Loose housing

[celtis man]

we loose house ours , about 70 cows in a 75/40 ft shed with a cantileaver .
we scrape the whole lot out daily , the feed fence about 12ft off the shed so the cows are not standing on their bed .
we use 3/4 bales of straw a day through a khun primor

 

[deere 6600]

Remember seeing a straw bedded cow shed years ago wnen everybody was going cubicles chap built it about twice the size you would expect was an arable area as well so plenty straw REALLY comfy coos

 

[DairyNerd]

we loose house ours , about 70 cows in a 75/40 ft shed with a cantileaver .
we scrape the whole lot out daily , the feed fence about 12ft off the shed so the cows are not standing on their bed .
we use 3/4 bales of straw a day through a khun primor

Do you scrape all the bed out too then? Never heard of anyone doing that. Any plans to go cubicles?

 

[DairyNerd]

Pictures of the shed to convert. About 20ft behind the camera still. Idea is to concrete the muck store and galebreakers or similar to replace the tin apart from at the gable end apex. Feed barriers half way in muck store to leave enough space to stack hay bales ready to feed. Scrape and store muck in dutch barn behind as well as space to store straw.

 

[harrysmith]

ive had straw yards for 200 milkers . Now got cubicles for 160 and yard for 40 .When i had all straw yards i seemed spend all my time moving bales,spreading bales and mucking out. Plus it was costing me a fortune with straw at £60 aton ,nether mine those winters when it was £130 ton

 

[som farmer]

66 to 72, bedded the cows down in 2x 45by60ft sheds, first 2 years, we emptied them with 4 prong picks, once a year, men were men in those days, first loader, was a 'trip' one, nearly slower than the forks, 3 ft bucket.

72 put the cubicles in, sheer bliss, except tying in the buggers, that wouldn't lie in.
Then as we went more holstein, cubicles were to small, so back to straw yards, part cubicles till 96, then all straw
now, all cubicles again- ones that fit the cows

it's scary to see how quickly things change, that trip loader, seemed to be longer back than that, but 50yrs ago now. How we loved a power loader, with a crowd ram ! That would have been 67/8 or so.

 

[DairyNerd]

ive had straw yards for 200 milkers . Now got cubicles for 160 and yard for 40 .When i had all straw yards i seemed spend all my time moving bales,spreading bales and mucking out. Plus it was costing me a fortune with straw at £60 aton ,nether mine those winters when it was £130 ton

Only got 50 cows. At the moment it's a way of housing the cows that won't cost a lot, can do off cashflow, and will comply with new slurry regs. Cows only came in on 15th Dec and been out on turnips in the day most days since then, will start grazing grass again mid-Feb so short winter.

 

[celtis man]

Do you scrape all the bed out too then? Never heard of anyone doing that. Any plans to go cubicles?

We do scrape the whole lot out daily into a line in the shed then load it up and cart it out.
Currently on a straw for dung deal with a arable man 1.5 miles away and return with straw out of his shed
We scrape the feed fence in the evening and top up with straw so they stay clean

 

[Farmer Keith]

When some of you are on muck for straw deals in arable areas do you spread any bagged N? If so would you be better off buying the straw and keeping the muck?

 

[BELOWAVERAGE]

When some of you are on muck for straw deals in arable areas do you spread any bagged N? If so would you be better off buying the straw and keeping the muck?

You could run at a far higher stocking level by exporting the muck though, obviously only applies if your in an nvz though.

 

[Farmer Keith]

You could run at a far higher stocking level by exporting the muck though, obviously only applies if your in an nvz though.

Forgot about that little gem, it’s more environmentally friendly to exchange organic N for chemical stuff

 

[How Dairy]

Given new slurry regs we are looking at options for the future, one being moving the cows housing and going loose housed to start, with a view to cubicles down the line if we manage to milk a few more. Have a good shed, easily big enough, think it would cost 5-7k for concrete and improving airflow, putting in feed barriers from another shed. Cows would use it while milking OAD early winter then be dry in it late winter.

Does anyone have a loose house they are happy with or think is well designed? Photos would be great or any advice/criticism of the idea welcome.

1.25m2 per 1000litres with a minimum of 7m2 per cow actual straw space (but that'd be for low yielders). The 1.25m2 would include yard space so I would always work on 1m2 of straw and 0.25m2 of yard. That is what University of Nottingham were saying.

One idea is to have close ups and far offs split by a ratchet strap. That way, you can make sure your close ups are getting enough space (particularly feed space) and you can monitor intakes. Also it means you can move the ratchet strap based on how many of each you have. If you build a shed for the average number of animals, it ill always be overstocked 50% of the time.

I'd also look at the sums. You will not stock as many cows on loose yard as you would cubicles. It is amazing how quickly the cubical system starts to pay for slurry storage if you can get high margin milk. Depends on your system. If you are low yielding and block calving - I wouldn't be as worried as I'd doubt it will influence profit as much as grass utilisation and weather on the shoulders of the season.

Also, how much is straw now and what is the worst case scenario? You will get through more straw than you think so put a high cost into your budget.

 

[harrysmith]

plus a straw bedder 10k _15k

 

[Sid]

plus a straw bedder 10k _15k

Rather than a cubicle bedder or sawdust dispenser or sand dispenser on the front of a 40k telescopic?

 

[DairyNerd]

plus a straw bedder 10k _15k

For 50-60 cows for 8 weeks, will just do it by hand. Only milking OAD then dry got to stretch tthe day out a little bit!

 

[DairyNerd]

1.25m2 per 1000litres with a minimum of 7m2 per cow actual straw space (but that'd be for low yielders). The 1.25m2 would include yard space so I would always work on 1m2 of straw and 0.25m2 of yard. That is what University of Nottingham were saying.

One idea is to have close ups and far offs split by a ratchet strap. That way, you can make sure your close ups are getting enough space (particularly feed space) and you can monitor intakes. Also it means you can move the ratchet strap based on how many of each you have. If you build a shed for the average number of animals, it ill always be overstocked 50% of the time.

I'd also look at the sums. You will not stock as many cows on loose yard as you would cubicles. It is amazing how quickly the cubical system starts to pay for slurry storage if you can get high margin milk. Depends on your system. If you are low yielding and block calving - I wouldn't be as worried as I'd doubt it will influence profit as much as grass utilisation and weather on the shoulders of the season.

Also, how much is straw now and what is the worst case scenario? You will get through more straw than you think so put a high cost into your budget.

Thanks. Straw use will definitely increase, currently just started my third bale of the winter on cubicles..... but we have to change the housing here and i think this is a good step when I weigh everything up. Will design it with cubicles in mind.

 

[harrysmith]

would of thought most farms have some type of loader or telescopic ?, so not factor in 40k handler , maybe still with barrows ?

 

[DairyNerd]

would of thought most farms have some type of loader or telescopic ?, so not factor in 40k handler , maybe still with barrows ?

We have a loader tractor, i meant spreading it by hand really. Currently bed up cubicles with a wheelbarrow, just drive along with one hand throw it out with other, takes less than 2 minutes to do 80 cubicles, good mpg too.

 

[Sid]

would of thought most farms have some type of loader or telescopic ?, so not factor in 40k handler , maybe still with barrows ?

Think most farms have some sort or bedding machine?

 

[How Dairy]

Thanks. Straw use will definitely increase, currently just started my third bale of the winter on cubicles..... but we have to change the housing here and i think this is a good step when I weigh everything up. Will design it with cubicles in mind.

It will be good stuff, you can store it in heaps although the EA may prefer you to cover it. You just have to take care not to just keep one heap in one place, it has to move each year. Also needs to be 30m+ from a water course I think. I wouldn't mind betting you could offset some artificial fert use against it if you get it tested and know what it contains - just be careful of phosphate if you want to use it on grazing leys. It is not as handy for that.