Did you know that building a house and a barn is basically the same thing?
Every year one of my dairy farm insurance clients either builds an extension onto an existing barn or builds a new one completely. You might not know this, but building a dairy barn is not that dissimilar then building yourself a house!! Here are some similarities:
1. Lighting; just like when building a new house you will want lots of lighting including natural light. Studies have been done that dairy cows prefer a bright environment to live in, versus a dungy one.
2. Bed size; just like humans we need a good night sleep for optimum performance. Dairy cows are no different. They like their space to stretch out and don’t like being cramped. I read an article one time where a famous athlete indicated the best place to spend money on is a great bed for our overall health!
3. Air Flow; No one likes a stuffy house and in all new home builds today an air exchanger is required in Ontario to provide good ventilation and air flow for health. New dairy barns are no different in that designers spend all kinds of time making sure cows have fresh air to breathe.
4. Traffic Flow; Houses today are designed “to flow”, to not be cramped with everyone tripping over one another. Did you know dairy barns are designed with the same “flow” in mind? Designers for barns make sure the cows have ample room to walk and to not be crowded by the places they eat and get milked.
Who knew that building a new barn or a new house has so many similarities? If you have recently built a new barn or put an addition on let me know as I would be interested in checking it out. Give me a call at 1-877-941-2267 or send me an e-mail at lyndon@absoluteinsurance.ca
