# 18,000 dairy cows in one structure? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 16, 2023, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/18-000-dairy-cows-in-one-structure/982728 "2023-04-16T01:57:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2023, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/18-000-dairy-cows-in-one-structure/982728/1 "2023-04-16T01:57:54Z")
There was an explosion and fire at a dairy farm in Texas recently and approximately 18,000 cows were killed. How large would that barn have to be to contain that many 1500 pound animals? That’s 27 million pounds of beef on the hoof! ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2023, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/18-000-dairy-cows-in-one-structure/982728/2 "2023-04-16T02:03:50Z")
> **[Designing and Building Dairy Cattle Freestalls](https://extension.psu.edu/designing-and-building-dairy-cattle-freestalls)** > > Freestalls (cubicles) provide dairy cows a clean, dry, comfortable resting space. Well-designed and properly maintained freestalls are a key component in a freestall housing system. > The space required for a cow weighing 1300-1500 pounds to rise, recline and rest comfortably is about 48" wide and 9’ long. In a recumbent position, the cow’s body space occupies approximately 68 - 70" of the stall length (see Figure 1). The stall surface should slope upward (1-2") in the direction the cow lies. 4’x9’x18,000= 648,000 sq ft. No idea if that’s usually one building or several. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2023, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/18-000-dairy-cows-in-one-structure/982728/3 "2023-04-16T02:05:51Z")
Looking at the farm in Google Maps, the biggest building appears to be about 2,400 by 800 feet (though I don’t know if that’s the building that burned). That’s about 44 acres. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2023, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/18-000-dairy-cows-in-one-structure/982728/4 "2023-04-16T02:44:34Z")
I saw this earlier. > **[18,000 cows – enough to cover 26 football fields – killed in devastating...](https://www.usatoday.com/story/graphics/2023/04/14/18-000-cows-killed-dairy-farm-fire-texas/11657909002/)** > > The 18,000 dead cows could represent the most cattle killed in a single incident ever in the United States. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2023, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/18-000-dairy-cows-in-one-structure/982728/5 "2023-04-16T02:58:28Z")
How to dispose of 18,000 cow carcasses? They’re already halfway cremated, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2023, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/18-000-dairy-cows-in-one-structure/982728/6 "2023-04-16T03:31:33Z")
In Texas even the barbecue is oversized. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2023, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/18-000-dairy-cows-in-one-structure/982728/7 "2023-04-16T03:59:19Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > How to dispose of 18,000 cow carcasses? This is a problem that has not yet been solved. > **[18,000 cows killed in Texas explosion. Next: The massive, messy task of...](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/04/15/disposing-18000-cows-killed-texas-dairy-explosion-fire/11668180002/)** > > Environmental officials are on scene. A host of regulations applies. But an expert tells USA TODAY disposing of 18,000 cows is almost unfathomable. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2023, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/18-000-dairy-cows-in-one-structure/982728/8 "2023-04-16T04:25:17Z")
I see a [study](https://institut-agro-rennes-angers.hal.science/hal-02286677) that says the volume of a cow ranges from 0.61 to 0.96 m3 (sometimes you gotta love the Internet). Taking an average of .785 m3, 18,000 cows packed together would have a volume of 14,000 m3. That’s a cube 24 m (80 feet) on a side, roughly the size of a large office building. I’d like to calculate it as a cone, but I can’t find any data on the angle of repose of a pile of cows. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2023, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/18-000-dairy-cows-in-one-structure/982728/9 "2023-04-16T04:45:09Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > How to dispose of 18,000 cow carcasses? My grandpa told a story about how his family’s horse barn burned down and their hogs got to have a horse carcass smorgasbord. There were some bones left over, though. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2023, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/18-000-dairy-cows-in-one-structure/982728/10 "2023-04-16T07:40:28Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > My grandpa told a story about how his family’s horse barn burned down and their hogs got to have a horse carcass smorgasbord. There were some bones left over, though. Given that they didn’t die of disease, I would think it would be relatively straightforward to use the bodies to feed other animals. It wou"d be a shame to simply destroy them! ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2023, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/18-000-dairy-cows-in-one-structure/982728/11 "2023-04-16T08:00:46Z")
Or occupying almost 19,000m3 if they were spherical cows. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2023, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/18-000-dairy-cows-in-one-structure/982728/12 "2023-04-16T09:38:23Z")
Texas is small: [that](https://imagenes.elpais.com/resizer/E0TOk_EAYZ_pVFgFVaeDvzEc8nc=/1200x0/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/E2XXR5TDXPEDP46INQDNGDDRBI.JPG) is a [macro pig farm in Enzhou, China](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/25/chinas-26-storey-pig-skyscraper-ready-to-produce-1-million-pigs-a-year). Slaughtering over a million pigs a year means one every 30 seconds, 24/7. And then processing them. 18,000 animals are handled in less that a week. If the cows are spherical you can send them rolling to China, they will handle that. Pigs eat that and more. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2023, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/18-000-dairy-cows-in-one-structure/982728/13 "2023-04-16T10:08:20Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > This is a problem that has not yet been solved. > > [After cattle deaths at Texas dairy: Disposing of 18,000 carcasses](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/04/15/disposing-18000-cows-killed-texas-dairy-explosion-fire/11668180002/) Is it just me that sees these things? Out of an entire internet full of cow pictures, the best picture USA Today could find to illustrate a story of cows that died in a fire is a picture of a cow in the middle of a flood? Hell, if the damn barn had had a flooding sprinkler system like the picture implies the cows would mostly have survived. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2023, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/18-000-dairy-cows-in-one-structure/982728/14 "2023-04-16T10:28:13Z")
I’ve been trying to calculate how many cows were being milked simultaneously around the clock at this mega-farm. Assuming each cow is milked twice a day, that’s 36,000 milkings each day. A typical milking takes, say, five minutes. So that’s a total of 180,000 minutes of milking each day. Dividing that number by 24 yields 7500 minutes of milking each hour. Dividing that number by 60 yields 125. So if my math is correct (a dubious assertion, to be sure), there would have been 125 cows being milked at any given minute on this farm. Is that correct? ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2023, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/18-000-dairy-cows-in-one-structure/982728/15 "2023-04-16T11:03:03Z")
I doubt it. Modern cow breeds yield more than 20 litres of milk per day, my guess is that it would take much longer than two time five minutes to squeeze that out of an udder, and I doubt cows are being milked after midnight. So I would multiply your 125 cows by at least four: make it 500. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2023, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/18-000-dairy-cows-in-one-structure/982728/16 "2023-04-16T11:25:36Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Or occupying almost 19,000m3 if they were spherical cows. Are you accounting for the sphere packing problem? ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2023, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/18-000-dairy-cows-in-one-structure/982728/17 "2023-04-16T11:27:29Z")
In our town we had a barn fire that took out almost 100 cows. A excavator was used to dig a trench and pile the caucuses in and they were buried. The smell was getting pretty bad by the time the fire was out and this started. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2023, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/18-000-dairy-cows-in-one-structure/982728/18 "2023-04-16T11:29:43Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Out of an entire internet full of cow pictures, the best picture USA Today could find to illustrate a story of cows that died in a fire is a picture of a cow in the middle of a flood? > **Summary** > > [https://media.tenor.com/5S-6M\_k8jQQAAAAd/mars-attacks-tim-burton.gif](https://media.tenor.com/5S-6M_k8jQQAAAAd/mars-attacks-tim-burton.gif) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2023, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/18-000-dairy-cows-in-one-structure/982728/19 "2023-04-16T11:34:51Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Modern cow breeds yield more than 20 litres of milk per day, my guess is that it would take much longer than two time five minutes to squeeze that out of an udder Apparently you can milk 10-12 per hour. > **[Amazon.com: VEVOR Electric Cow Milking Machine, 1440 RPM 10-12 Cows Per Hour,...](https://www.amazon.com/VEVOR-Cow-Milking-Machine-Stainless/dp/B0BNKBDSN8)** > > Amazon.com: VEVOR Electric Cow Milking Machine, 1440 RPM 10-12 Cows Per Hour, Electric Milker Machine with 25L 304 Stainless Steel Bucket, Double Handle Milk Machine for Cows Blue : Industrial & Scientific ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2023, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/18-000-dairy-cows-in-one-structure/982728/20 "2023-04-16T11:45:08Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > In our town we had a barn fire that took out almost 100 cows. A excavator was used to dig a trench and pile the caucuses in and they were buried. The smell was getting pretty bad by the time the fire was out and this started. I can think of several caucuses that might be improved by burying in a trench. Preferably _before_ they get a chance to vote. 😁 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/18-000-dairy-cows-in-one-structure/982728.md?page=2)