slatted shed

rezder

i recently came into a sucker farm,there are no out buildings as such( very bad condition) i want to bulid a shed for 30 cows/ creep area with 2 calving pens. dont no where to start, or would it be worth getting a teagasc adivisor. advice please

blue5000

Welcome to boards, you're not redzer re incarnated by any chance? Ballpark 25-30k maybe less if you do some yourself, seen an ad on the journal someone doing a 3 bay 8' tank for I think 6k. What part of the country are you in?

on the river

rezder wrote: »

i recently came into a sucker farm,there are no out buildings as such( very bad condition) i want to bulid a shed for 30 cows/ creep area with 2 calving pens. dont no where to start, or would it be worth getting a teagasc adivisor. advice please

Ok here is my advise.

firstly any schemes or grants that will aid you should avail of first.

the building you refered to may receive grants so dont be so quick to demolish.

Thirdly make sure the slated shed your building is accesiable for both farmer and beast.

most slated sheds are standerd thoughout the country so maybe you could ask your neighbour for his drawings (plans) and look at other sheds that you may want to copy.

teagasc advisors are extremely helpful and i would highly recommend seeing one.

lastly enjoy farming it is a passion so make the best of it

rezder

do you no where i would find out about theses grants, ye are extremely helpfull. im in the limerick area. i have done my green cert but i went working with pigs and travelled. so im still finding my feet at the minute.

Sami23

rezder wrote: »

i recently came into a sucker farm,there are no out buildings as such( very bad condition) i want to bulid a shed for 30 cows/ creep area with 2 calving pens. dont no where to start, or would it be worth getting a teagasc adivisor. advice please

For 30 cows you will probably need a 3 bay double shed (5 cows per pen)with creep area behind each bay as a 2 bay double would be a bit tight (i.e 7.5 cows per bay) unless of course you use longer slats which may mean you get away with 2 bay double space wise but not sure feeding wise.

Maby others could recommend how many in calf cows would be able to eat comfortably at a feeding gate of a standard bay (15' 9") ?

Farmer Pudsey

rezder wrote: »

i recently came into a sucker farm,there are no out buildings as such( very bad condition) i want to bulid a shed for 30 cows/ creep area with 2 calving pens. dont no where to start, or would it be worth getting a teagasc adivisor. advice please

Just because it was a suckler farm dosen't mean it has to stay as a suckler farm. I cannot see any serious money out of sucklers. The Derrypatrick herd achieved a gross margin of 905/Ha last year. This is not promising with last years beef prices. There sales were 1575/HA 04 1940 depending on what way you look at it.. Margin is not profit, they are stocked at over 2LU/ha(2.5 I think) on good land.

One or two lads that are at it are downsizing and moving towards calf-beef on a 50/50 basis. A thirty cow shed would need to be about 5 bays long if you intend keeping weanlings over first winter. If building go for 16.5' slats, this will give you greater slurry storage rather than narrower slats. consider a 9@ deep tank for same reason. i be slow to go the 3 bay double shed route. A single tank with slats and a good area behind for Crush and calving pens. Also you can ahve a pen for bull and a pen for an injured animal.