Auto Calf Feeder Pen

stablegirl

Member
Location
North
Im currently on with building a calf shed on auto calf feeders, it has 2 pens in 44' long and 18' wide, straw bedded with water feed and the station at the front on a raised section.

The question is what slope do i put on the floor under the bedding? Will a gentle slope to a drain channel at the front be sufficent? Or should i put one across half way? Will much moisture come out of the bedding? Id thought about sloping from the outsides of each pen to a drain running right up the middle but im worried about mucking out with a flat bucket in a v shaped floor?

Any help would be great.
 

the thinker

Member
Auto fed calves tend to drink more and so urinate more- we’ve always struggled to keep bedding dry on ours so have ended up making a raised bed with mesh on timber planks to allow liquid to run underneath, then covered non bedded areas with saw dust to mop up.
 

Agrispeed

Member
Location
Cornwall
I don't have a machine but feed ad lib, the pens are a LOT wetter. I would put in a bed sloping to the front and probably a scrape passage type arrangement.
 

supercow

Member
Location
Dumfriesshire
We have a v shaped type floor for youngest feeder calves, it works quite well. There's an indent for a drain in the middle and we have bricks on top to stop straw blocking the drain. Older pen we have the feeder at the bottom of the slope and bottom of the pen along with water trough. Ideally a slope going away from a feeder works a lot of fluid like saliva urine etc seems to build up around the feeder. Youngest feeder station is on a flat floor above v shaped floor, and it always stinks, I resorted to laying it with kilndried sawdust every few days
 

coomoo

Member
We have a v shaped type floor for youngest feeder calves, it works quite well. There's an indent for a drain in the middle and we have bricks on top to stop straw blocking the drain. Older pen we have the feeder at the bottom of the slope and bottom of the pen along with water trough. Ideally a slope going away from a feeder works a lot of fluid like saliva urine etc seems to build up around the feeder. Youngest feeder station is on a flat floor above v shaped floor, and it always stinks, I resorted to laying it with kilndried sawdust every few days
Pictures please
 

farmer1989

Member
Location
cumbria
20180624_152036.jpg
 

bar718

Member
@stablegirl a quick visit to roger masons at levens would be well worth the effort for yourself as his shed is set up well for calves on machines. Not sure if any of them are on here but Gary is on Twitter. If you haven’t put your shed up yet pm me and I will put you in touch with someone else who is well worth visiting.
 

farmer1989

Member
Location
cumbria
20180624_152045.jpg
5 teat milk bars used on holstein bulls and all beef breeds 6 pens all with lift out gates and lift out posts for easy muck out floor slops to the right into slatted tank in middle of shed also raised centre of roof to help ventilation
 

farmer1989

Member
Location
cumbria
The side panels are simple yet so effective we close the shut in winter but because they'd sit 10 inch from the panel wall the wind can push under and circulate the stale air above raised centre in roof also helps 3 settings on side vents fully open half open or shut can mix and match
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 79 42.9%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 63 34.2%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 16.3%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 6 3.3%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

  • 1,287
  • 1
As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
Top