Bull beef finishing sheds. Whats the best?

[pockets153]

Hi all
Been looking to expand our bull beef enterprise when the beef job picks up. Whats the best housing for bulls? Roundhouse? Conventional Shed? ventilation? Lighting patterns? and pictures if you have any. all help/ advice much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Fendt65]

I tell you what as soon as it picks up we’ll let you know.(don’t just sit by your computer though)

 

[Northeastfarmer]

Buy yourself some rubber rings...it’ll save you a lot of money in the long run

 

[bumkin]

when it picks up they will be too expensive and by the time they are finished the bottom will have fallen out of the market

 

[pockets153]

Buy yourself some rubber rings...it’ll save you a lot of money in the long run

Not agree with bull beef?

 

[som farmer]

best housing ? a shed you have already paid for !

 

[unlacedgecko]

best housing ? a shed you have already paid for !

Nearly but not quite.

Best housing would be a shed someone else has already paid for

 

[pockets153]

best housing ? a shed you have already paid for !

Best Housing yes. No no need to build the thing yet. Has anyone priced a roundhouse for finishing bulls in?

 

[pockets153]

best housing ? a shed you have already paid for !

Best Housing yes. No no need to build the thing yet. Has anyone priced a roundhouse for finishing bulls in?

 

[HarryB97]

Best Housing yes. No no need to build the thing yet. Has anyone priced a roundhouse for finishing bulls in?

We looked at a roundhouse but there are no advantages compared to a traditional shed. You have no scrape passage, no solid walls for pushing against, the wind will blow through so using a straw blower will be hopeless and the handling system is very basic compared to what you could build in/next to a traditiona shed. I will grab some photos of our shed later on

 

[Andrew1983]

It’s needs to be strong for bulls. Good safe handling system solid feed/water troughs and solid gates/internals. Bulls will wreck things for fun. I’d build an open span shed, at least you can do something else with it should the bulls job not work out.

 

[Hesstondriver]

We looked at a roundhouse but there are no advantages compared to a traditional shed. You have no scrape passage, no solid walls for pushing against, the wind will blow through so using a straw blower will be hopeless and the handling system is very basic compared to what you could build in/next to a traditiona shed. I will grab some photos of our shed later on

whin i looked at it £/sq M didnt work out as cost effective , and not easily convertible in the future

 

[Northeastfarmer]

Not agree with bull beef?

Not enough firms will handle them and too many penalties on them

 

[casper74]

I used to fatten lots of bulls mainly black and white, now only fatten heifers and bullocks, bulls have a habit of wanting to demolish everything, water troughs, gates, walls, feed hoppers, staff, any thing that moves. I always had a lot of pens with only a few bulls in when we were selling fat as some were bad do'ers but its's not easy and safe to mix bulls at 18 months old.
Now just fatten clean cattle the farm is alot quieter, cattle are more content, you put more in a pen, when you you get down to the last 10-15 if you want more space just run them in with another pen full.
There is more competition for fat clean cattle than bulls nowadays, I have no intention of going back into bulls.

 

[Anymulewilldo]

Go for traditional shed with the open side and cantilever. i've left the entire roof ridge off my last bull beef sheds. Let's bugger all damp in (and I'm in the north west) lets loads of stale air out. In the process of swapping all water troughs to concrete cast troughs, try and stop this destroying water troughs. Lighting pattern? I have lights in there but I use daylight as their allowance! If I have the lights on for longer than just feeding at this time of year they just start getting excited bless them! We have concrete sleepers on the floor for the first half of the shed then just hardcore behind under the bedding area. Seems to keep the bedding fairly dry.
Yes they are destructive and makes lots of noise. Yes you can't mix ages but if you are set up for that eventuality it's not so bad. I've 2 small pens in the front yard to hold 5 bulls each so I can free up big pens.
But for fast finishing inside where I haven't space to graze extra cattle and don't want to invest £1000/animal in short term stores they suit me grand. Finding the right calves to start and getting a sound buyer at the end is the make or break of the job. While it's been on its arse I've filled everywhere with as many as I can get. When it picks up I'll be ready! ?

 

[livestock 1]

Not enough firms will handle them and too many penalties on them

I sold some in July just before the depression got bad. Lucky escape almost anyway. Bulls always drop first and recover last. Haven’t kept any more lately

 

[holywell farmer]

I used to fatten lots of bulls mainly black and white, now only fatten heifers and bullocks, bulls have a habit of wanting to demolish everything, water troughs, gates, walls, feed hoppers, staff, any thing that moves. I always had a lot of pens with only a few bulls in when we were selling fat as some were bad do'ers but its's not easy and safe to mix bulls at 18 months old.
Now just fatten clean cattle the farm is alot quieter, cattle are more content, you put more in a pen, when you you get down to the last 10-15 if you want more space just run them in with another pen full.
There is more competition for fat clean cattle than bulls nowadays, I have no intention of going back into bulls.

My relatives used to have bull beef in the 90s gave it up as feed costs were high,