It is well known that the more cleanly and comfortable cattle are kept,
and the better the order in which their food is presented to them, the
better they will thrive, and the more profitable they will be to the
owner. Dr. Gunthier remarks, that "constant confinement to the barn is
opposed to the nature of oxen, and becomes the source of numberless
diseases. Endeavors are made to promote the lacteal secretion in cows,
and the fattening of oxen, by means of heat: for this purpose, stables
[barns] are converted into real stoves, either by not making them
sufficiently large, or by crowding them to excess, or by preventing the
access of air from without; and all this without recollecting that the
skin, thus over-excited, must necessarily fall into a state of atony in
a short time. Besides, the moist heat and the emanations of the dung
cannot fail to exercise a destructive influence on the lungs and entire
system. To these causes if we add the absolute want of exercise and the
excess of food, we shall not be surprised at the number of diseases
resulting from these different practices, and at the extraordinary forms
which they ofttimes assume.
"Persons propose to themselves, by feeding in the barn, to augment the
mass of dung; and the beasts are left in their excrement, sometimes up
to the very knees. Seldom is there any care taken to cleanse their skin,
and still less attention is directed to the feet. What wonder, then, if
they exhibit so many forms of disease?"
The byre recommended by Mr. Lawson consists of two apartments--an inner
apartment, or byre for feeding the cattle, and an outer apartment, or
barn for containing the fodder. The byre is constructed at right angles
with the barn, as follows: "At the distance of about three feet and a
half from the side of the building, within, there are constructed, on
the ground, in a straight line, a trough, having ten partitions for
feeding ten animals. The troughs are so constructed, that there is a
small and gradual declivity from the first or innermost to the last or
outermost one; and the partitions separating them being made with a
small arch at the bottom, a bucket of water, poured in at the uppermost,
runs out at the last one through a spout in the wall; and a sweep of the
broom carries off the whole remains of the food, rendering all the
troughs quite clean and sweet. The whole food of the cattle is thus kept
perfectly clean at all times.
"In a line with the feeding troughs, and immediately over them, runs a
strong beam of wood, from one end of the byre to the other; which is
strengthened by two strong upright supporters to the roof, placed at
equal distances from the ends of the byre; and the main beam is again
subdivided by the cattle stakes and chains, so as to keep each of the
ten oxen opposite to his own feeding trough and stall.
"The three and a half feet of space between the troughs and outer wall,
lighted by a glazed window, is the cattle feeder's walk, who passes
along it in front of the cattle, and, with a basket, deposits before
each of the cattle the food into the feeding trough of each. To prevent
any of the cattle from choking on small pieces of turnips, &c., as they
are very apt to do, the chains at the stakes are contrived of such a
length, that no ox can raise his head too high when eating; for in this
way, it is observed, cattle are generally choked.
"At the distance of about six feet eight inches from the feeding
troughs, and parallel to them, is a dung grove and urine gutter. Here
too, like the trough, there is a gradual declivity; so that the moment
the urine passes from the cattle, it runs to the lowest end of the
gutter, whence it is conveyed through the outer wall, in a spout, and
deposited in the urinarium outside of the building. At this place is a
large enclosed space, occupied as a compost dung-court. Here all sorts
of stuff are collected for increasing the manure, such as fat, earth,
cleanings of roads, ditches, ponds, rotten vegetables, &c.; and the
urine from the byre, being caused to run over all these collected
together, which is done very easily by a couple of wooden spouts, moved
backwards and forwards to the urinarium at pleasure, renders the whole
mass, in a short time, a rich compost dunghill; and this is done by the
urine alone, which, in general, is totally lost. The dung of the byre,
again, is cleared several times each day, and deposited in the
dung-court. Along the edge of the dung-court a few low sheds are
constructed, in which swine are kept, and these consume the refuse of
the food.
"In the side wall of the byre, and opposite to the heads of the cattle,
are constructed three ventilators; these are placed at the distance of
about two feet four inches from the ground, in the inside of the byre,
and pass out just under the roof. The inside openings of these are about
thirteen inches in length, seven in breadth, and nine in depth; and they
serve two good purposes. The breath of cattle being superficially
lighter than atmospheric air, the consequence is, that in some byres the
cattle are kept in a constant heat and sweat, because their breath and
heat have no way to escape; whereas, by means of the ventilators, the
air of the barn is kept in proper circulation, which conduces as much to
the health of the cattle as to the preservation of the walls and timber
of the byre, by drying up the moisture produced from the breath and
sweat of the cattle, which is found to injure those parts of the
building."