Fatty Cows In Field , Hungry Hungry Cows

Intensive systems focus towards maximum production per cow in the herd. This involve formulating their diet to provide ideal nutrition and housing the cows in a confinement system such as free stall or tie stall. These cows are housed indoors throughout their lactation and may be put to pasture during their 60-day dry period before ideally calving again.

Free stall style barns involve cattle loosely housed where they can have free access to feed, water, and stalls but are moved to another part of the barn to be milked multiple times a day. In a tie stall system, the milking units are brought to the cows during each milking. These cattle are tethered within their stalls with free access to water and feed are provided. In extensive systems, cattle are mainly outside on pasture for most of their lives.

These cattle are generally lower in milk production and are herded multiple times daily to be milked. The systems used greatly depends on the climate and available land of the region of which the farm is situated.