Straw bedded housing

Grecco

I`m thinking about building a 4 bay shed for wintering cattle. Is it possible to have a shed without a slatted tank and then just bed the cattle on straw?? The shed would only be in use for roughly 10 weeks in the year so I want to keep costs down.
Can you keep layering up the new straw on top of the old?? or is this just madness?

TheSunderz

Would be possilbe!!
We bed all our cattle with straw nd clean out were they feed every week. Bit of work but we manage. It also depends if your bedding beef, dry or milking cattle. You could bed were they feed but would get messy quickly can be done though. once u can get cheap straw it works but a slatted unit or cubicle house goes a long way. We're considering building a slatted shed and converting others to help reduce the workload.

Justjens

Ideally if you could feed them over slats, the straw will get quite messy until you get about a foot deep, and it requires cleaning out where they feed on a weekly basis, depending on what you feed.

If your straw is not cheap, in ten years time a slatted tank would have been a better option, €20/bale, bale every two days (minimum) for 70 days.......plus the extra work.

Grecco

I don't think straw would be any cheaper or dearer than paying a contractor to empty the slatted tank.
I intend using the shed to keep Weanlens in. I find the slats disaster on them at the moment. Unless they are very strong Weanlens then they get cold especially when the tank is empty as there is a breeze from underneath.

mf240

Grecco wrote: »

I don't think straw would be any cheaper or dearer than paying a contractor to empty the slatted tank.
I intend using the shed to keep Weanlens in. I find the slats disaster on them at the moment. Unless they are very strong Weanlens then they get cold especially when the tank is empty as there is a breeze from underneath.

what sort of a slatted shed have you? Would you be able to put a lean to at the back and bed it.

As you say hard to beat straw for weanlings.

1chippy

we have a pen 25' x 32 of weanlings on a mix of straw and wood shavings. The straw is very messy i find without the wood shavings. the wood shavings leaves them very dry once you get the first few layers in. i,m putting in 2 ton bags of shavings a week and a slight mix of straw across it every now and then. big square of straw does over a month with the shavings. its keeping them really dry.
The shavings are easily got, i'm lucky enough its a by product of the paying job, but if you approach any joinery you will find they dont get anyone to take them during the summer, so a bit of planing and you will have a very cheap way to winter cattle.

blue5000

Ya greco am doing it with weanlings. 20 bull weanlings in a 3 bay shed, approx 45 x 25 ft. It has a steep fall in the floor about 2 ft higher at the back where they are bedded. Won't be mucked out til mid jan.

locky76

1chippy wrote: »

we have a pen 25' x 32 of weanlings on a mix of straw and wood shavings. The straw is very messy i find without the wood shavings. the wood shavings leaves them very dry once you get the first few layers in. i,m putting in 2 ton bags of shavings a week and a slight mix of straw across it every now and then. big square of straw does over a month with the shavings. its keeping them really dry.
The shavings are easily got, i'm lucky enough its a by product of the paying job, but if you approach any joinery you will find they dont get anyone to take them during the summer, so a bit of planing and you will have a very cheap way to winter cattle.

How many weanlings do you fit into that shed chipster?

1chippy

Theres 15 comfortable in it. i reckon we could put another 5-10 being the upper scale but the rest are at a different stage and we are trying to group them so to speak.

Joe the Plumber

Grecco wrote: »

I don't think straw would be any cheaper or dearer than paying a contractor to empty the slatted tank.
I intend using the shed to keep Weanlens in. I find the slats disaster on them at the moment. Unless they are very strong Weanlens then they get cold especially when the tank is empty as there is a breeze from underneath.

You still have to spread the dung and it takes a long time for it to melt into the ground.

I suppose strictly speaking you would also have to have a dung stead along with a dry shed.

What about a cubicle house with mats and a scraper. Cattle walk out to yard to feed. Low work rate and would suit any system of farming in years to come.

If I was going again myself, I think it's as good as any. Not gone on the slatted house.

Tipp Man

And what cost is straw in Co Clare??

I know the tillage lads around here are drawing it up to Clare and considering the cost of diesel you guys up there must be paying a small fortune for it

Bean_Flicker

Tipp Man wrote: »

And what cost is straw in Co Clare??

I know the tillage lads around here are drawing it up to Clare and considering the cost of diesel you guys up there must be paying a small fortune for it

Wheaten straw round bales are €20 a bale up here in the north west
Barley straw round bales are €23 a bale

PatQfarmer

Joe the Plumber wrote: »

You still have to spread the dung and it takes a long time for it to melt into the ground.

I suppose strictly speaking you would also have to have a dung stead along with a dry shed.

What about a cubicle house with mats and a scraper. Cattle walk out to yard to feed. Low work rate and would suit any system of farming in years to come.

If I was going again myself, I think it's as good as any. Not gone on the slatted house.

Cattle walking out to yard to feed is grand if you have a big lagoon or tank to hold slurry AND rainwater. Otherwise, pray you don't get an inspection;)
Regulations are mad really, they are a lot healthier outside on yard. Neighbour has straw shed with slatted feed passage outside to front. Unless it's lashing rain, they lie on the slates, because it's outside.

We have straw sheds, if the stocking rate is not too high, they work fine.
We use round feeders inside. As long as the silage is dry, not too much of a mess.
Looked at it a lot and will either go back to cubicle house with scraper and open yard or outside slatted feed passage when finances allow...if ever...:rolleyes:

jimmy G M

Bean_Flicker wrote: »

Wheaten straw round bales are €20 a bale up here in the north west
Barley straw round bales are €23 a bale

When we clean out the uneaten waste from the feeding passage of the slatted shed, we use it as bedding in a loose shed where we keep a few weanlings. Cuts down on straw usage.

We got round bales of barley straw delivered from Banagher area (aprox 30 miles away) @ €20 last Oct.

keep going

Anybody know how many sq metres you need per cow in a straw bedded shed under cross compliance or how many you would be allowed put into a shed 55 ft by 28

Brown Podzol

Justjens wrote: »

Ideally if you could feed them over slats, the straw will get quite messy until you get about a foot deep, and it requires cleaning out where they feed on a weekly basis, depending on what you feed.

If your straw is not cheap, in ten years time a slatted tank would have been a better option, €20/bale, bale every two days (minimum) for 70 days.......plus the extra work.

Supposed to be 7yo yo worth of P in a 4x4 round bale of straw.

freedominacup

Brown Podzol wrote: »

Supposed to be 7yo yo worth of P in a 4x4 round bale of straw.

Before you add sh1t;).