The aim of this paper is to present contemporary trends in dairy cows housing design and equipment and to describe how these trends affect the animals, the farmer and the environment. We have analysed housing systems and equipment for dairy cows and presented systems and solutions that have been in use for some time and are still used in the construction and equipment of modern barns, as well as newer innovations that have only recently come onto the market. When it comes to bedding and lying areas, increasing attention is being paid to more comfort and more space for the animals. When it comes to manure storage, the main focus is on finding solutions to reduce ammonia and greenhouse gas emissions. In this area, we have described an innovation that separates nitrogen from the slurry and thus helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In ventilation systems, the main focus is on solutions for cooling barns due to the increasingly high summer temperatures, while in feeding systems the trend is towards maximum automation of feed preparation and distribution. Automation and robotics are also becoming increasingly prevalent in modern milking systems, particularly in milking robots, which enable the quantity and quality of milk as well as the health status of each individual cow to be monitored. In the second part of the paper, we presented an example of good practise using the example of a family farm that uses a milking robot in its new barn for dairy cows. The slurry is cleaned using a combination of three systems: slatted floor, a slurry robot and a scraper. Automatic feeding is also planned for the future.
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