Out Wintering Pads

kboc

Does anybody know somebody with one that i could talk to/visit. What is the general thinking on them?

whelan1

where are you based?

dar31

plenty of them around the country,
what region are you in.
what do you plan to stock on it, and how big.
im planning on putting one in, when the need arises, just about scraping by as it is, next spring will tell a lot. already have a lagoon in.
its the most cost effective method of keeping stock over winter

kboc

whelan1 wrote: »

where are you based?

originally from the wee county!

But living further North now. Derry/Donegal border

kboc

dar31 wrote: »

plenty of them around the country,
what region are you in.
what do you plan to stock on it, and how big.
im planning on putting one in, when the need arises, just about scraping by as it is, next spring will tell a lot. already have a lagoon in.
its the most cost effective method of keeping stock over winter

Suckler cows

5live

If you have lots of rainfall then prob stay away. Sourcing can be hard. Buy in summer and replace every year. teagasc had covered ones in ballydague. Think you need good airflow to ensure drying. Not many in kerry still being used that i have seen due to storage from the 4 foot of rain that we apparently get. Get used to spreading water!

irishh_bob

IMO , wintering pads are for idealogues like jack kennedy in the journal , that guy would stick cows on a roofless gravel base even it costs 50 pence less than a shed , considering how much the cost of building material and labour has come down in the past few years , i think one would be mad to go for a pad , imagine herding a cow ready to calve off one of those at 12 0 clock at night , might aswell be chasing an animal round a paddock , agree with the poster who pointed to all the run off which would have to be spread , i know a man with a pad who recently spent 1500 euro :eek: paying someone to empty the lagoon which takes water off it

Tail painter

I have a pad for 8 years now. Cows eat in slatted shed beside it. They never lie in the shed. Always go back out the pad regardless of the weather. I calve all my cows on it. No problem taking in any problem cows. You just need the right set-up. I also have cubicles for milkers. Nothing wrong with sheds either. Great deals available on sheds now and should be considered.

Feargal as Luimneach

Much less problems with pneumonia on an out wintering pad than in sheds.

pakalasa

Tail painter wrote: »

I have a pad for 8 years now. Cows eat in slatted shed beside it. They never lie in the shed. Always go back out the pad regardless of the weather. I calve all my cows on it. No problem taking in any problem cows. You just need the right set-up. I also have cubicles for milkers. Nothing wrong with sheds either. Great deals available on sheds now and should be considered.

Tell us a bit more about the pad!
What part of the Country are you in?
Do you have a lagoon? Is it lined?

Tail painter

I am in Co. Meath. Rainfall 850mm/year. I have a small unlined lagoon and 3 x 2000 gallon pre-cast tanks that are used as settling ponds. The water from pad, silage pit and milking parlour is all piped to the lagoon. The settled water is pumped to rotary irrigator on a 22 acre field. The solids from the top of the lagoon are scooped off by excavator every 3 years and spread with a dungspreader. Initally we used recycled chips on the pad but they are too dusty and dont drain well. Now getting better quality reclcled chip or chipped logs. Costs about 1500euro/year for chips. Pad is 40m x30m.

kboc

i visited one on saturday evening. Was very impressed.A diary farmer who needed to double numbers (up to 300) quickly and not costing a fortune. It is even simpler when you see it in real life. Pad with liner, lagoon to catch water. simple and cheap. Biggest cost will be chips. Secret is to get reasonably big chips (say size of a slice of bread) and don't stock too heavily (15 sq metres/cow). This means the chip will last 3 years or maybe more. This gentleman had cows on pad with all snow last winter, no problems.

He told me of some farmers who are building the silage pit on the pad and the cows are self feeding! One farmer has a silage pit running along the longest side of the pad around 70 metres he said. The pit is only 12 -15 feet deep, just enough for the buckrake to get up and down along the 70 metres (i am sure loader driver was well browned off). The farmer feeds all cows with elec fence along this face.

Another farmer splits the pad into 3. One area is like a maternity ward. As a cow comes close to calving she is transfered into this area and calves down. Then shunted out the gate to graze.

I am definetly building one now.

pakalasa

If I understand right, you dont need a lagoon if the soil is a heavy clay type with low soakage. I'd imagine the liner would push up the costs a lot.

kboc

in ireland you need a liner for both pad and lagoon. liner cost £3.50 per sq metre installed. You get 1 cow to 15 sq metres approx for pad.

blue5000

Anyone seen the concrete slope in moorepark? It has rubber mats or poured rubber compound on top, they rinse it off with soiled water to keep it clean. With chips costing 6-700e a load and liner 3.50 a metre pad is starting to add up in costs.

pakalasa

pakalasa wrote: »

If I understand right, you dont need a lagoon if the soil is a heavy clay type with low soakage. I'd imagine the liner would push up the costs a lot.

Not to dispute you, but Tail Painter does say that he has an un-lined pad

Tail painter wrote: »

...... I have a small unlined lagoon and 3 x 2000 gallon pre-cast tanks that are used as settling ponds.....

pakalasa

There was an article in the Farmers Journal a while back, about a guy up in Meath who had an un-covered slatted shed, with just high walls.
He was fattening cattle.
Cattle thrived great but he did make the point that it might be more suitable for finishing than storing cattle as with high intake, cattle were generate plenty of heat.
With rubber on the slats, I'd say it would be hard to beat for thrive and cost.

Low rainfall, mind ya, in Meath.

reilig

pakalasa wrote: »

There was an article in the Farmers Journal a while back, about a guy up in Meath who had an un-covered slatted shed, with just high walls.
He was fattening cattle.
Cattle thrived great but he did make the point that it might be more suitable for finishing than storing cattle as with high intake, cattle were generate plenty of heat.
With rubber on the slats, I'd say it would be hard to beat for thrive and cost.

Low rainfall, mind ya, in Meath.

I remember seeing that and i have taken a lot of notice of slatted sheds since that. A lot of the smaller sheds that were built in this country in the last 20 years were 2, 3 and 4 bay doubles. They were fully enclosed with low enough roofs and doors that a lot of people keep closed. People in earlier replies to this thread talked about pnumonia - well these types of sheds are key causes of pnumonia. Cattle will only get it when they sweat. So open sheds and pads are a lot more healthy. The biggest difference between a slatted shed and a pad is the price. There are lots of people using either and getting great results. Overall, neither outperforms the other - especially since the introduction of slat mats.

When we look at the price, pads are much cheaper per cow than slatted sheds. But pads are short term accommodation in comparison to a slatted shed. The shed will need no maintenance for 30 years (except emptying the slurry). The pads require frequent maintenance - new chips every second year. A lining which could be easily damaged by machine or beast and a slurry lagoon which will need regular emptying - (many farmers had serious problems with lagoons last winter during the heavy rainfalls - lagoons full but weren't able to spread them because of Nitrates Directive).

So what I'm saying is that cheap now does not mean that the facility will be less effective, but it could mean that the facility will be more expensive in the long term.

Muckit

pakalasa wrote: »

There was an article in the Farmers Journal a while back, about a guy up in Meath who had an un-covered slatted shed, with just high walls.

Could you call it a shed then?

Only messing, know what you mean, seen the article about a year ago. He reckoned, if I can recall, because the pens were full that rainfall into tanks was not a problem. What a load of bull. Where was it going to go after it fell off their hides??:rolleyes:

Paper never refused ink, especially not in the farmers journal, they are prob the only ones making money out of farming at the moment. You'd be foolish to take everything as gospel. Proof of the pudding in anything is in the eating;)