Calf Barn
Calves from the freestall barn herd are housed in the Dairy Foundation's state-of-the-art calf barn, built in 2004. The east wing features 30 individual pens with removable dividers for easy cleaning. The bedding system starts with a layer of river rock, which is then covered by a felt tarp, and straw is placed in the tarp. This system pulls moisture away from the body of the calf, down through the bedding and tarp-covered rock and eventually into a liquid holding tank. Calves stay in individual pens until they are weaned at six to eight weeks of age. They then move to group pens on the west side of the calf barn.
The center room is used for feed mixing preparation, bedding storage and an area to clean feeding equipment. We purchased a 40-gallon pasteurizer in spring 2008 to feed our own cow's milk to the claves, and are extremely pleased with it. Pasteurization is when we heat the milk to kill any germs that may be present.
