The design of the sheds had many factors that had to be considered such as the Hong Kong weather, Hong Kong Typhoon season made it generally impossible to transport materials such as fodder from storage to the cattle in their sheds. This necessitated the construction of fodder storage buildings connected with the sheds themselves, and was probably also the reason for building living quarters for the cowboys as part of each small complex. Each cowshed had its own seperate team of workers, in order to reduce the risk of carrying diseases from one shed to another and to facilitate isolation during the outbreak of disease.
Near the cowsheds was a paddock where cattle could take exercise in the open, which was later shaded by trees. Most of the time the cattle would take shelter from the sun and storms in the cowsheds. The paddocks also precluded any possibility of the cattle being allowed to roam around for fear of falls and breaking of legs at the same time keeping out snakes of various types of snakes, some poisonous which were much more common and abundent at that time.