Slatted shed

AYF

Well-Known Member
So the plan is more finishing cattle.
Know very little about slatted sheds. So what size pens would lads make for finishers? 15ft x 15ft?
Know my cousin has 15x 20 ft. The 15 being the feed space. He struggles to stovk it enough to keep the slats clean.

If you had a blank field and (for the sake of pretending and brainstorming) a blank cheque...
Describe ur shed...
 
So the plan is more finishing cattle.
Know very little about slatted sheds. So what size pens would lads make for finishers? 15ft x 15ft?
Know my cousin has 15x 20 ft. The 15 being the feed space. He struggles to stovk it enough to keep the slats clean.

If you had a blank field and (for the sake of pretending and brainstorming) a blank cheque...
Describe ur shed...

The most common size slatted pen around here would be 15ft 9 (4.8m) long, that would be the standard bay size and they would be 13ft wide. 20ft would be to wide if you wanted all stock to be able to feed at the same time from one side so it is possible there wouldn't be enough stock in it to keep it clean.
My ideal slatted shed would just have a roof, open sides and sheeted gables
 
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I'd go for a single pitch, double row of slatts so 32 ish ft wide and as long as you want. pens two spans wide. 10 spans long would be ideal for us here. and then when you have more money you could put the other half onto it, although saying that i like a good airy single pitch.
 
Cheapest tank is one with a wall up the middle to hold slats. Then feed on the outside both sides. Single pitch roof. High enough each side to let a feeder under the eve. That's what we have here. 15ft 6 wide pens and a 14ft slat. 11 feed spaces. Will feed 7 cows, 10 x 400kg stores, or 11 weanlings.
 
Would be all TMR ties in with the opening roof shed as we will now be able to tip by-products for mixing.
anyone have a raceway outside of the back wall to let out individual pens? Im thinking in terms of ease of handling. Don't want to have to bring 4 pens out just too look at the 5th for example.
Are there slats to be had with rubber built on from the factory?
 
Would be all TMR ties in with the opening roof shed as we will now be able to tip by-products for mixing.
anyone have a raceway outside of the back wall to let out individual pens? Im thinking in terms of ease of handling. Don't want to have to bring 4 pens out just too look at the 5th for example.
Are there slats to be had with rubber built on from the factory?

The slats come without the rubber, you buy that yourself and put it on
 
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Would be all TMR ties in with the opening roof shed as we will now be able to tip by-products for mixing.
anyone have a raceway outside of the back wall to let out individual pens? Im thinking in terms of ease of handling. Don't want to have to bring 4 pens out just too look at the 5th for example.
Are there slats to be had with rubber built on from the factory?
Some crowd have started making a slat with a rubber insert, I can't remember who but will wrack the brain later.
 
Would be all TMR ties in with the opening roof shed as we will now be able to tip by-products for mixing.
anyone have a raceway outside of the back wall to let out individual pens? Im thinking in terms of ease of handling. Don't want to have to bring 4 pens out just too look at the 5th for example.
Are there slats to be had with rubber built on from the factory?
put swinging barriers on the front for each pen.
 
Would be all TMR ties in with the opening roof shed as we will now be able to tip by-products for mixing.
anyone have a raceway outside of the back wall to let out individual pens? Im thinking in terms of ease of handling. Don't want to have to bring 4 pens out just too look at the 5th for example.
Are there slats to be had with rubber built on from the factory?

There are slats with built in rubber.
Seen them at the ploughing.
The are being made in Monaghan under licence to a German company.
Wright concrete products.
 
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There are slats with built in rubber.
Seen them at the ploughing.
The are being made in Monaghan under licence to a German company.
Wright concrete products.
Theyr the firm supplying the opening roof shed. Will enquire.
 
You need to take a trip over here for research purposes, have a look at a few yards, if you time it right you could make it to the meet up and the whole trip would be tax deductible.

Are you looking to incorporate a handling unit in the new shed?
What type of stock will be in it?
Small pens add expense, more divisions, gates and water troughs.
Keep things simple.
 
You need to take a trip over here for research purposes, have a look at a few yards, if you time it right you could make it to the meet up and the whole trip would be tax deductible.

Are you looking to incorporate a handling unit in the new shed?
What type of stock will be in it?
Small pens add expense, more divisions, gates and water troughs.
Keep things simple.

Now theres an idea! Must try and run that past the misus! Haa.

Will be for finishing, continental types. Heifers and steers. And possibly store cattle. So simple is best your right.
Any sheds Ive seen have small pens, presumed this was to stop cattle playing too much and slipping?
Or is length not really an issue?

Not incorporating handling into the shed as such. Just don't want to make getting them out of the shed a ffaff.
 
Was going to say double tank, then wall up the middle on top of slats with pens facing out to each side with an A roof shed over top with an 8ft canopy each side and feed barriers each side.

If you want to leave it easier to get cattle out maybe build a triple tank, middle section about 10ft wide slat the 2 outsides and solid slab the middle as a passage way up between the pens and feed along both outsides, might be a bit more expensive but if it’s going to be a long shed itd be easier get cattle out from an individual pen. It’d leave you with heaps of excess slurry storage letting you store until you can spread and get the most value from it
 
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Double tank 2 x 14.5 slats with 2 ft toe space feeding both sides feeding into troughs, have a 5 ft gate into each pen at one side onto passageway, work gates on this so you can put cattle into any pen, narrow gate makes it very easy to cull out a lame or sick animal if you have a second body, otherwise leave them out and work them in the passageway, 4 drinking troughs per pen all shared with pens either side, 8 ft overhang at eaves is a super job. Keep the eaves and gutters well up out of harms way from diet feeders and loaders, finishing cattle generate a lot of heat so high eaves will help keep them cooler, dryer and cleaner.
 
Double tank 2 x 14.5 slats with 2 ft toe space feeding both sides feeding into troughs, have a 5 ft gate into each pen at one side onto passageway, work gates on this so you can put cattle into any pen, narrow gate makes it very easy to cull out a lame or sick animal if you have a second body, otherwise leave them out and work them in the passageway, 4 drinking troughs per pen all shared with pens either side, 8 ft overhang at eaves is a super job. Keep the eaves and gutters well up out of harms way from diet feeders and loaders, finishing cattle generate a lot of heat so high eaves will help keep them cooler, dryer and cleaner.

I agree with a lot of your ideas.
Only thing I question is the 2 x14' 6" slats. In my ideal shed all the cattle in the pen would have space to eat at the same time. I know one shed locally with 2 x 10' 6" slats with good toe space at either end. 16 bull's per pen . Plenty of space and all can feed together.
Even when cattle are on ad lib TMR, there's always a day when they are hungry for a while. Tractor broke, feeder broke, waiting for meal to arrive, forgot about, no time, etc.etc.
 
I agree with a lot of your ideas.
Only thing I question is the 2 x14' 6" slats. In my ideal shed all the cattle in the pen would have space to eat at the same time. I know one shed locally with 2 x 10' 6" slats with good toe space at either end. 16 bull's per pen . Plenty of space and all can feed together.
Even when cattle are on ad lib TMR, there's always a day when they are hungry for a while. Tractor broke, feeder broke, waiting for meal to arrive, forgot about, no time, etc.etc.
Just basing it on my own experience, I have 2 x 10.5 slats with 2.5 toe space each side, but i'm only feeding one side with 5ft taken out by a gate, 30 x 700 kg steers feeding in 25ft, Id say if feeding both sides with a gate out of one side you'd have pucks of space I would say 1 ft per animal is about what you need for TMR, I suggested more so that troughs are not over full if feeding a lot of forage (rather than concentrates)
 
Just basing it on my own experience, I have 2 x 10.5 slats with 2.5 toe space each side, but i'm only feeding one side with 5ft taken out by a gate, 30 x 700 kg steers feeding in 25ft, Id say if feeding both sides with a gate out of one side you'd have pucks of space I would say 1 ft per animal is about what you need for TMR, I suggested more so that troughs are not over full if feeding a lot of forage (rather than concentrates)
All that said I've been wrong before
 
Plan would be to have troughs for the mix. And shed is likely to be long so would be an awlul lot to bash against.

Don't dismiss the swinging barriers like Marco suggested above completely.

You could always have one of the plastic feed barriers in front of th's swinging barriers which would be easy to move.

I don't have the correct name for them but no doubt someone knows what I mean.
 
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