Water Supply to new slatted shed

BeeDI

Lads I'm planning a new shed at the moment. 2 bay slatts with creep at the back.
I'm thinking of having a shared water trough between each slatted bay and the creep, so that cows on the slats can drink from same trough as say calves in the creep pen! Does that make sense?
This one http://www.jfc.ie/DrinkingBowls.html#panel7

Another question .......... what size pipe should I lay on? I'm thinking 3/4 inch normal guage hydrodare! Is that adequate?

Thanks for any tips.

reilig

BeeDI wrote: »

Lads I'm planning a new shed at the moment. 2 bay slatts with creep at the back.
I'm thinking of having a shared water trough between each slatted bay and the creep, so that cows on the slats can drink from same trough as say calves in the creep pen! Does that make sense?
This one http://www.jfc.ie/DrinkingBowls.html#panel7

Another question .......... what size pipe should I lay on? I'm thinking 3/4 inch normal guage hydrodare! Is that adequate?

Thanks for any tips.

I have those bowls. They're a great job. Cattle will never dung into them unlike other typrs of drinkers. I would recommend you use heavy gauge piping. Those bowls will take 1/2 inch. In the long run the heavy gauge will better protect against pipe damage so its worth the small few € extra.

BeeDI

reilig wrote: »

I have those bowls. They're a great job. Cattle will never dung into them unlike other typrs of drinkers. I would recommend you use heavy gauge piping. Those bowls will take 1/2 inch. In the long run the heavy gauge will better protect against pipe damage so its worth the small few € extra.

Thanks. So half inch heavy it is then. Is one of those bowls enough shared between two pens?

reilig

BeeDI wrote: »

Thanks. So half inch heavy it is then. Is one of those bowls enough shared between two pens?

yes, that's the way that i have it done. Its a 3 bay slatted shed with 2 drinkers shared between the 4 pens. I have 2 creep pens at the back and I have 1 drinker between the 2 pens. half inch heavy will have ample supply to them.

Figerty

I have a similar shed, I put one drinker between the two slatted pens. But I put one drinker in each of the creep areas at the back at a slightly lower level for calves to drink out off.

Plus the fact that some cows go a bit nuts after calving and a shared drinker can cause them to do a bit of pucking. A shared water trough can mean a bit agitation.

I'd also reccomend a calving gate at the back of the shed. Been a real comfort for the last two years for me. Life is a lot easier and safer.

One other thing I'd recommend is that I put in a four foot gate at between the Slatted area and creep areas to move cattle in and out without have to open barriers. Great job at 3 in the morning! A lot of lads that have seen are wondering why they didn't do it themselves.

Muckit

For the sake of an extra bowl or two my humble advice would be to fit separate drinkers for the calves in the creeps, just tee off the one bowl for the cows. As you know, Cows on slats eating silage ain't goin to have as much milk and you want calves drinking good water aswel. Also you should to mount the bowls lower for calves to encourage them to drink from them. You can't expect a young calf to drink from the same height bowl as a cow.

Wel that's the way I've it done and find it works well.

On the pipe side, water pressure is more important than pipe size goin to a shed IMO because chances are it's near to your pump house or supply coming in off the road (if group water scheme). As for gauge, if you lay it carefully, normal gauge is plenty good enough, you will be probably teeing off it to go to trough once inside shed, so just this small bit (over the ground) need be heavy gauge if you want.

BeeDI

Figerty wrote: »

I have a similar shed, I put one drinker between the two slatted pens. But I put one drinker in each of the creep areas at the back at a slightly lower level for calves to drink out off.

Plus the fact that some cows go a bit nuts after calving and a shared drinker can cause them to do a bit of pucking. A shared water trough can mean a bit agitation.

I'd also reccomend a calving gate at the back of the shed. Been a real comfort for the last two years for me. Life is a lot easier and safer.

One other thing I'd recommend is that I put in a four foot gate at between the Slatted area and creep areas to move cattle in and out without have to open barriers. Great job at 3 in the morning! A lot of lads that have seen are wondering why they didn't do it themselves.

Ya, I'm planning to have a similar setup. Probably a fixed barrier with a seperate 4 foot swinging gate, which will also act as creep gate, with adjustable height bottom bar to allow calves visit the cows to suck etc,.

BeeDI

Anyone used barriers and gates from Performance Steel in Co Meath.
Prices are keen. How is the quality?
What do ye think of these locking feed barriers? http://www.persteel.com/Barriers.html

I'm thinking of using them to help keep strong calves from getting out into the feed passage and making a mess of the silage! Are they effective in this manner?
Are these locking barriers troubleseome in the long run, with strong cows or maybe a bull damaging them making the locking mechanism dodgy?

Appreciate comments. Thanks

Muckit

Hi

Don't know anything about that crowd but locking barriers in general are a good idea. I don't have them myself but my uncle has and he swears by them.

Great job if you have autumn born calves, just throw meal along in front of the barrier, the cows will stick their heads out for it and will automatically get locked in, leaving all the calves behind the pen to be safely handled for dehorning/tagging etc. Great job too for AI etc too... His ones are jourdain, very good build quality

reilig

Muckit wrote: »

Hi

His ones are jourdain, very good build quality

I have Jourdain in the last shed that I built. Theyare a great build quality and you can adjust them for different widths. Barriers are great but the gates between and behind the pens are a pain in the ass. The fact that they are adjustable means that they sometimes sag and are hard closed, they're downright awkward for opening and closing. I would have preferred a fixed length gate with 2 sliding bolts instead of them. It may have been cheaper. Jourdain were just more convenient for the contractor - no welding or cutting when erecting them.

BeeDI

reilig wrote: »

I have Jourdain in the last shed that I built. Theyare a great build quality and you can adjust them for different widths. Barriers are great but the gates between and behind the pens are a pain in the ass. The fact that they are adjustable means that they sometimes sag and are hard closed, they're downright awkward for opening and closing. I would have preferred a fixed length gate with 2 sliding bolts instead of them. It may have been cheaper. Jourdain were just more convenient for the contractor - no welding or cutting when erecting them.

There was I going to order the telescopic gates, even though I will erect them myself! Just thought it would make life easier at installation time. But if it complicates life during prolonged future use, I better reconsider.

So the bottom line is, Jourdain barriers are worth the extra money, and telescopic gates should be avoided.

reilig

BeeDI wrote: »

There was I going to order the telescopic gates, even though I will erect them myself! Just thought it would make life easier at installation time. But if it complicates life during prolonged future use, I better reconsider.

So the bottom line is, Jourdain barriers are worth the extra money, and telescopic gates should be avoided.

I really don't like the gates, they are not handy. You nearly have to adjust them every time you open them in order to get them closed, The barriers are great. Very good quality.

Figerty

Opening and closing those barriers is messy and tricky when cattle are moving around. This is why I put in four foot gates thanks to some advice from others that had done sheds. Got the galvanised gate hanger posts and set them in concrete the day we poured the floor of the shed. Rock solid and then hung the barrier of that.

Then put in a barrier with a creep gate beside them that can slide open and closed or set at a narrow width. Made life very easy for me last winter.

Beedi; I can take a photo if you want and post it.

BeeDI

Figerty wrote: »

Opening and closing those barriers is messy and tricky when cattle are moving around. This is why I put in four foot gates thanks to some advice from others that had done sheds. Got the galvanised gate hanger posts and set them in concrete the day we poured the floor of the shed. Rock solid and then hung the barrier of that.

Then put in a barrier with a creep gate beside them that can slide open and closed or set at a narrow width. Made life very easy for me last winter.

Beedi; I can take a photo if you want and post it.

Thanks. No need for photo. I understand completely and will be doing the same!
I'm also thinking of incorporating a creep into the gates dividing the creep area itself, if you know what I mean.
For example I could leave the small creep gate at the rear of the slats open for a period to allow cow go back to lie on straw in the creep area.
Then when a few would be calved, I could open the creep section in the gate dividing the creep area. Cows could still go lie in one creep area, and calves could migrate to the next creep pen through the creep gate in the back!
Am I making sense!

Dozer1

Hi Figerty, I wouldn't mind seeing a photo of that if its not too much trouble. I get the idea but photo always makes it easier.