Cattle shed

rooster cogburn

Well-Known Member
Evening, if the opportunity arose to keep around 50 cattle through to finishing for factory what type of housing would be suitable. Is it worth a bit of a tank for less hassle in winter or keep it simple and keep price of shed down. Would one larger shed with a divide for cattle and maybe a link for a coverd dunckle then a general bit for storage meal straw and stuff or a second general shed.ther is no buildings on ground. Ther is machinery and services readily available. Thanks
 
Evening, if the opportunity arose to keep around 50 cattle through to finishing for factory what type of housing would be suitable. Is it worth a bit of a tank for less hassle in winter or keep it simple and keep price of shed down. Would one larger shed with a divide for cattle and maybe a link for a coverd dunckle then a general bit for storage meal straw and stuff or a second general shed.ther is no buildings on ground. Ther is machinery and services readily available. Thanks
if you want to make profit none of those options will make anything finishing cattle but if you have the money and just like to finish cattle then it would depend on the availability of straw and labour, i,d be in favour of the general purpose shed as you have more options when you get tired of finishing cattle for the factories
 
There is more to it than finishing cattle. The ground has become available and the next generation seems to have a genuine intrest in it, I would prefer to stay with livestock as grow cereals . I reckon a couple of bits of sheds might get paid for sometime and keep an intrest going
 
There is more to it than finishing cattle. The ground has become available and the next generation seems to have a genuine intrest in it, I would prefer to stay with livestock as grow cereals . I reckon a couple of bits of sheds might get paid for sometime and keep an intrest going
thats a horse of a different colour then :smile:, general purpose shed gives you more options as in buying calves to finish or stores to finishing or even god save us sheep :scared:
 
Just bear In mind for 50 cattle you are not talking about a small shed. It's basically 8 bays whether that's one long lean to or a four bay A frame shed.

I see two options either fully slatted or a general purpose straw bedded shed. I'd only go with the latter If you've your own straw available.
 
If the labour of bedding was taken out of the equation would a slatted tank actually pay for itself over the cost of the shed itself. A large airy house with maybe a sloping floor a feed passage separate from the bedded area, not over stocking. Would the tank pay for itself in 15 years. At the minute there is spring barley grew so straw would be at cost but no guarantee that will always be the case. The only thing in its favour is hopefully all money should be able to be kept in the business for a while anyway.
 
If the labour of bedding was taken out of the equation would a slatted tank actually pay for itself over the cost of the shed itself. A large airy house with maybe a sloping floor a feed passage separate from the bedded area, not over stocking. Would the tank pay for itself in 15 years. At the minute there is spring barley grew so straw would be at cost but no guarantee that will always be the case. The only thing in its favour is hopefully all money should be able to be kept in the business for a while anyway.

Most would say yes.
 
12ft slatted tank at the front where they eat, 20ft lay back area.
15ft wide bay will feed 8 cattle at once.
8 cattle will need 4sq metres laying space each that 32sq metres.
I'd bed them in sand if it's adult cattle leave either an 8 inch rise out the sand bed to slated area keep majority of sand in, or make the tank with a ramp at one end to get in to empty sand every 3 or 4 years.
Also I'd construct it in such a way as to be able to pen the cattle all at once to feeding areas and have entire bedded area available to be groomed/levelled.
 
TBH there is no cheap way to house cattle if you are building from scratch, I wouldn't bother with a lay back behind slats as they can lay on the slats with or without mats, the layback is just extra roof, walls and flooring cost. the thought of having to get sand out of a tank is enough to put me off the idea. 6 spans long is only accommodating 48 and even at that you are stretching it for agitation, I'd preferably build 4 opposite 4 with a central passage.
 
8 per bay is very tight for finishing cattle in my view. We'd never manage that here anyway with the types that we have when feeding meal twice a day.
 
Built a 6 bay cattle shed with 14.5' slat and 18 inches at the feed barrier, so a 16' pen. Rubber on the floor, no lieback, no lameness issues either. Just a lean-to type shed open along the feed barrier with an overhang over it. Holds 9 big cattle per span, more if weanlings. You need to allow at least 2.5 square metres per head, preferably more. Have them split in two double pens and two singles. The less divisions the more room they have, it's important for cattle to move around and also get away from any draughts. It's important a shed is big enough to hold enough cattle to pay for itself. 7 or 8 can feed at a time with a straight pipe barrier. Make sure the feed passage is higher than the pen level so they are not choking themselves trying to reach the floor.

For me the cheapest cattle shed per head would be a single 20.5 slat with a wide border on each side and feed both sides.
 
Built a 6 bay cattle shed with 14.5' slat and 18 inches at the feed barrier, so a 16' pen. Rubber on the floor, no lieback, no lameness issues either. Just a lean-to type shed open along the feed barrier with an overhang over it. Holds 9 big cattle per span, more if weanlings. You need to allow at least 2.5 square metres per head, preferably more. Have them split in two double pens and two singles. The less divisions the more room they have, it's important for cattle to move around and also get away from any draughts. It's important a shed is big enough to hold enough cattle to pay for itself. 7 or 8 can feed at a time with a straight pipe barrier. Make sure the feed passage is higher than the pen level so they are not choking themselves trying to reach the floor.

For me the cheapest cattle shed per head would be a single 20.5 slat with a wide border on each side and feed both sides.
How long are cattle housed on that for though? I find anything longer than 4 months at a time and comfort becomes a much bigger issue.
 
How long are cattle housed on that for though? I find anything longer than 4 months at a time and comfort becomes a much bigger issue.
From end Oct till now. Would never be over stocked so they can lie off in comfort. Easy fix rubber, has a nice cushion in it.
 
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