Dairy Innovation Centre ...latest development

[MD @Minshall Buildings]

New Calf Building at Notts Uni. Getting close to completion now.
Building ,groundwork and all bespoke internals.... What a great addition to the Dairy centre!

 

[vantage]

New Calf Building at Notts Uni. Getting close to completion now.
Building ,groundwork and all bespoke internals.... What a great addition to the Dairy centre!

I can now confirm that I haven’t a clue, as there is no way I can afford something like that, so I must be doing something wrong!

 

[Sid]

New Calf Building at Notts Uni. Getting close to completion now.
Building ,groundwork and all bespoke internals.... What a great addition to the Dairy centre!

How much per calf space?

 

[MD @Minshall Buildings]

How much per calf space?

Apologies but cant answer this. I'm confident the unit wont be based on normal commercial returns you might expect as is an R&D unit so funding will have come from commercial sponsors, University research funds, et al

 

[S J H]

Do you have a section drawing of the roof @MD @Minshall Buildings ? Just looking for something similar for an American stable barn. Tia

 

[buffalo_soldier]

Seems strange to go to that amount of build and not go down the autofeeder route.

Must be a reason.

 

[dinderleat]

More pictures please

 

[MD @Minshall Buildings]

Seems strange to go to that amount of build and not go down the autofeeder route.

Must be a reason.

There are auto feeders being fitted I believe, but this is not part of our contract.

 

[JP1]

New Calf Building at Notts Uni. Getting close to completion now.
Building ,groundwork and all bespoke internals.... What a great addition to the Dairy centre!
View attachment 854627

I enlarged the photo for you

Congratulations to Niall and all the on-site team

 

[MD @Minshall Buildings]

I enlarged the photo for you

Congratulations to Niall and all the on-site team

Thanks ....I'll pass on your comments

 

[som farmer]

looks lovely, what work has there been done, to get the ideal air ventilation ? has it been designed for calve health, as in draught proof, good drainage etc ? How will it answer tescoes requirement, that calves are not reared in single pens ? As I said, it looks lovely, the last specifally built calf building, I looked at, looked very similar, but ventilation was wrong, as yours, high roof, calves not producing enough body heat to create the 'stack' effect ensuring that cool air came in, as hot air rose, the pens were not draught free, calves did not thrive, and are no longer reared in that building.
If you have included the above, in your design, it looks brilliant, but only time will answer that, please keep us informed, so we know what works, or not, for our own buildings. Sorry to be a bit harsh, but if those basics are wrong, a lot of money has been wasted, I used to rear 7/800 calves a year, I have seen so many purpose built calf housing, that hasn't worked, it's not much fun telling someone why their calves are not doing, after they have spent a lot of money on a shed.

 

[Getnthair]

Interesting...………..

What can you tell us about it @MD @Minshall Buildings ?

Central service passage
Calf areas sub-divided by pen division boards on the slots on each high post?
Boards can be removed for cleaning or to create larger groups?
Each pen holding 2 calves
Bucket feeding place for each calf with buckets held at an angle to optimise calf's neck angle?
Central feeding passage between the bucket stalls - is that for the automatic feeder?
Dividing gates - to stop bullying/cross suckling? - swing up and out of the way. Just for mucking out?
Controlled environment with automatic curtains?

What have I missed?

How do they get the calves out of the pens to weigh/monitor/move?

 

[MD @Minshall Buildings]

looks lovely, what work has there been done, to get the ideal air ventilation ? has it been designed for calve health, as in draught proof, good drainage etc ? How will it answer tescoes requirement, that calves are not reared in single pens ? As I said, it looks lovely, the last specifally built calf building, I looked at, looked very similar, but ventilation was wrong, as yours, high roof, calves not producing enough body heat to create the 'stack' effect ensuring that cool air came in, as hot air rose, the pens were not draught free, calves did not thrive, and are no longer reared in that building.
If you have included the above, in your design, it looks brilliant, but only time will answer that, please keep us informed, so we know what works, or not, for our own buildings. Sorry to be a bit harsh, but if those basics are wrong, a lot of money has been wasted, I used to rear 7/800 calves a year, I have seen so many purpose built calf housing, that hasn't worked, it's not much fun telling someone why their calves are not doing, after they have spent a lot of money on a shed.

Thank you for your interest.
Just to be clear we are the fabricators and installers of this building and internals and not the designer. The configuration/layout etc. was i believe a collaboration between the university, industry and their designer. If you wish more information, I'm happy to put you in touch if you PM me.

 

[MD @Minshall Buildings]

Interesting...………..

What can you tell us about it @MD @Minshall Buildings ?

Central service passage
Calf areas sub-divided by pen division boards on the slots on each high post?
Boards can be removed for cleaning or to create larger groups?
Each pen holding 2 calves
Bucket feeding place for each calf with buckets held at an angle to optimise calf's neck angle?
Central feeding passage between the bucket stalls - is that for the automatic feeder?
Dividing gates - to stop bullying/cross suckling? - swing up and out of the way. Just for mucking out?
Controlled environment with automatic curtains?

What have I missed?

How do they get the calves out of the pens to weigh/monitor/move?

please see my response to @som farmer, thank you