When a calf is born at McFarlandale Dairy or Rosy Lane Holsteins in Watertown, Wis., a lot of thought has already gone into where and how that calf will be raised. Both dairies have redesigned their calf housing systems to keep calves healthier, make the daily routine more efficient and improve long‑term herd performance. The farms recently shared their approaches and takeaways during a Professional Dairy Producers webinar.
However, the two farms arrived at that point through different circumstances. McFarlandale Dairy updated its calf facilities as the herd expanded and environmental compliance requirements changed. Rosy Lane Holsteins rebuilt its calf program after a fire destroyed its calf barn in 2022.
Despite those different starting points, both dairies focused on many of the same priorities: ventilation, bedding management, feeding consistency and facilities that make daily calf care easier for employees.
Designing Barns with Hutches in Mind
When Christine Bender returned to her family’s McFarlandale Dairy nine years ago, calves were raised in several different facilities across the farm. As the herd grew to roughly 1,950 milking cows across two sites, the number of replacement heifers increased as well. The decision to rebuild calf housing came as the farm updated its CAFO compliance plan.
“Basically, the DNR said you either need to put your hutches on concrete and contain everything that comes in contact with them, or put up barns,” Bender says.
The farm chose to construct new calf barns but spent several years researching options before beginning construction. Bender and her team visited dairies across the state and evaluated a wide range of housing systems, including automated feeder group housing and large multi-row calf barns. Even while looking at new technology, they continued to view calf hutches as the benchmark for calf health.
“We still believe to this day that calf hutches are probably the gold standard,” she says. “My husband made the point that the goal was to get calves as close as you can to calf hutches.”
That idea shaped the design of McFarlandale’s new facilities. Over the past two years, the farm has built four calf barns in two phases. Calves are still housed individually, but the barns are designed to mimic many of the environmental benefits of hutches while improving labor efficiency and environmental control.
Ventilation Becomes the Biggest Focus
Ventilation quickly became one of the most important management factors. The first barns were built using university guidelines recommending roughly four air exchanges per hour. After consulting with ventilation specialists, the farm began increasing airflow targets.
“For us, the biggest challenge has been ventilation,” Bender says.
Fans were adjusted to six to eight air exchanges per hour and later increased further as the team evaluated calf health data. In the newer barns, McFarlandale added larger fans and additional ventilation strategies, including large ceiling fans with reversible winter settings.
“Now we don’t ever fully close those curtains,” Bender says. “We always leave them cracked so we’re allowing more fresh air.”
The farm now aims for roughly 11 to 12 air exchanges per hour while still avoiding drafts at the calf level. Improvements in ventilation have coincided with lower treatment rates for respiratory disease in recent groups of calves.
Pen Flooring Built for Easier Cleanouts
The flooring design in the calf pens also reflects lessons from the farm’s earlier hutch system. Concrete extends a short distance into each pen, followed by a gravel base that can be removed and replaced during cleanout.
“When we clean out our pens, we scoop all that out with a skid loader and then we can put fresh gravel down,” Bender says.
This setup allows the farm to fully reset pens between groups. The new barns also make it possible to operate with an all-in, all-out calf flow, giving pens time to be cleaned and rest before the next calves enter.
Bedding and Feeding Management Evolve
Bedding management remains another important part of the program. McFarlandale relies heavily on straw for nesting during the winter months and often mixes in sawdust during warmer weather. Pens are bedded frequently to keep calves dry.
“We’ll bed probably every other day because we believe dry calves are healthy and growing calves,” Bender says.
Feeding protocols have also changed over time. What once was a twice-daily feeding schedule has evolved into a more structured system where calves are fed every eight hours. Calves typically remain on milk for about 10 weeks and stay in the calf barn until roughly 12 weeks of age before moving to the next facility.
Growth rates have improved as feeding intensity increased.
“We were probably starting at 1.5 lb. average daily gain,” Bender says. “We got to 1.8 pretty easily just by feeding more milk, and now we’ve been able to attain that 2 lb. average daily gain.”
Lung Ultrasounds to Monitor Respiratory Health
Monitoring respiratory health has also become more precise. McFarlandale Dairy uses lung ultrasound scoring to identify respiratory disease that might not be visible during daily observation.
Before adopting ultrasound screening, Bender believed pneumonia was relatively uncommon in their calves. The scans showed otherwise, identifying cases of subclinical respiratory disease that would have otherwise gone unnoticed.
In the hutch system, about 25% of calves required treatment based on ultrasound results. When calves first moved into the barns, treatment rates increased as high as 50%. But as ventilation strategies were adjusted, those numbers began to decline.
More recently, treatment rates have dropped as low as 10% in some groups. The lung ultrasound scores now serve as an important management tool, helping guide treatment decisions as well as ventilation adjustments.
A New Calf Barn Built Around Group Housing
Across town at Rosy Lane Holsteins, the redesign of calf housing came after a barn fire destroyed the farm’s original calf facility in 2022. The previous barn had been built in the late 1990s and housed calves in individual pens with tube ventilation. In the years leading up to the fire, the farm had already begun experimenting with paired and group housing systems while working with researchers at the University of Wisconsin.
After the fire, the farm’s partners had to decide whether to rebuild the calf facility or outsource calf raising.
“We all decided as partners that it was best to keep calves in house and raise them ourselves,” says Sam Peetz of Rosy Lane Holsteins. “Part of Rosy Lane is taking care of animals.”
The Rail Housing Choice
As the farm researched potential designs, one facility visit stood out. During a trip to South Dakota, the team toured a calf barn where calves appeared alert and active shortly after feeding. The facility used a rail housing system, where calves are individually housed in open pens along a central feed alley, a design that allows for strong airflow while keeping feeding and chores efficient.
“All the calves were up, perky, alert and eating grain,” Peetz says. “They looked awesome. It made sense to us that this was the type of system we wanted.”
The new calf barn opened in April 2025. Rosy Lane currently milks about 1,815 cows across two sites, and calves are raised on the home farm until about five months of age.
The new facility is divided into four insulated rooms, each containing eight pens with approximately 10 calves per pen. Calves move into group pens shortly after receiving colostrum and remain together until around three months of age.
The barn uses a rail feeding system that allows calves to be housed in groups while still receiving individual bottles. Each pen has headlocks and bottle holders mounted along a rail.
“We knew we liked group housing and the benefits calves get from socializing and transitioning after weaning,” Peetz says. “But we also liked feeding calves individually.”
The rail feeding system allows employees to quickly observe calf behavior during feeding and identify calves that may not be drinking well.
“We can feed calves quick and efficiently, and you can see right away if a calf drank the bottle or not,” Peetz says.
Many treatments and vaccinations can also be administered while calves remain locked in headlocks immediately after feeding, reducing the need to chase calves around the pen.
Bedding and Ventilation Keep Calves Comfortable
Bedding management was another important design consideration. Each pen measures roughly 12' by 24' and can be divided in half during cleaning. When bedding is removed, calves are temporarily moved to one side while a skid loader cleans out the other half of the pen.
“We’re cleaning that bedding every week and trying to get down to the concrete and start fresh,” Peetz says.
Ventilation in the new barn uses chimney fans similar to systems commonly found in hog and poultry facilities. Each room contains four chimney fans that create negative pressure, pulling stale air upward while fresh air enters through attic inlets.
“The idea is to move the air across the ceiling so it mixes before it gets down to calf level,” Peetz explains.
Managing airflow during seasonal weather swings can still be challenging, particularly during spring and fall when temperatures change quickly.
“The tricky part is when it warms up but the concrete is still cold underneath the calves,” he says. “How do you move that air without creating a draft?”
Peetz generally prefers higher airflow rates combined with deep bedding and calf jackets when needed.
“I’m a big believer in deep straw bedding and running eight, 10, 12 air exchanges an hour to keep fresh air down by the calves.”
Like McFarlandale, Rosy Lane relies heavily on bedding to maintain calf comfort. Straw is used extensively for young calves, although older calves may transition to corn stalk bedding depending on availability. Calves also have continuous access to water through small waterers, and water tanks are cleaned daily.
“We’re cleaning water tanks every day because baby calves need clean water,” Peetz says.
Calf Housing That Works for People and Animals
Both farms emphasize facilities must also support the people caring for the animals. Indoor barns provide protection from weather and help create a more consistent working environment for employees.
“For the employees it’s a really nice environment,” Bender says. “You’re out of the elements, and there’s a lot of natural sunlight.”
Peetz also emphasizes the importance of routines that are easy to repeat every day.
“How do you make it easy and repeatable so people do the same thing every day?” he asks.
Both dairies also stress how calf housing is only one part of a successful calf program. Much of calf health is determined before calves ever reach the barn.
At McFarlandale Dairy, Bender continues to focus on improving maternity management and colostrum protocols.
“The only time we really lose calves is within the first two days of life,” she says. “That always takes me back to maternity.”
The farm monitors colostrum success using blood total protein testing and consistently achieves high transfer rates.
“Blood total proteins average about 96% excellent,” Bender says.
Now the farm is evaluating colostrum volume and BRIX levels more closely to determine whether adjustments are needed.
“We think we got too good at our jobs feeding really high-quality colostrum and large amounts,” she says.
Rosy Lane tracks several performance indicators in its calf program, including average daily gain, the percentage of calves that double birth weight by weaning and overall completion rate from birth to fresh heifer.
“Our ultimate goal is to get 90% of calves born alive to make it to the fresh pen as a 2 year old,” Peetz says.
Growth rates have improved in the new facility. In the previous barn, achieving 1.8 lb. of average daily gain was considered strong performance. In the new barn, calves are more often averaging around 2.2 lb. per day.
Still, Peetz emphasizes strong transitions after weaning are just as important as early growth.
“You can feed calves a lot and get good birth-to-wean gain,” he says. “The real test is transitioning them to solid feed without getting them sick.”
Built for Long-Term Success
Both farms view their new calf facilities as tools to support consistent care rather than a finished solution. Thoughtful housing paired with careful management allows them to monitor, adjust and improve calf health as the animals grow.
“You can do great the first eight weeks, but if things fall apart after that, there are still opportunities for improvement,” Bender says.
For McFarlandale Dairy and Rosy Lane Holsteins, the focus remains on continuous improvement. By creating environments that promote calf comfort, health and socialization, they are setting up animals for stronger growth, smoother weaning transitions and long-term productivity.
