Slats suitable for sheep and cattle

HillFarmer

Hi Guys,

This might be a stupid question but I will be building a new 3 bay lean too shed next year, 2 bays will be slats and 1 bay just for storage.

My question is I may want to use one bay for sheep on occasion, is there a Slat that does both or will I have to swap to sheep slats if I want to house sheep?

Thanks for any advice

epfff

HillFarmer wrote: »

Hi Guys,

This might be a stupid question but I will be building a new 3 bay lean too shed next year, 2 bays will be slats and 1 bay just for storage.

My question is I may want to use one bay for sheep on occasion, is there a Slat that does both or will I have to swap to sheep slats if I want to house sheep?

Thanks for any advice

I have a duel purpose slats on one shed here got from banagher concrete
They were same price
Cattle are little dirtier but fine

rangler1

epfff wrote: »

I have a duel purpose slats on one shed here got from banagher concrete
They were same price
Cattle are little dirtier but fine

I've seen sheep very dirty on concrete slats, Can't be great for lambing on

epfff

rangler1 wrote: »

I've seen sheep very dirty on concrete slats, Can't be great for lambing on

Cant comment
I had lot of sheep when shed was built and it was 50/50 which direction I went cattle/sheep but off farm work dictated the result
It the nearest shed to yard and I only ever used it for weaning dosing weaning sheep very handy just put up gates in front of barrier no cleaning after

HillFarmer

rangler1 wrote: »

I've seen sheep very dirty on concrete slats, Can't be great for lambing on

Never tried it, suppose your right. You have all loose bedding rangler?

rangler1

HillFarmer wrote: »

Never tried it, suppose your right. You have all loose bedding rangler?

Suits the straw feeding better, they won't eat all the straw, but they pull it in under them....not great for slats.
I'd say the plastic slats are the best I've seen under sheep

Green farmer

While putting straw under sheep today, I wondered if anyone is lambing on plastic slats ? If so, how's it going ?

sh1tstirrer

What about putting plastic slats over the cattle slats and have them raised above the cattle slats?

Carey7

I built a new 5 bay shed for sheep/cattle - keeping my options open. I used Creagh dual purpose slats and they are excellent! Have 4 pens full of sheep and one pen of cattle. Sheep and cattle both staying very clean.

Green farmer

Could you lamb on them ? or would they be more suitable to store lambs etc ?

Bleating Lamb

Have a slatted shed for cattle that is circa 1995 build.
Slats still original and are in good nick,only have sucklers so that never had NAD heavy stock on them,there your typical concrete type that get slightly narrower down the sides(when looking down from above)...which leaves them easier scraped with a shovel if your cleaning them off in the summer?
My query is are there suitable slats for sheep you can fit on top of them if you wanted to convert a few pens to use for sheep,typically what kind of cost are they.....and does the sheep dung go down reasonably well through them....to keep the sheep relatively clean....I would imagine that having the thicker width of the cattle slat underneath makes it more difficult for the sheep dung to go down through both slats to drop into the tank??
Many thanks for replies from anyone who has converted from cattle slats to lay sheep slats on top.
Ps-would prob not be lambing ewes in that shed,only use it for feeding the ewes in the weeks prior to lambing.

Carey7

I don't lamb on them, used for dry hoggets, you probably would have to watch ewes lambing on them. I know a farmer who lambs on them and he is very pleased. The thing I am most pleased with is how clean the sheep stay on concrete slats

razor8

Bleating Lamb wrote: »

Have a slatted shed for cattle that is circa 1995 build.
Slats still original and are in good nick,only have sucklers so that never had NAD heavy stock on them,there your typical concrete type that get slightly narrower down the sides(when looking down from above)...which leaves them easier scraped with a shovel if your cleaning them off in the summer?
My query is are there suitable slats for sheep you can fit on top of them if you wanted to convert a few pens to use for sheep,typically what kind of cost are they.....and does the sheep dung go down reasonably well through them....to keep the sheep relatively clean....I would imagine that having the thicker width of the cattle slat underneath makes it more difficult for the sheep dung to go down through both slats to drop into the tank??
Many thanks for replies from anyone who has converted from cattle slats to lay sheep slats on top.
Ps-would prob not be lambing ewes in that shed,only use it for feeding the ewes in the weeks prior to lambing.

Have seen guys use rebar welded together in a frame that will sit over the slots

Bleating Lamb

razor8 wrote: »

Have seen guys use rebar welded together in a frame that will sit over the slots

Only seeing your reply today Razor8,will pm you for thoughts on the rebar job,sounds like a practical answer.... just wonder if they could be a bit uncomfortable for ewes feet?

Thanks for any one else's replies on seeing or having old cattle slatted pens converted for sheep use.
B.L.