Agrotel cosy home calf housing.

Any thoughts on this?? Really struggled with calves this summer. Will be only in use from April too September then packed away.
I like the fact I can completely move location maybe to field or wood chip pad and the plastic walls can be disinfected better than wood stock board.

Been considering a shed which could be used for other things but once you get problems I’ll have nowhere too go.

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pine_guy

Member
Location
North Cumbria
Any thoughts on this?? Really struggled with calves this summer. Will be only in use from April too September then packed away.
I like the fact I can completely move location maybe to field or wood chip pad and the plastic walls can be disinfected better than wood stock board.

Been considering a shed which could be used for other things but once you get problems I’ll have nowhere too go.

View attachment 727788

If only April - September. Why not just rear them outside in paddocks?

Maybe IBC hutches for the first ten days till they get going.
 
If only April - September. Why not just rear them outside in paddocks?

Maybe IBC hutches for the first ten days till they get going.

It will be all limo and blue beef calves for market before 42 days. In poor weather you'd never get a good enough calf if left too the elements. Agree in the dry they'd be ok but they will be on ad lib milk machine and plenty of coarse calf mix. if they are free range in paddocks this would be difficult.,

If it were dairy replacements i'd completely agree about outdoors as getting them looking perfect isn't quite as critical as long as they are healthy and getting the dlwg.

Don't really want too take any fields out too as i need every acre. I'd rather have dry cows in there.....

Not had a reply on price yet. I know someone that spent £40k on a state of the art calf house and in 3 weeks the shed was riddled with scour and pneumonia. i was think 3/4 of these and if you were getting problems then move away too fresh site. you just cant do that with a shed.
 

Whitewalker

Member
It will be all limo and blue beef calves for market before 42 days. In poor weather you'd never get a good enough calf if left too the elements. Agree in the dry they'd be ok but they will be on ad lib milk machine and plenty of coarse calf mix. if they are free range in paddocks this would be difficult.,

If it were dairy replacements i'd completely agree about outdoors as getting them looking perfect isn't quite as critical as long as they are healthy and getting the dlwg.

Don't really want too take any fields out too as i need every acre. I'd rather have dry cows in there.....

Not had a reply on price yet. I know someone that spent £40k on a state of the art calf house and in 3 weeks the shed was riddled with scour and pneumonia. i was think 3/4 of these and if you were getting problems then move away too fresh site. you just cant do that with a shed.

You can’t solely blame the pneumonia and scour on the shed alone. It came from the previous building accompanied with the calf .

There has to be a reason for the problem being there. As for moving those to a different site if they aren’t cleaned and disinfected the problem is moving too or the same issues with the calves coming in . The problem needs stopped at source.

I wonder could the manufacturer justify the product and make a profit if they were farming. They look fantastic just like a Ferrari but a fiesta is every bit as practical.
 
I would say ibc calf hutches are what you want. Cheap, cheerful and most importantly work very well.

View attachment 727888

I've had proper hutches. few isseues i had with them. Can be pretty time consuming feeding calves when you have lots too feed. filling bottles washing bottles, bedding and feeding up. They are also time consuming moving/ pressure washing them in between calves. The other big negative for me was the farm runs along a very popular public footpath and public perception of them has been negatively publicised in recent years, admittedly where calves had been kept in them far too long.
 
You can’t solely blame the pneumonia and scour on the shed alone. It came from the previous building accompanied with the calf .

There has to be a reason for the problem being there. As for moving those to a different site if they aren’t cleaned and disinfected the problem is moving too or the same issues with the calves coming in . The problem needs stopped at source.

I wonder could the manufacturer justify the product and make a profit if they were farming. They look fantastic just like a Ferrari but a fiesta is every bit as practical.

Completely agree. Rotavirus was first issue and we will be vaccinating next year. Crypto was the other one and i've found a product that works on that but the calves would get the 2 bugs in close succession and that's what finished them off. If i could get them too day 10 i was ok and they'd romp along. Day 6 too 10 was a nightmare. I'm always keen with the steam cleaner like to wash and disinfect with cyclex between moving calves.
Pneumonia was coming mostly as a result of really struggling too keep pens dry. when ad lib any milk they pee like hell and all my sheds have concrete floors. Drainage was by far the biggest issue and they never had it bad like scours but was a niggle i'd like to avoid.
I plan too try calving more out doors next year as i think my dry cow shed was harbouring a certain amount although it's washed and cleaned frequently. After having virtually no issues since we started 10 years ago it came came as a shock and drove me to despair with he bloody things. lots of calves coming together is a real downside to seasonal or block calving.
 

Dr. Alkathene

Member
Livestock Farmer
Do you have a separate suitable dry cow shed? Will it be empty from April to September? If so muck it out, pressure wash it, disinfect and set up IBC hutches / calf pens inside it.

We move calves into empty, clean dry cow shed over summer. Gives us chance to empty, clean, disinfect and rest calf building before winter.
 

Lewis

Member
Livestock Farmer
Completely agree. Rotavirus was first issue and we will be vaccinating next year. Crypto was the other one and i've found a product that works on that but the calves would get the 2 bugs in close succession and that's what finished them off. If i could get them too day 10 i was ok and they'd romp along. Day 6 too 10 was a nightmare. I'm always keen with the steam cleaner like to wash and disinfect with cyclex between moving calves


what have you found to do the job with crypto? I think a fully self contained plastic box would be ideal for a calf until like you say, 10 days old seems to be the sweet spot for cracking scour problem. drainage Isalways an issue with standard hutches. and also can become time consuming to manage especially when put away from current buildings because of an outbreak. currently going through it now! :(
 
Either Transformula from Bonanza or a product called Kryptonite which is also in transformula but can give 5 times the dose if your struggling like we were.
It still wasn’t 100% plain sailing but we reduced the challenge enough too stop losing calves.

Ps...... there’s a very simple 10 minute test kit for calf scour. Will tell you exactly what your dealing with.
 
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Do you have a separate suitable dry cow shed? Will it be empty from April to September? If so muck it out, pressure wash it, disinfect and set up IBC hutches / calf pens inside it.

We move calves into empty, clean dry cow shed over summer. Gives us chance to empty, clean, disinfect and rest calf building before winter.


I have a separate dry cow shed. Am I brave enough too fill it with calves......... probably not as if it came very wet or I needed too bring something in that wasn’t right I’d be stuffed.
Part of my issues are milking cows, dry cows and calves sheds are all within a weak stone throw of each other.

I’d like a good lick off after birth and one good feed then away at some distance from cows.
 
I really liked the idea and wonder if you would be willing to share it with readers of Practical Farm Ideas? With / without your name attached. Bye the bye one of the best low cost calf systems I have come across involved a floor with a noticeable slope to the front and a false ceiling that sloped the other way, ie higher at the front at about 30 degrees. The ceiling was a timber or light steel frame covered in chicken netting with straw on top, about 5ft from the floor. The back wall was external and he knocked a few holes, placed up so they were just under the straw ceiling. These allowed fresh air in, and the slope kept the air moving so the stale air didn't hang around. The pen, which had about 20 calves on a machine, was empty on my visit but he wanted me to get in anyway, and it was warm! Hard to believe. He thought it helped a great deal with lung probs,even with the calves together. He had quite a bit of straw under them. Another guy showed me calves on baled rushes. Also done articles on some Dutch systems.

I would say ibc calf hutches are what you want. Cheap, cheerful and most importantly work very well.

View attachment 727888
 
I think one of the biggest problems with hutches and even more with converted Ibc is farm assurance and that public perception. They do not meet standards on several fronts.
It’s sad but true.
They do if calves can kiss through the cage. Also not kept in them till 16 weeks.

Weve put over 500 calves through 30 ibc this summer, longest stay is 36 hours, some if sucking unaided only 12 hours before into groups of 12.
 

Rossymons

Member
Location
Cornwall
We put two hutches together and let 2 share. We keep them single for the first feed to latch them on the milk bar and pull the dividing hurdle up the next feed.

Wouldn't dream of keeping them separate again unless for illness
 

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