25 years of Cowhouse

Cowhouse recently celebrated its 25th anniversary!
Rinse Andringa, founder and CEO of Cowhouse International, explains...

How it started. Last December marked the 25th anniversary of Cowhouse International. As a pioneer, we were the first supplier of cattle equipment in Europe to start designing from the perspective of cow behavior.

Starting in a small office in Surhuisterveen, in the Netherlands, we introduced The Comfort Zone, a revolutionary freestall concept from Canada. This freestall was mounted to the floor, leaving the front completely open. This resulted in significantly more lunging space for the cow, allowing her to lie down faster. However, it also required considerably longer stalls. 

Cowhouse was the first to recommend, at the time, exceptional dimensions of 3 meters for single and 5.50 meters for double rows. Over the years, we have had to fight many battles to obtain this extra space. I remember that in the beginning there was a lot of scepticism. Due to the open design cows could walk straight through the Comfort Zone freestalls. In practice, this hardly happened, and this concept has since (although in many variations) developed into the standard.

Export. Cowhouse has also made its mark abroad. By positioning ourselves as an innovative barn designer with expertise in cow behavior, we've also attracted interest from dairy farmers abroad. Countries like Germany, Belgium, France, Ukraine, and Sweden are now important markets for us. We currently operate in more than 20 countries.

Cowhouse DNA. With a team of  15 employees, we strive every day to make the daily life of cows a little more pleasant. You could call that the Cowhouse DNA. By analyzing time-lapse video footage of cow behavior, we have collected a lot of data. This data is an important base for product improvements and innovations.

Innovations. The last decade is characterized  by the launch of a new product- line of cow mattresses. The goal was to offer cows more comfort from lying down  until resting through a softer surface. The Friesian Island and Dutch Mountain cow mattresses have since become highly popular products both in the Netherlands and abroad. The aforementioned Comfort Zone has also evolved into the Dreamstall freestall (patented). In the Dreamstall, cows have no restrictions at all anymore. Cows have a total freedom of movement, not only in length but also in width and height. And again, we are opting for unconventional dimensions, with freestall- widths ranging from 130 to 160 cm. This means we can continue our missionary work for a while. But just like with the Comfort Zone, I'm convinced that, facing the experience of the farmers who already installed them, this will become the new standard in the future.

Proud and thankful. Looking back, I can only be thankful. Proud of our team, which has passionately worked for the past 25 years to make life of cows every day a little more pleasant. And of course, thanks to all the farmers who understood our vision and entrusted their precious cows to our products.