Calf sheds

[Farmer_1994]

Has anyone recently built a purpose built calf shed? Looking at building one for ourselves next year and would love to see what you’ve done to get ideas for ours.

 

[Half Full]

This is mine holds 140 in pens of ten, fed with 2 wydales on a trolley so no lifting seems to work well.

 

[Half Full]

Whoops didnt mean to upload so many pics.

 

[Farmer_1994]

That looks like quite the minty shed @Half Full ! How long do you keep calves in there?

 

[Half Full]

Replacement heifers kept in shed until weaned, beef calves are normally sold younger so not so long.

 

[I thats it]

Replacement heifers kept in shed until weaned, beef calves are normally sold younger so not so long.

What size are the pens? 10 foot by?

 

[Half Full]

10ft x 20ft and 10ft at the front for straw etc.

 

[bar718]

What fall have you put in the floor from front of pen to back and also what have you done for drainage ?
Looks very impressive, enough to set calf shed envy going at this end.

 

[Davy]

That's a smart setup, have you a picture of your wydales on a trolley for interests sake?

 

[Half Full]

The fall from back to front is not huge about 15cm we use a lot of straw so there is no drainage needed rightly or wrongly.

 

[white_stuffed]

The fall from back to front is not huge about 15cm we use a lot of straw so there is no drainage needed rightly or wrongly.

Do you have to lift off the meal troughs or do they reach over them to reach the wyedales?

 

[Half Full]

The trolley height is set so that the wydale feeders are just above the cake troughs so they just reach through the gap, we did intend on lifting them over into the pen but it was hard work lifting them in and out and also lifting milk over the top of the gate. Seems to work well and when they are finished you just push it onto to the next pen.

 

[deleted user 837354]

That is dead sexy I think we can agree.

 

[Blue.]

If I start rearing again this is my aim.

 

[devonboy]

so you feed all the calves in the shed with the same feeders? n.o cross contamination of disease then? not

 

[Half Full]

Yep all fed with the same feeders always youngest to oldest before cleaning,
might get some cross contamination but doesn’t seem to be an issue.

 

[dinderleat]

I am planning on a similar size pens but not a mono pitch shed and possibly a simple locking Yoke system anyone used these?

 

[som farmer]

looks brilliant, but will only work well, if it keeps the correct environment, air flo etc, for the calves. I do know for 1 set up, sim to yours, for several 100 calves, that simply does not work, and mortality rates, were horrendous, 25/30%. The last I heard, they were going to put a roofed shelter, in each younger pen, with forced ventilation. Pnumonia, and other conditions, thrive in incorrectly vented sheds. Its nothing to do with how much you spend, or how nice it looks, it is all down to the correct environment for the calves, if its right they do, if its wrong they don't.

 

[Half Full]

A bit of history regarding this sheds build, we used to rear calves in three different sheds and always had rumbling pneumonia issues in winter months. We put a cubicle shed on most of the existing sheds site so needed something new. So as a belt and braces approach in the first winter of using the new shed we used Bovipast double dose vaccine as a belt and braces approach, never made any difference at all still had some pneumonia issues. The thing that revolutionised our calf rearing was giving a live dose of IBR as soon as we had a pen of calves, so very young, regarding calf losses this year we have reared over 150 replacements and have only lost one for having a gam-my leg and none have had pneumonia yet. ?????Regarding shelters in pens I thought about this, but speaking to a specialist calf vet his thoughts were it would create stale air and create as many problems as it solved. The one time calves didn’t do as well was when it got really cold and the sub two week olds didn’t grow as well, looked a bit lack lustre/cold. I think jackets would have been better for them and will try this in future as in the pens even on the windiest of days there is very little draught.

 

[BigSteve]

This is mine holds 140 in pens of ten, fed with 2 wydales on a trolley so no lifting seems to work well.

Where did you get those gate with the height adjustable rail? Nice