Last reviewed 1 Oct 2026 · 9 min read
Farm structures — scope
Agricultural structures are the buildings and facilities of a farm that house animals, store produce, shelter machinery, and support farm work: animal sheds, poultry houses, grain and fodder stores, machinery sheds, farm house/workers' quarters, threshing floors, compost/manure pits, milk rooms, farm roads, fences, water supply and drainage.
Design aims: economy; durability; hygiene and animal welfare; convenience for work (labour saving); flexibility for expansion; safety; protection of produce. Standards are published by BIS (IS codes), the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, NDDB and agricultural universities.
Planning the farmstead
| Principle | Application |
|---|---|
| Location | On high, well-drained ground; away from flood and from the residence by a safe distance (prevailing wind carrying odour away); close to roads, water and power |
| Layout | Group buildings by function; keep animal housing away from the dwelling and the well; allow future expansion; short, direct movement paths (feed store near sheds, milk room near the road) |
| Orientation | In India the long axis of livestock sheds is usually east–west so the sun does not enter the shed directly in the day and the roof overhang shades the walls |
| Ventilation and light | Cross-ventilation, ridge openings, wide eaves |
| Drainage | Floor slope and drains lead away from the buildings; manure pit downwind and downhill of the shed and well |
| Water and power | Adequate supply and pressure for drinking, washing and cooling |
| Biosecurity | Separate entry, footbaths, quarantine pens, isolation for sick animals |
Materials and construction
- Foundations: stone/brick masonry or concrete to a depth for the soil's bearing capacity (typically 0.45–0.6 m below the ground in sound soil).
- Walls: brick, stone, concrete block, mud (low cost), bamboo/wood, GI sheets; half walls (about 1–1.2 m) with open wire-mesh or pipe grills above for ventilation in livestock houses.
- Floors: cement concrete, brick-on-edge, or compacted earth with a firm surface; non-slippery, easily cleaned and slightly rough (grooved); the slope about 1 in 40 (2.5 %) toward the drain for cattle, less for poultry.
- Roofing: asbestos-free fibre-cement sheets, GI/colour-coated sheets, clay tiles, thatch/palm, RCC for permanent stores; insulation or false ceiling/paint white reflective coating for heat reduction; ridge height and overhang to throw rain away.
- Roof pitch: about 20–30° (steeper for thatch).
Cattle and buffalo housing
Housing systems
| System | Description |
|---|---|
| Conventional (tie-stall, tethered) | Animals tied in stalls with individual manger; easy individual feeding and milking, common in India; needs more labour |
| Loose housing | Animals roam in a covered resting area and open paddock; feeding and milking separate; less labour, better health, more space |
| Free-stall barn | Individual lying cubicles (free to leave), alley, feeding passage — large commercial dairies |
Space allowances (typical; check the code or scheme norms)
| Animal | Covered area (m² per head) | Open paddock (m² per head) |
|---|---|---|
| Adult cow (cross-bred) | About 3.5–4.0 | About 7–8 |
| Adult buffalo | About 4.0–4.5 | About 8–9 |
| Bull | About 9–12 | About 25 |
| Calf (up to 6 months) | About 1.0–1.5 | About 2–3 |
| Heifer (6–24 months) | About 2.0–3.0 | About 4–6 |
Tie-stall dimensions (adult cow, approximate)
| Part | Dimension |
|---|---|
| Standing space (stall) length × width | About 1.7 m × 1.1–1.2 m for cows (about 1.8–1.9 × 1.2–1.3 m for buffaloes) |
| Manger | Width about 0.6–0.7 m, bottom flat/rounded; front wall height about 0.4–0.5 m; height of the inner wall about 0.3 m; length per animal about 0.6–0.7 m (equal to the stall width) |
| Gutter (drain) | Width about 0.25–0.3 m, depth about 0.05–0.08 m at the head and 0.1 m at the outfall; slope along the gutter 1 in 100–1 in 200 |
| Feeding passage | About 1.2–1.5 m (for single-row) |
| Service passage (behind the animals) | About 1.5 m for one row; 2.0–2.5 m for a double row (tail-to-tail) |
| Roof height | About 2.5–3.5 m at the eaves; 3.5–4.5 m at the ridge |
| Floor slope | 1 in 40 toward the gutter |
(Orientation of rows: head-to-head (face-to-face) or tail-to-tail; tail-to-tail is favoured in large dairies for easier cleaning and milking; head-to-head eases feeding.)
Space check for a loose-housing dairy with 20 adult cross-bred cows, using 3.75 m² covered and 7.5 m² open per cow:
- Covered area .
- Open paddock .
If the shed is 5 m wide (a single slope with a feeding manger along one side), its length is m. The manger length for all at one time (0.6 m per cow) would be m — fitting inside the 15 m length.
For a tie-stall layout in a double row (tail-to-tail) with 10 cows per row: length of each row m (standing width 1.15 m); the width manger 0.65 + stall 1.7 on each side m, plus a central passage of 2.0 m and two feeding passages of 1.2 m each = m total.
Dairy-farm facilities
- Milking parlour or milk room (washable floor, drain, water, screened/closed from flies), cooling facilities (bulk cooler), feed and fodder store, silage pit, calf pens, maternity (calving) pen, isolation pen, manure storage, biogas plant, wash area and cattle crush.
- Fodder storage: hay barn, silage pit/tower, chaff cutter room.