Dairy housing steelwork earns its money twice: once in how the animals use it, and again in how long it lasts. Both are decided at specification, and the two are not independent. Equipment that corrodes early develops rough edges and loose joints, and rough edges in a cattle shed are an injury waiting to happen.
What a headlock is for
A headlock feed barrier lets an animal put its head through to feed and, when the mechanism is set, holds it there. That turns routine work, veterinary inspection, insemination, foot checks, from a chase into a scheduled task one person can do safely. It also stops animals moving along the barrier and bullying each other off the feed face, which evens out intake across the group.
The specification questions are spacing, mechanism and release. Spacing has to suit the size of the animals, because a gap right for a mature cow is wrong for a heifer. The mechanism should be operable by one person from the feed passage and should allow an individual animal to be released without releasing the whole row. Every headlock also needs a way to free a down animal quickly.
What a cubicle is for
A cubicle exists to make lying down comfortable and getting up possible. A cow rising lunges her head forward, and a cubicle that blocks that lunge produces animals that stand instead of lying. Lying time is directly tied to yield and to hoof health, so cubicle dimensions are a production matter rather than a comfort one.
The things to get right are length and width for the size of animal, the height and position of the neck rail, which controls where she stands and therefore where she dungs, and the brisket locator, which sets how far forward she lies. Beds that are too generous get dirty; beds that are too tight get refused.
Why galvanizing after fabrication matters here
A cattle shed is one of the most corrosive environments steel is asked to live in: constant moisture, slurry and ammonia. The place corrosion starts is a weld seam or a cut end where the coating is thin or absent.
That is why the sequence matters more than the coating. Fabricate first, then hot dip galvanize the finished assembly to DIN EN 1461, so the weld seams and cut ends are inside the coating rather than outside it. Galvanized tube that is welded afterwards has bare steel at every joint, which is exactly where the load and the slurry both concentrate. Welds should also be dressed smooth, because a weld spatter ridge at rubbing height becomes a skin lesion.
Planning the fit-out
Work from the building, not from a catalogue. Measure the span, the passage widths and the fall of the floor, then decide the row layout, then select equipment to suit it. Modular systems are worth insisting on for one reason: herds change size, and a layout that can be extended without replacing what is installed is cheaper over ten years than one that cannot.
Calf housing follows the same logic at a different scale, with pen divisions and gates sized for young stock and easy cleaning between batches.
Common questions
After fabrication. Hot dip galvanizing the finished assembly coats the weld seams and cut ends, which is where corrosion starts in a slurry and ammonia environment. Welding galvanized tube afterwards leaves bare steel at every joint.
They decide whether a cow lies down and whether she can rise. A cubicle that blocks the forward lunge of a rising animal reduces lying time, and lying time is tied to yield and hoof health.
Yes, and it should be. The systems are modular and sized to the building. Send the shed dimensions and the intended layout with an enquiry so the quotation matches the building rather than a standard kit.