Patent ID: 8402919

Claim:
A computer-controlled arrangement for housing a large number of milking animals, each of which animals belongs to one of a plurality of groups, said arrangement comprising: a resting area ( 1 ) wherein the animals are rested; a feeding area ( 3 ) wherein the animals are fed; a milking area ( 5 ) housing at least one milking robot for milking the animals, the milking area being located between the resting area and the feeding area such that the animals milked in the milking area move from the resting area to the feeding area, wherein at least one area of i) the resting area, and ii) the feeding area comprise plural partitions physically partitioning the one area into plural sections whose size may be automatically changed, wherein at least one of the partitions is a computer-controlled movable partition, located in a first section of the plural sections, for dynamically enlarging and reducing an area of the first section in which the animals may be present, the movable partition being movable, under computer control, in a first direction and a second direction, movement of the movable partition in the first direction enlarging the area of the first section in which the animals may be present, and movement of the movable partition in the second direction reducing the area of the first section in which the animals may be present; and a device ( 19 , 53 ) comprising an animal identification device ( 23 ) to determine an animal identification of each animal presented to a gate arrangement, the device structured and arranged to automatically, based on the determined animal identification, direct each of the animals into one section, whose size may be automatically changed, of the plural sections corresponding to a group to which the animal belongs so that each of the plural sections house animals belonging to only one of the groups.