Page 78 - Agriculture_Form_Three

Agriculture for Secondary Schools

ventilation through windows and ridge vent. It should also be easy to clean. As a rule
of thumb, the number of calving pens required is about 10% of the number of total
breeding female stock in the farm. Figure 4.4 shows an example of the calving pen.

Figure 4.4: Section of a calving pen

Source: https://www.progressivedairy.com/images/stories/2015/10/23/102315-emedia-calving-pen.jpg

Calf pen: This is the pen meant for housing young calves separately. It can be
located either at the end or on the side of the milking barn. This location facilitates
taking calves to their dams quickly. If there are large numbers of calves, a separate
unit of calf shed should be arranged and located nearer to the milking barn. The calf
pen should have an adequate spacing to facilitate cleaning and enabling exercises

of the calf. The pen of at least 1 m x 1.5 m can be suitable however, the size of the
pen will depend on the number of calves to be housed. The front wall should at least
be constructed about 0.6 m to 0.9 m high solid while the rest of the space can be
covered with wooden poles or a wire mesh. The calf pen should also be equipped
with appropriately designed water and feed troughs.

Heifer pen: It is meant for housing young heifers separately. Older heifer calves
from about 6 months of age to breeding age are to be housed separately from the
suckling calves. Floor space requirement of about 2 m of shaded area and 4 m of an
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AGRICULTURE FORM 3 9.11.2022.indd 67 10/01/2025 12:31