Sucklers on cubicles

[Dave6170]

Has anyone got their cows housed on cubicles? Does it work good? How do you handle the muck?
Sheds could be converted from straw bedded here.

 

[GTB]

Has anyone got their cows housed on cubicles? Does it work good? How do you handle the muck?
Sheds could be converted from straw bedded here.

Yes all our cows are on cubicles. Scrape out daily into slurry pit and pump out about three times during the winter with umbilical (contractor).

 

[Crex]

Ours are. Slurry is mixed with a little bit of straw, then stored in field heaps. Scraped into trailer daily. Bit more work than straw, but I think it works well.

 

[Weasel]

Cheap way to winter cows but can be hard on their feet. I have a few who go lame, shut them in the calf creep for a couple of days and they come alright

 

[Henarar]

we keep half ours in them, they use less than half the straw

 

[Dave6170]

Any pictures? Dimensions? Are your cubicles concrete bases? Seen dairy cows on sand cubicles. That would be cheaper to build.
The price of straw is getting a bit scary

 

[Derrick Hughes]

no good when they have baby calves and bigger calves are better wit a creep run back

 

[GTB]

Any pictures? Dimensions? Are your cubicles concrete bases? Seen dairy cows on sand cubicles. That would be cheaper to build.
The price of straw is getting a bit scary

One lot here 7' long 3'3" wide and rubber mats. No straw used at all. Others are concrete and we sprinkle a bit of straw on every day. Would be equivilent to half a small bale of straw a day between about 60 cubicles. Of those about 40 are 6'6" and twenty 6' long. Both are too short but we do get the odd cow get stuck in the 6' ones. If I was building new I'd do them at 7 or 8' long and 1M wide. If you make them too wide i.e. 4' as in dairy herds the smaller cows turn around and sleep the wrong way.

 

[Crex]

Ours are on deep sand cubicles. Housed start of December through to mid May. Calve March onwards. Cows in straw pen to calve, back to cubicles a few days later. Calves have access to creep area, which they are hardly out of.

 

[Crex]

Cubicles are 8' and a bit long, against walls. Can't remember width about 3.5' maybe?

 

[GTB]

Forgot to say our calves have access to straw creep area and creep feeder and as above they stay in there most of the time.

 

[Crex]

Forgot to say our calves have access to straw creep area and creep feeder and as above they stay in there most of the time.

Personally think it makes the calves a bit quieter when you can sit in the creep with them and give them a scratch.

 

[GTB]

We need to convert our loose housing into cubicles for the youngstock. Trouble is it's difficult to get as many cattle in the same shed and the shed sizes don't always suit. But the price of straw is ridiculous this year.

 

[Dave6170]

Ours are on sand deep sand cubicles. Housed start of December through to mid May. Calve March onwards. Cows in straw pen to calve, back to cubicles a few days later. Calves have access to creep area, which they are hardly out of.

That sounds good. We built a new shed last year. 120x40. With a 12 foot scrape and separate bedding area. We never concreted the bedded area. Just packed hardcore. So 2 rows of cubicles could fit in the bedded area.
A local farmer converted a straw shed to cubicles and he says it took a winter and a half to pay for the cubicles with the savings in straw

 

[Old Tip]

Mine are on soft bed cubicles, just a healstone then bed filled with FYM and topped up every year. Bed them with a lbit of straw once a week, 7’ by 3’6” with wooden cubicles. Never had any feet issues and even the bull managed to squeeze in them some how

 

[Crex]

That sounds good. We built a new shed last year. 120x40. With a 12 foot scrape and separate bedding area. We never concreted the bedded area. Just packed hardcore. So 2 rows of cubicles could fit in the bedded area.
A local farmer converted a straw shed to cubicles and he says it took a winter and a half to pay for the cubicles with the savings in straw

Similar to what we did. Scrape passage is concreted, which the precast heel stone is bolted to. Then concrete a strip at the front of the bed for the posts for the rail mounted cubicles. The rest is just compacted hardcore.

 

[Dave6170]

Straw is £20/bale. Hesstons delivered were £40 odd . Will be worse by the spring! If there are any bales available at all!

 

[GTB]

Mine are on soft bed cubicles, just a healstone then bed filled with FYM and topped up every year. Bed them with a lbit of straw once a week, 7’ by 3’6” with wooden cubicles. Never had any feet issues and even the bull managed to squeeze in them some how

Ours are too small for the bulls. They sleep in a bull pen. We run two bulls with the autumn calvers from christmas onwards. One runs with the cows during the day and the other does nights.

 

[Old Tip]

Ours are too small for the bulls. They sleep in a bull pen. We run two bulls with the autumn calvers from christmas onwards. One runs with the cows during the day and the other does nights.

That’s a good plan swapping them, I always think bulls go stale and stiff in a pen, if they both get a run out and a bed that’s the best of both worlds

 

[Crex]

We have been paying £25-30/bale for fairly light rounds for the last few years. It's not fun.