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.
Specifying a feed fence without a second order
The commonest reason a livestock housing order goes out twice is that the locks were specified and the fixings were not. A headlock run is a system: the lock, the handle assembly that operates it along the length of the fence, and the clamps that hold the whole thing to the building.\n\nStart with the animals, because that decides the lock. Giant feed headlocks are sized for mature cattle, heifer safety headlocks for younger and smaller stock, and using the adult size for heifers is a genuine welfare risk rather than a fit problem. Then the handle, in plate or tube type, which determines how the fence is released along its run. Then the fixings: brisket board clamps and plates set the standing position at the feed face, and L post clamps, double head clamps and adjustable clamps attach the assembly to whatever structure is there.\n\nSend the fence length, the animal type, the number of spaces and a photograph of the existing structure. Those four things are enough to quote a complete run, and they are the difference between one delivery and two.
Common questions
It depends on the washdown regime rather than on the animals. Hot dip galvanizing to DIN EN 1461 is the standard finish and it coats the inside of hollow sections as well as the outside, which is where corrosion in a shed atmosphere actually starts. Stainless is available on selected items and is usually specified where a parlour is washed down often enough that the additional cost is recovered in service life.
Often, but it depends on the existing structure and its fixing centres rather than on the locks. Send photographs, the fence dimensions and the clamps currently in use, and we will tell you what fits rather than guess at it.
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.