Best concrete finish for under straw?

[Mouser]

Any suggestions what best finish would be for straw bedded calve pens to try to keep straw drier for longer but also not a pain to clean out.
Pens will be 18'x10' with 8' tank at feed fence so 10' square of concrete to 'drain as much as possible into tank. How much fall can it have without causing straw to head for the tank? Any help/experience appreciated.
Current old pens just sit soaking in calf pish all the time, does not matter if cleaned daily or left in a deep bed, never seems to be dry for them.

 

[livestock 1]

Any suggestions what best finish would be for straw bedded calve pens to try to keep straw drier for longer but also not a pain to clean out.
Pens will be 18'x10' with 8' tank at feed fence so 10' square of concrete to 'drain as much as possible into tank. How much fall can it have without causing straw to head for the tank? Any help/experience appreciated.
Current old pens just sit soaking in calf pish all the time, does not matter if cleaned daily or left in a deep bed, never seems to be dry for them.

All my sheds have concrete floors in them. Most of the cattle are on straw. We are in the process of putting another shed up. I’m seriously considering putting a hardcore base in it. Water always comes to the top with straw bedding my theory is water would drain away on hardcore

 

[biggles]

I have a shed that due to time/weather constraints almost half never got concreted before the cows had to be housed, this was 5 years ago. wished we hadn't concreted any of it as the stoned half is always a lot drier and uses less straw. the only major downside is its tricky to clean out and the stone does need topping up now as it keeps getting lower. its not ideal but the price of straw isn't either.

 

[Mouser]

Not sure how that would go with environmental type inspections. Also it will be cleared out regularly as opposed to being bedded for the winter.

 

[Northeastfarmer]

I wouldn’t have a cattle shed without concreting it out, when we put up a 120 x 100 cattle shed up we couldn’t afford to concrete it out for 3 years and was a nightmare to muck out

 

[milkloss]

Only have to be careful with the loader. If the floor is level I can’t see the problem except those men that just have run the grab or bucket like they’re digging for China! I’d hardcore and chalk it out myself

Edit: just reread the op and my comment has no relevance, sorry.

 

[honeyend]

Mine are on a rubble and earth floor with straw, and it does seem to drain.

 

[Mouser]

This is the kind of thing I was thinking, yellow bit is straw bedded with tank to the near side. Far half will just be general purpose

 

[Bullring]

Nearly all my sheds are earth floor with hardcore on top. Before bedding I always use Seasand underneath to help with drainage then afterwards when it's cleaned out the sand mixes with the dung and helps the ph on the fields. You could use builders sand if Seasand isn't available as that's what some people are doing now as there fields are to high ph.

 

[penntor]

My cattle shed has a limestone dust floor. The limestone is, I believe, a certain grain size. It was put down, rolled with a vibrating roller and then soaked with water and rolled again. It is nearly as hard as concrete but porous to water so the bedding stays fairly dry. The only problem is it has been chewed up and worn away behind the feed barrier so if I do another shed I would put a 10ft strip of concrete behind the feed barrier.

 

[onesiedale]

Best calf shed floor we did was with railway sleepers. As with hard core floor you just have to be steady when cleaning it out.