ID 3443467 - DAERA - AFBI Development and Production of an Online System for Calf Housing Design and Educational Purposes

Tender description

1.1 The Livestock Production Sciences Branch (LPSB) of the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) is currently engaged in a largescale DAERA funded project (‘Optihouse’). As part of this project, assessment of 66 calf houses – including collection of detailed building measurements and herd and management information across Northern Ireland has been carried out. AFBI therefore has a need to engage a specialist company to develop and deliver an interactive, online virtual calf housing package which would aim to guide the user through the process of identifying the optimum calf house design for their particular needs, eliminating biosecurity risks. Additionally, it is intended to incorporate the environmental and microbiological data collected on farm as a means of allowing farmers to gain an understanding of how hygiene practices and means of ventilation can impact on calf health and performance. The interactive online system component would be used for: 1. Educational purposes: use as an interactive tool to show farmers, advisers, and students the impact of building design and management on calf health and performance 2. Blueprint design: use to develop optimum blueprints for new build calf accommodation and produce common fixes for existing calf houses. For more detailed background information, Please see document entitled “ID 3443467 Specification Schedule.”