outdoor slats

ellewood

As with the dairy lads putting in topless cubicles what about topless slats for suckers

Doing a job at moment and will have weaning and icalf heifers and weaning bulls on slats with no roof over them but shelter on 3 sides for them

Will they be alright or do i new to go and rob a bank somewhere to cover it



Winter for them will be around 100 days



Opinions??

bob charles

ellewood wrote: »

As with the dairy lads putting in topless cubicles what about topless slats for suckers

Doing a job at moment and will have weaning and icalf heifers and weaning bulls on slats with no roof over them but shelter on 3 sides for them

Will they be alright or do i new to go and rob a bank somewhere to cover it



Winter for them will be around 100 days



Opinions??

if the grub is good - no problems, they will look miserable for about the 10 worst days of winter

st1979

I asked same question before and general answer was they will be fine just questions on if you had enugh storage for the rain water

onyerbikepat

There was an article in the Farmers Journal a while back where a finishing operation in Co. Meath, I think, had a aslatted shed with no roof. They said it worked fine with a lot less health issues. They made the point though that they were finishing, so cattle were always well fed and no problem staying warm. The amount of rainfall can vary a lot depending where you are in the country though, so you need extra storage for this.

freedominacup

There are a few around here. One is gradually being turned into covered. The other is in an old courtyard so well sheltered but has been in place for 30+ years so it can't be too bad. The farmer with it in place for years could write a cheque at anytime for a shed company to roof it but doesn't seem to see the need.

hugo29

know a few lads with the wintering pads and they are roofing them over

as bob mentioned would slats be able to take the capacity of the slurry and the rainwater combined,

you might need a lagoon as an overflow

Brown Podzol

This article might throw some light on the storage requirements.




http://www.independent.ie/business/farming/nitrates-directive-leaves-less-capacity-for-slurry-storage-26372836.html

just do it

Location, location, location! I reckon if I built one 100 wet days would fill it without any cattle on it :rolleyes:

Seriously if you're located in a dry area it could well work. Shelter from the prevailing wind would be required though. Look at the met eireann website and it will give you an idea of annual rainfall for your location.

blue5000

Have open slats beside a feed passage here, but they have access to old cubicle shed. Only problem was when sh1te froze on top of slats a few years back. Cattle keep long hair on them which is an advantage turning them out. You really only have to allow for rainwater during the closed period, which for me is 1 foot.

Farmer Pudsey

Average rain fall in Ireland is 40'' along the west coast it can be as high as 60 and as low as 30'' along the east coast. 40'' is 1 metre. Cattle will also eat extra this was found with pads etc. It grand in theory thinking that you need only take rain water that goes in while cattle are in there however all rain going in will mix with slurry

It may be feasible along the east coast however from Kerry to Donegal I be putting a roof on it.

just do it

I've seen them work well in set-ups like blue has described. Still need to scrap down the passage from the cubicle shed though. However if the cubicle shed is there already it makes sense. Starting from scratch less so.