Cattle housed indoors during winter require appropriate space, bedding, ventilation, and social conditions to maintain welfare. Poor housing design and management create significant welfare problems in confined cattle.
Winter housing welfare for cattle requires attention to all five domains: nutrition, environment, health, behavior, and mental state. Adequate deep-straw bedding addresses both physical comfort and behavioral welfare by allowing natural lying postures. Ventilation that removes ammonia without cold drafts addresses health and comfort. Space allowances that permit all animals to lie simultaneously without sustained competition address both physical needs and behavioral stress. These requirements are interconnected - poor bedding leads to lameness which leads to reduced lying which leads to reduced feed intake. Winter housing that meets all welfare needs simultaneously requires design commitment and management investment.