The code of welfare as of march 2016 states that cattle in a cow shed need to be let out once per day for exercise , they are very happy to be tied up as Buttermilk says they love routine and no competition for food and space . They are very clean , they have no foot problems , you can individually feed , AI is easy , TB testing easy any vet treatment easy . The demise of the byre was totally a labour thing , 40 cows in a byre was enough for one man but the same man could do 100 in cubicles . All methods have drawbacks Straw Yards work well if you can get cheap straw and better still with a straw chopper , bullying can be a problem and some times a teat can get damaged . Cubicles have to be the right size , the odd animal gets stuck , the odd animal goes in backward , the odd animal refuses to use the cubicle and lies in the passage , cattle can have foot problems ( slurry heal / inter digital dermatitis ) The code of welfare states that passages should be cleaned twice a day ( dairy herds do but not worked with beef cattle that do ) Modern self lockers do not clang as they have noise reduction systems POINTER do you have space to store a lorry load of straw under cover ??