Barns and shelters tend to be the most important elements of the livestock farm. Two general types of animal shelters may be distinguished: the multipurpose type, a single-story building with clear-span roof construction, useful for feed storage and machinery, as well as for livestock; and the specific type, designed for a particular type of animal.

There are two major cattle-housing methods, the stall barn (or stanchion barn) and the loose-housing system. In the stall barn each animal is tied up in a stall for resting, feeding, milking, and watering. The typical plan has two rows of stalls. In older buildings hay and straw are stored in an overhead loft, but in modern layouts adjacent buildings are generally used.

In cold and moderate climates the barns need insulated walls and ceilings, as well as ventilation systems, either natural or power-operated. In mild and hot areas the barns are open on one or two sides. The loose-housing system, developed in the United States after World War II, is now employed throughout the world. Basically, this system includes a wood- or metal-framed shelter, arranged in such a way that the animals can move freely inside and sometimes also between the shelter and an outside yard. Depending on the bedded areas, four types can be distinguished: loose housing on permanent litter—for example, straw, corncob, sawdust; loose housing in free stalls or cubicles; loose housing on slatted floors; and loose housing on sloped concrete.

In some countries, in old as well as new dairy farms, cows are housed in stall barns that include milk rooms. Milking takes place in stalls, and the milk is carried either in cans or directly by pipeline to a refrigerated tank in the milk room. Modern layouts with loose housing always include a milking parlour, either stationary or rotary. Two types of loose housing are used: loose housing on permanent litter and loose housing in free stalls, either under a clear-span roof or under a narrow lean-to roof.

Beef-breeding cows often live on pastures, with only open-front sheds, during the calving period. In France and Scotland, however, they are kept in barns all winter. For fattening steers there are two major housing systems. The first of these is the American system, with very large groups of animals and a wide surface per animal. In the western United States the open feedlots include only fences, troughs, and alleys for feed distribution. In the Midwest Corn Belt a shelter is often included. The second, the European system, is characterized by very small groups (10 to 20 animals each) and a very small surface, generally covered. Any of the four loose-housing systems can be used.

For horses and ponies it is customary to use individual stalls, where the animal can move freely, even though this requires more space. Mules may be kept together in large pens. In mild climates sheep and goats live on pastures without any shelter. The facilities include fences, waterers, corrals, dipping vats, and lambing and shearing sheds. In moderate and cold climates the flock is wintered in sheds. The trend is toward clear-span buildings, with large alleys so that trailers can distribute feed into racks and troughs. Ewes are housed by groups (50 to 100 each), and special pens are kept for lambs. Feed racks and fence partitions are generally movable. For the dairy ewes there are special milking parlours. Goats are housed either in tie stalls, for small flocks under 50 head, with milking on the spot, or in pens, for larger flocks housed by groups, with milking in a special milking parlour.

Pig housing varies for sows and fattening pigs. The sow lives with its litter for four to eight weeks according to the weaning age chosen. During this period there are two types of housing: movable, individual houses (generally of wood) located on or close to pastures and fixed in place, and central farrowing houses. A sow may farrow and live with its piglets in a single pen or farrow in a special stall, to avoid possibly crushing the piglets, or may farrow tied up by a chain or a harness. The pregnant sows live either free in groups of six to 12 or tied up or blocked up inside individual stalls. In cold climates the house is heated; in all modern practice infrared lamps or tubes are used to keep the piglets warm. Fattening pigs, like fattening beef cattle, may be kept either in a simple feedlot, in large groups with a wide surface per head and a simple open shelter, a system widely used in the United States Corn Belt, or penned in a closed building, isolated and ventilated, each pen holding seven to 15 pigs. This is the most common system in Europe. Size of the pig units varies all the way from five sows or 20 pigs to large farms of up to 100,000 pigs.

Poultry farming is the most-industrialized type of animal production. Some of the breeding phases no longer take place in farms but in specialized plants; the farmer buys either chicks for broiler production or young layers for egg production. The typical modern broiler house holds from 10 to 100,000 birds, with automated feeding. Two types of facilities can be used. The broilers can be put on the ground on a deep litter of wood shavings, on wire mesh above a pit, or on a combination of these two floors. Alternatively, the broilers can be housed in metal cages, on three stories, each cage holding three to 10 animals. In this case, feeding and cleaning are mechanized and the density is higher. The typical laying house holds several thousand hens. The same facilities as for broilers are used, but use of the cage is more common for layers. There are several types of cages, some of which are mechanized to facilitate feeding, cleaning, and egg collecting. Each cage can hold one to five hens. The density can reach about two hens per square foot (23 hens per square metre). The main types are cages in two- or three-story batteries (California cages), which are not superposed but rise in tiers; and flat-deck cages, which allow maximum mechanization. The buildings are generally one story, fully enclosed; they have insulated structures with sophisticated ventilation systems. Turkeys and other fowl are housed like poultry but generally on the ground. Rabbit production involves housing by groups in cages, on one, two, or three stories.