of frostbite, colds, or pneumonia occur. At Pullman, a total of 91 calves was studied over a 2-year period (1948-50),
$7 were housed in the open shed, and 34 were housed in the conventional barn. Comparisons involving growth, vigor, health, and amount of feed consumed were made. During December and January of these two years, temperature dropped to 0° F. 31 times, and exceeded -21° F. 6 times. Heavy fog and high humidity were quite common during the milder periods.
There was only one light case of pnuemonia in the 57 calves housed in the open shed at Pullman. One calf died from scours. In contrast to this, 4 of the 34 calves housed in the conventional barn died during the same period. Three of the deaths were from scours and one from pneumonias. A second case of pneumonia was successfully treated. There were more cases of scours among calves housed in the conventional barn.
These scours were also more severe as shown by the fact that 48 per cent required medical treatment, as compared to only 15 per cent of the cases occurring in the open shed.
Comparisons of growth rate are shown in Table 1. The Jersey and Guernsey calves raised in the open shed at Puyallup grew slightly faster during the first 8 weeks than did Jerseys and Guernseys housed either in the open shed or conventional barn at Pullman. Those housed in the conventional barn at Pullman were 5 pounds heavier than those housed in the open shed at Pullman. There was little difference among Holstein calves studied at Pullman.
Growth of the Calves Table 1.
		No. of Calves	Gain first 8 weeks Pounds	Gain first 16 weeks Pounds
HOLSTEIN	Open Shed	32	70	177
	Conventional	15	73	180
JERSEY	Open Shed	12	42	109
	Conventional	5	43	116
GUERNSEY	Open Shed	t	34	100
			Conventional	3	51	131
So far heifer calves originally housed in the open shed have outgained those housed in the conventional Barn. At 24 months of age Holsteins housed in the open shed were 5 percent heavier and Jerseys were 11 percent heavier than the controls housed in the conventional barn. This indicates greater vigor in favor of calves housed for the first 4 months in an open shed.