How much shelter from cold does a dairy cow need?

Last updated 17/01/2024

Dairy cattle, bred originally in north-western Europe, are generally tolerant of low temperatures. Factors that can affect a cow's tolerance include cow breed, size (the larger the cow, the better they are at keeping warm), body condition (fat stores), health status, access to quality food, stage of lactation and milk production.

Adult cattle are ruminants, which means part of their digestion process includes bacteria breaking down food, which creates a lot of warmth. This essentially means cows have a large internal heat source, allowing them to tolerate cooler temperatures better than warm.

In fact, adult cattle are 'thermo-neutral' – meaning they do not need to spend energy warming (through shivering etc) or cooling (panting, sweating, etc) themselves – from 13 to 18°C. Cows are generally comfortable from 5 to 25°C. (1)

Factors that can affect this include cow breed, size (the larger the cow, the better they are at keeping warm), body condition (fat stores), health status, access to quality food, stage of lactation and milk production. Environmental factors such as rain, wind, humidity and sun exposure, also play a part.

Providing shelter in poor conditions is preferable for the health and wellbeing of the cow. This could be a tree shelter belt, short term housing structure or permanent housing. The space per cow required in these structures depends on how long the cows would be in that space.

More information on this can be found at:

Agriculture Victoria – general information

Dairying for Tomorrow – Shelter belts

Dairy Infrastructure – permanent structures

Unweaned calves (that still nutritionally rely on milk) have lower tolerance to weather extremes due to their low body size and are yet to develop rumens. Calves should be kept at 12 to 25°C and be provided shelter from rain, wind and sun.

More information on rearing calves, setting up calf sheds, and case studies from farmers can be found in the Rearing Health Calves manual and on the Dairy Australia website.