Hi!
I noticed quite a few people are interested in having a house cow, something that i have been interested in myself (although i suspect it will be quite some time before this will materialize).
Having had some contact in the past with the lovely officers of the sspca and rspca in work related situations, we quite often chat about different things, and I have in the past discussed where house cows stand in relation to the Five freedoms.
A lot of the new welfare legislation is based around the "five freedoms" which protect an animals welfare and right to live a comfortable life. One of the five freedoms is listed as being kept in a situation which allows natural behaviour, and stipulates the correct facilities and company of their own kind (or lack of thereof, if you are talking about a non herd animal which would be distressed by company). Cows would fall into the category which stipulates company of their own kind.
I wondered about other peoples views on this subject, if it has affected you and if it has changed your plans or management? I guess the problem with limited land space is sometimes legislation and guidelines change so quickly it is hard to catch up!