New Calf Shed

[WestNI]

We intend to build a new calf shed in the spring. Looking for ideas and photos of what people have done.
Priorities are to minimise labour and try to reduce instances of pneumonia (which is possibly caused by over stocking of current calf housing)
Calf hutches would be great for health but are an awful lot of work.
We have a H+L auto feeder with 2 stations and might buy another one.
We rear 100 replacement heifers all born between September and Christmas. There will also be beef calves etc but plan to keep them in the old housing.

 

[Sparkymark]

A few photos of mine built 2 years ago. Rightly or wrongly, it houses calves from 10 days on the auto feeder and then all the all the weaned calves.
The only change id make is to put better drainage behind the feed stations. At the moment we squeagee the slop out and scrape away.

 

[Farmer_1994]

We are at the same point as you, done calf hutches for years. Good results but very labour intensive, and tough on calf raisers in the deep of winter at -30. We’ve looked at a few systems, personally not interested in auto feeders. Like feeding bottles and seeing the calf twice a day. We have settled on a sturdy built mono slope calf shed with removable indivisible panels. Should knock a lot of the bedding and cleaning labour back. May be expensive to get across the pond but worth a look I believe. https://usagnet.com/sturdybuiltmfg/calf-nursery.php

 

[JoFa]

Maybe this is something you looking for?
It stays for healthy calves as a priority.
Holm & Laue system.

 

[Sandpit Farm]

messages coming loud and clear from Jamie Robertson... build calf accommodation for the farm you will be in 10 years not the farm you have now, use sloping floors etc.

There's some common sense in this podcast (try opening it on your phone or in Chrome) https://audioboom.com/posts/7703633-tackling-calf-pneumonia-in-the-autumn

 

[Wellytrack]

Considering similar. And going down the auto feeder route.

Thinking so far is a 60x30 with top ridge vent, west weather and wind hitting vented corrugated steel and open fronted other side.

Two pens of 20x20 and the third pen for the weaned calves on adlib meal before moving to another shed.

Considering building along side an existing shed that can store milk, feed, isolation area and handling facilities.

 

[Sandpit Farm]

Considering similar. And going down the auto feeder route.

Thinking so far is a 60x30 with top ridge vent, west weather and wind hitting vented corrugated steel and open fronted other side.

Two pens of 20x20 and the third pen for the weaned calves on adlib meal before moving to another shed.

Considering building along side an existing shed that can store milk, feed, isolation area and handling facilities.

I'm not sure that vented sheeting is up to much from a ventilation point of view. Unless of course you overhang it over the concrete panels/block wall and angle it out slightly at the bottom on battens so the wind envelopes through the gap (if that makes sense).

As I understood it, Yorkshire boarding (that's a 2" gap with boards covering the gap on the other side of the supporting timber) not 'space boarding' is a good way to allow airflow in without the weather. You just have to be careful it doesn't all drip inside if the rearmost board is inside the building.

It can also be good to have a shelf covered in straw underneath the Yorkshire boarded panels to stop the cold draughts from falling down over the calves. Also composite sheeted gates with rubber skirts are good to stop draughts.

 

[Wellytrack]

I'm not sure that vented sheeting is up to much from a ventilation point of view. Unless of course you overhang it over the concrete panels/block wall and angle it out slightly at the bottom on battens so the wind envelopes through the gap (if that makes sense).

As I understood it, Yorkshire boarding (that's a 2" gap with boards covering the gap on the other side of the supporting timber) not 'space boarding' is a good way to allow airflow in without the weather. You just have to be careful it doesn't all drip inside if the rearmost board is inside the building.

It can also be good to have a shelf covered in straw underneath the Yorkshire boarded panels to stop the cold draughts from falling down over the calves. Also composite sheeted gates with rubber skirts are good to stop draughts.

I was wondering if it would be worthwhile building out a shelf of about 2 meters and then loading it with straw with the handler from the open side.

Would leave bedding up simpler too.

Had also thought to dig a channel the full length of shed and under the feeders to collect seepings.

 

[TheRanger]

Considering similar. And going down the auto feeder route.

Thinking so far is a 60x30 with top ridge vent, west weather and wind hitting vented corrugated steel and open fronted other side.

Two pens of 20x20 and the third pen for the weaned calves on adlib meal before moving to another shed.

Considering building along side an existing shed that can store milk, feed, isolation area and handling facilities.

Sound ideal, but have it so that a batch of calves stay in the same pen throughout their stay in that shed.

That would mean making the two auto-feeder stations being movable between the three pens. Would also mean you could wash a pen out after weaned calves are moved, and then let it lie for a few days/weeks after being disinfected, before starting a new batch in there.

That’s the biggest regret here, moving calves from pen to pen once weaned.

 

[WestNI]

Maybe this is something you looking for?
It stays for healthy calves as a priority.
Holm & Laue system.

I was talking to a guy here in Northern Ireland with this system, When I asked him several times if he still got pneumonia outbreaks he changed the subject and would not answer, so this has led me to believe the igloos are not all they are made out to be. He also said to keep 15 calves in one with the bedding lounge area requires very frequent bedding.

 

[WestNI]

Considering similar. And going down the auto feeder route.

Thinking so far is a 60x30 with top ridge vent, west weather and wind hitting vented corrugated steel and open fronted other side.

Two pens of 20x20 and the third pen for the weaned calves on adlib meal before moving to another shed.

Considering building along side an existing shed that can store milk, feed, isolation area and handling facilities.

Sounds similar to our thinking only we would need more pens, The biggest question is how many calves are you thinking of placing in each 20 x 20 pen? Over stocking causes the most issues in my opinion.
An advisor told me to be careful with a shelf as you could trap stale air under it, He advised to perhaps leave a gap at the back to allow stale air to escape.
I would also like to be able to leave calves in the one pen up until weaning but then move them to a cubicle shed when weaned to cubicle train them.

 

[Wellytrack]

Sounds similar to our thinking only we would need more pens, The biggest question is how many calves are you thinking of placing in each 20 x 20 pen? Over stocking causes the most issues in my opinion.
An advisor told me to be careful with a shelf as you could trap stale air under it, He advised to perhaps leave a gap at the back to allow stale air to escape.
I would also like to be able to leave calves in the one pen up until weaning but then move them to a cubicle shed when weaned to cubicle train them.

Good tips there.

I was thinking batches of 15 or so. Weaning about 12 weeks then into the 3rd pen for another 6 then they move on and the second batch take their place.
Means they would stay in the one pen til moving to adlib meal only.

This is as a beef calf to reared suckler setup rather than dairy replacements that most others probably are geared towards.

Early stages of my thought process I must stress.

 

[Sandpit Farm]

It’s also worthwhile cladding the wall in parlour plastic to make it cleanable. Or you could paint it with a vinyl or epoxy paint. It makes it cleanable.

I reckon a slope on the floor helps when cleaning down as pools of water don’t sit there.

 

[Samcowman]

We have a fence drain by the feeders to collect dribble from the auto feeders also the scrape passage has a slope on it which runs towards the fence drain. I do think we should have plumbed a downpipe in the top end of the fresh drain so it would have been self cleaning, as long as it rained.

 

[Farmer_1994]

Stumbled upon this video of a headlock bottle feeding system. Very nice calf barn.

 

[Agrifool]

3 people needed to feed the calves milk, now that looks labour intensive

 

[Horn&corn]

3 people needed to feed the calves milk, now that looks labour intensive

There’s also a few in the pen getting the calves up and making sure they’re fed individually. Let alone washing 100 bottles couple of times a day!

 

[Farmer_1994]

10k cow dairy I believe need a fair few hands to feed that many calves I’d imagine

 

[BigSteve]

What did you decide on in the end?

 

[ollie989898]

I don't like igloos or whatever they are called. They are labour intensive. you need a shed that gives enough airspace per beast and the required ventilation. It could also be used for other uses should the need arise. Keep it open fronted so a tractor-scraper or telehandler can get into it and clean it out. Pay attention to the walls and drains so you can adequately clean and disinfect the thing. This will become ever more important in the years to come because there is big pressure on veterinary medicines regarding antimicrobials and they might not exist in future.

Fixtures like milk robot feeders should be removable or simple to clean and disinfect around. Coating walls with plastic panels or similar makes it easier to remove scunge and are easier to disinfect than porous surfaces.

Keep labour as a foremost consideration in any building design. It may be in very short supply in the years ahead.