Wintering ewes in a polytunnel

Thinking of buying a polytunnel to winter ewes and give the ground a rest.Has anyone experience of sheep slats as we would have to buy in bedding.A friend told me someone he knows did this but found a problem with prolapses and felt the ewes need out every day for a while to help avoid this.Any thoughts?
 

will6910

Member
Location
N.i
13CDC9DB-B3E1-42EB-B117-1F92782AA7E5.jpeg626A8FE3-9277-40DD-978D-71B68A784B9F.jpegI have sheep in tunnel on straw and sheep on mesh floor. Triplets been inside since middle December and rest come inside few weeks ago. Not lambing for 7 weeks. Straw beds have more options for feeding as can feed hay or silage but feet aren’t as good. Mesh has no bedding or feet issues but if feed long silage or hay it clogs the mesh up fast. I see no more prolapses from doing it this way compare to others that have ewes outside. It’s more the feed that causes it here rather than exercise
 

wdah/him

Member
Location
tyrone
Same as will6910, lamb in a tunnel here and prolapse would be moreso down to feed here, or not culling on first offence of it.
However i find that when i can get them out a few days a week close to lambing the bit of grass and what it has over silage/hay/meal diet gives good results, better/more milk lively lambs, less help needed but then that is closer to how it should be the bit about housing just leaves it easier for us.
 

wdah/him

Member
Location
tyrone
Last I heard the price of tin was out of pricing it had raised that much, basically if you need it you buy it. Im pricing a poly tunnel at the minute for machinery storage to compare myself.
 

Flatlander

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lorette Manitoba
I built a poly tunnel type of building for the wife to ride in. Was quick to build and is surprisingly stable in high winds. Neighbour lost a pole barn but this PT stood great. expensive bit was building the foundation wall but with animals it help protect the fabric covering and give extra height for equipment. Good natural light. The real cost saving comes from being able to construct yourself.
 

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unlacedgecko

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Fife
I built a poly tunnel type of building for the wife to ride in. Was quick to build and is surprisingly stable in high winds. Neighbour lost a pole barn but this PT stood great. expensive bit was building the foundation wall but with animals it help protect the fabric covering and give extra height for equipment. Good natural light. The real cost saving comes from being able to construct yourself.
That's smart. Is it 20m x 40m?
 

Flatlander

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lorette Manitoba
That's smart. Is it 20m x 40m?
50 by 80 ft. Close to 25 ft height at the peak iirr. I used 8x8 square post. Five ft in and four ft out the ground the ply board inside and sheet steel outside. Wall took longest to put in on my own. Wife helped with the frame and was two afternoons to assemble and erect. Tarp was hard to pull over with just the two of us.
 

unlacedgecko

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Fife
50 by 80 ft. Close to 25 ft height at the peak iirr. I used 8x8 square post. Five ft in and four ft out the ground the ply board inside and sheet steel outside. Wall took longest to put in on my own. Wife helped with the frame and was two afternoons to assemble and erect. Tarp was hard to pull over with just the two of us.
How much? What's the internal temp like during the summer?
 

Flatlander

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lorette Manitoba
How much? What's the internal temp like during the summer?
Structure with tarp and one end,going to attach it to an existing building, was 23k dollars. Wall cost another 5. To be honest it’s pretty reasonable inside but it has one end open and a large door the other. Once I get it complete I think it will warm up some. They are available with the bottom four feet as a flap that can be rolled up for ventilation. Well worth the extra work fir this option
 
Thanks for your replies.Not anything said about slats.I wondered if few people use them under a polytunnel I’m told if you stick to the earth floor you can avoid planning permission?
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
Thanks for your replies.Not anything said about slats.I wondered if few people use them under a polytunnel I’m told if you stick to the earth floor you can avoid planning permission?

No. If it's a 'permanent' structure it needs pp, regardless of the floor.
When we put our first one up (1993), I was advised that if you just pushed the ends of the hoops into the ground it 'could' be a temporary structure, but if you used concrete footings, it became permanent. I was never brave enough to test that argument, and the tunnels would have blown away several times without the concrete footings!
 

Andyt880

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Co. Down
I have hoops here to make 180ft of tunnel 22ft wide. Wider would have been better but I got them for free if I took them down.

My plan eventually would be to put a 16ft wide tank in and build the tunnel out over it. I think I would go for plastic slats if I could. The tank would do a life time and in years to come if the tunnels are rotten and I can scrape together the funds I could build a decent shed over the tank.
I think I would build up a permanent feeding barrier type side maybe 3ft high down both sides and make it that the tunnel fixes down onto the top of this. I could feed down both long sides of the tunnel then plus it would give full 6ft head room right out to the sides. I would centre the tank and leave a 3ft strip of concrete up both sides, then if any silage is pulled in hopefully most of it would stay on the concrete rather than on the slats and just give this a run with a hand scraper maybe once a week.

That’s all just a dream for now so it may not be just perfect but I am working with slats in an old rented shed at the min so I do spend a fair bit of time planning how I’ll do it when I have my own place to build on.
 

beardface

Member
Location
East Yorkshire
I have hoops here to make 180ft of tunnel 22ft wide. Wider would have been better but I got them for free if I took them down.

My plan eventually would be to put a 16ft wide tank in and build the tunnel out over it. I think I would go for plastic slats if I could. The tank would do a life time and in years to come if the tunnels are rotten and I can scrape together the funds I could build a decent shed over the tank.
I think I would build up a permanent feeding barrier type side maybe 3ft high down both sides and make it that the tunnel fixes down onto the top of this. I could feed down both long sides of the tunnel then plus it would give full 6ft head room right out to the sides. I would centre the tank and leave a 3ft strip of concrete up both sides, then if any silage is pulled in hopefully most of it would stay on the concrete rather than on the slats and just give this a run with a hand scraper maybe once a week.

That’s all just a dream for now so it may not be just perfect but I am working with slats in an old rented shed at the min so I do spend a fair bit of time planning how I’ll do it when I have my own place to build on.

Sounds exactly like an idea I've had for a while
 

Flatlander

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lorette Manitoba
We bought ours from silver stream shelters. check out his web site he has numerous ideas on how to adapt them to suit specific needs. we built a four foot wooden wall clad with sheet steel on the outside to attach the tarp cover too. The tarp is a major part of keeping the structure solid and if not kept tight you’ve one hell of a kite to find in a neighbours field.
 

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