Outdoor beef yards

[Stej12]

Has anyone got any experience of outdoor yards I’m putting up a new shed 180x55 and was wondering if we should feed cattle up a feed fence or create a big yard for them to come out onto and feed in rings and bed the whole yard as well as the shed (it’s for suckers and their calves)

 

[som farmer]

I saw similar on a large 900 cow spring herd, mono pitch shed 60 m (?} long, 15 deep, with a strawed out side yard, 30m wide, split into sections, cows moved along as they started to spring, cows looked really good, and the system looked well thought out, and easy to work in.

 

[Agrivator]

If someone could device a rain deflector.........................

 

[Anymulewilldo]

Ive heard about outfits on the east who run cattle like that. I'd love too but it's just too wet where we are. Straw is too dear, we do have a yard with cubicles for the dry sucklers fed in square feeders. Have you considered wood chip on the yard instead of straw? Let the water through better? We use it as a 2ft base layer in all the finishing pens then throw straw on top

 

[ajcc]

Bed the shed, scrape the yard. (If yard is concrete) maybe concrete slatted yard another option?.....OR
(Our sucklers are outside all year, hope it dries up soon/ not looking forward to moving beet fence this morning).
See beef cattle in bale enclosures no roof but they are on heathland sand soil. Could do similar with two foot of wood chip if the draining liquid has somewhere to go...rain is problem, wet winters are a pain.

 

[bert]

We have a shed like this, but a lot smaller, it does work well, but does use A LOT of straw. Fine for us because we need the muck.

The cattle are very healthy running in and out, makes it easy to bed and feed as you can shut them out the shed or in. Can possibly keep the shed cleaner as there is no feeding going on in there.

Where about's are you in the UK?

 

[Rod Dumbreck]

Ive heard about outfits on the east who run cattle like that. I'd love too but it's just too wet where we are. Straw is too dear, we do have a yard with cubicles for the dry sucklers fed in square feeders. Have you considered wood chip on the yard instead of straw? Let the water through better? We use it as a 2ft base layer in all the finishing pens then throw straw on top

Do you use tree surgeon type of chip, or coarse chips as specified in wood chip corrals which we don't seem to hear much about anymore

 

[som farmer]

Do you use tree surgeon type of chip, or coarse chips as specified in wood chip corrals which we don't seem to hear much about anymore

I don't think red tractor like them.

 

[AftonShepherd]

I don't think red tractor like them.

I was told the environment agencies (SEPA up here) like them even less.

 

[Repeat]

google Orkney floor.
we have a 30 by 9 m shed with concrete railway sleepers forming a slope, like long cubicle beds either side. scrape the middle out every day.
half a bale beds 80 bulling heifers,they dont look clean but always have somewhere dry to lye. we calve cows in there also. works really well.
feeding is an outside yard with bunkers

 

[AndrewM]

Went on a farm tour with the national beef association in 2017, one of the farms we visited was rearing b/w steers in outdoor yards but

they were on a deep layer of wood chip. Cattle looked happy and clean.

 

[unlacedgecko]

Went on a farm tour with the national beef association in 2017, one of the farms we visited was rearing b/w steers in outdoor yards but

they were on a deep layer of wood chip. Cattle looked happy and clean.

What was underneath the wood chip?

 

[onthehoof]

Went on a farm tour with the national beef association in 2017, one of the farms we visited was rearing b/w steers in outdoor yards but

they were on a deep layer of wood chip. Cattle looked happy and clean.

Is that Berrystock?s set up Northants

 

[Chae1]

We've some just as an extension of main shed. Allows higher stocking density in shed and healthier for cattle in my opinion. We don't bed ours just scrape it out.

Here's one under construction. Its currently being used as a draff pit though!

 

[AndrewM]

What was underneath the wood chip?

im afraid i cant remember.

 

[AndrewM]

Is that Berrystock?s set up Northants

yes i think so, it was a while ago, he had a feed blending plant and quite a big business.

 

[puppet]

We feed 50 cows and calves in feed trailers in a concrete yard outside a cubicle shed with a slatted passage. All slurry and dirty water collected. No straw but calves have access to a straw bedded shed with creep feeding. They get wet outside but more fresh air and exercise. Far too much rain here for outside bedded yards. Woodchip corrals around here gave SEPA some interest because of pollution.

 

[Zippy768]

An outdoor bedded yard?? Shudder to think about it!

 

[Chae1]

Burden brothers on isle of sheppey have cattle on big outdoor feed yards.

 

[Anymulewilldo]

Do you use tree surgeon type of chip, or coarse chips as specified in wood chip corrals which we don't seem to hear much about anymore

Non evergreen tree surgeon type. I'm not FABBL so that doesn't affect me thankfully