Finishing cattle - shed flooring

Aly Daly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123522898#Comment_123522898

Have a look at Dower House farm on youtube day 23 @ 3 minutes in,Kepak feedlot they are currently taking off rubber mats from slats as it is causing increasing lameness due to bacterial build up & as many cattle finished on straw as possible,the same can be said for Woodhead Brothers in the UK.

funkey_monkey

due to bacterial build up

Isn't that what @GERRY6420 aid about this when building his new shed?

Would there be any issue lifting them every 2nd or 3rd year to disinfect?

Aly Daly

Kepak have gone back to ordinary slats & have got rid of mats due the bacterial issue & mats holding dirt,when I was up there a couple of years ago I was told that if the feedlot was a green field site they would bed on straw throughout,I would under no circumstance put the original poster off laying a pad & keeping his cattle in comfort, a couple of very prominent guys on here can't see that & the droning on about convenience of slats is tedious,I have seen posts from fellas saying it's inconvenient to see cattle out on land more than twice a week when they should be seeing them twice a day,if I had made the mistake of building a slated unit I would be stuck with it & making the argument it was great,in addition dung is a far better for soil health than slurry or so I am told.

funkey_monkey

Finishing cattle would be costly if we had to buy straw.

Would bacteria be an issue anyway for kepak as they buy in big numbers from multiple sources?

Aly Daly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123523900#Comment_123523900

If I know anything about government grants you will be jumping through hoops to satisfy them on the build spec & end up with a completely unsuitable bed for finishing cattle & of course you will not be in the market for readymix,slats,labour etc. at the suppliers "best price",slats are a desperate yoke & slat mats are seemingly a slightly different desperate yoke,the roads are full of straw lorries heading north from the south in the Autumn & those guys up there are not know for wasting money,some guys on here would blind you with figures & I used to know a fella like that,he asked me to buy some of his stores but when I arrived at his yard the place was a bomb site & his stock were shocking,after another blast of figures from him I got out of there.

funkey_monkey

I'm up north myself. When you haul it in from the south or GB it adds a fair bit.

I've nothing planned yet. Although if I'm doing anything I'd need to do it in the next few years to get get value it is it in my lifetime.

Aly Daly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123524068#Comment_123524068

Yes I appreciate the cost issue I am south east myself so straw is not normally a problem if bought forward,if you are of a certain age as I am slats would be a bit like solar panels & would you outlive the capitol cost as I hope both of us would,a straw blower is not essential BTW as it is no big deal to fire them in a bit of straw as they will spread it themselves although we would always have bedded them as they fed on concentrate in the yard,bed them & leave a gap clear from the feed barrier,beds will be very clean with this system.

manno

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123524126#Comment_123524126

8x4x3 bales were 120 delivered in the West in the spring of 24. That's near enough the margin on finishing a steer.

Bass Reeves

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123523824#Comment_123523824

You missed the part where he said that the Kepak farm grow the majority of there own inputs. Therefore they have access to there own straw. There issue with bacterial build up may be down to that the sheds never empty. No matter how much you power wash and clean something you need to let it dry completely for to kill all bacteria and have the shed completely empty not just a pen or two

It's is not viable to use straw on most farms unless you have access to it at a very cheap cost. With the demand for it and tillage farmers chopping it if the price is not high enough it's not an option outside tillage area and probably not an option there either. It not just the cost, it's the labour and machinery needed and the footprint of the shed.

I have rubber mats down 15 years now. The shed never gets power washed like many small finishers, I do not have a lameness issue or a bacterial build up. The Kepak issue is unique to large feedlots. Yes dung is a better organic manure than slurry but it's a significantly more expensive option than slurry between buying straw and the cost of bedding sheds as well as storing and spreading the dung.

While an individual farm manager in Kepak may make a statement about ideally what he thinks I do not see any large feedlots moving to strawbedded for new buildings it just not economical

visatorro

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123523653#Comment_123523653

Any brands i seen it would be a nightmare to lift the mats and clean underneath. Iv dairy stock on slat mats with no issue with lameness or mastitis thankfully

Anyone see a lieback with rubber mats just out of interest.

manno

I have a small lieback that used to be a creep area when we had cows. Decided a few years ago to put it to use. Tried straw for one winter. I couldn't keep it bedded. I then bought some mats and put them on it. The cattle love lying on it and I keep it scraped by hand but it is small.

DBK1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123524046#Comment_123524046

You’ll save nothing in building costs by going straw instead of slats because you’ll need twice the size, or more, of a straw bedded shed to house the same amount of cattle relative to a slatted shed. What you’ll save in the tank will be spent on the extra shed space so I wouldn’t be using that as a factor in your decision.

Bass Reeves

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123524046#Comment_123524046

You do not have to jump through hoops, you have to work through the terms and conditons, have certs for the right spec concrete and have have the shed build to the specifications. The final part is you have to have planning in place. the planning part is what many skip and it leads to trouble down the line. many lads complaining about jumping through hoops have sheds erected with no planning and trying to rectify down the line is a disaster. If your yard is not planing compliant you cannot apply for the grant. drawing a grant to build a shed is the cheapest and best shed you will ever build

Bass Reeves

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123526441#Comment_123526441

I have pointed that out to him once or twice already………he keeps on forgetting it.

lmk123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123526701#Comment_123526701

100% correct, I built a shed last year and a lot of people told me I shouldn’t bother with the grant, thank god I didn’t listen to them. I can’t really see what the big deal was I didn’t consider anything over the top. The funniest of all is lads giving out that there’s too much steel in the tank walls, there would be twice the amount of steel if the same thing was built on a building site. Clowns think you could build a sky scraper with A393

Aly Daly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123526704#Comment_123526704

But I don't need to build a shed so im not forgetting anything,if I needed to bring in 40 cattle tonight I have plenty of room for them,it is the guy contemplating on building/extending a slatted unit we are supposed to be directing our opinions toward as he has asked the question,you clearly do not like any sort of argument that contradicts your own & I am simply giving an opinion,yes you have a slatted unit which you believe to be the best & most practical housing for your animals,given that I presume you do not have the option of bedding your cattle on straw that is a natural reaction,I earlier mentioned one of the biggest finishers in the south east if not the biggest who bed on straw who also have a business that makes thousands of concrete slats per anum,I have got it wrong & so have they in your opinion buy we will have to live with that.

Bass Reeves

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123526797#Comment_123526797

I did not say you were building a shed. I said you are failing to factor in shed size in the costs of straw bedded units. I have no problem with someone contradicting or debating an issue with me. However when someone is failing to allow for costs and fails to realise the costs of transport and straw then I will continue to stress that point until they factor in those costs.

manno

It's funny how much engraved ideas play a part in on-farm decisions. In the case of slats vs straw bedded it should be simply a case of comparing costs which are available on the internet and comparing scientific research on how the cattle perform on each, again available on the intermnet and carried out in Ireland. Yet it's clear from peoples views on hear that people would be more influenced by personal preference. Also it's notable that slats are the predominant system in most of ireland yet in Northern Ireland they would be pretty rare.

On a similar note, I can't understand how anyone would pay money to put a shed over a silage pit but it's absolutely the norm in the UK. I know there are some benefits in terms of being able to put big squares on the pit but surely the silage must be working out extremely dear per tonne when you factor in the cost of the shed. I doubt the cows produce any more milk because the silage was made under cover!!

funkey_monkey

yet in Northern Ireland they would be pretty rare

Not sure about that. Pretty much everyone I know has slatted sheds; a few finishers might have solid floors, but it but the norm in my experience.

endainoz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123492935#Comment_123492935

Bit of a stretch id say, but demand for good straw will be as high as ever because of organic farming needing it for bedding. Animals always do better on straw but obviously its more work in terms of spreading and mucking out. While slurry is easier to get rid of, dung is far more valuable to improve land over time. It's the biggest source of soil fertility.

Bass Reeves

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123530241#Comment_123530241

Nobody disagrees that dung is a better soil nutrient source than slurry. On straw V rubber mats for finishing is there much of an efficiency difference I am not sure I say it's borderline.

However a straw bedded shed costs much the same if it's not more expensive than a slatted shed. You are then down to running costs and labour needed. If you are in an area with a long winter 4 months plus you need a covered dungstead. If your are finishing a lot of cattle or have a large strawbedded area you need a straw blower. If you are finishing bulls they will tend to fight more in large straw bedded area and it's harder to put electric over them. As well it's a lot easier and safer to remove a bull from a slatted pen compared to a large bedded pen if he needs treatment.

You then have the cost of straw. You are looking at 100 euro a head minimum maybe even up at 150per animal for a 90 day finishing period. Finishing pens may even need to be cleaned and rebedded after 50-60 days. Similar it's easy enough to get a contract to spread slurry, it's a bit harder to get a muck spreader in and you need to.load that spreader as well. All in all with the extra volume it probably up on double the time plus you need two tractors ideally. As well it easier move slurry longer distances

Aly Daly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123529645#Comment_123529645

I have a silage pit here covered with a round roof shed & beside it another similar shed which housed cattle & outside that a yard with concrete feeding troughs,the cattle would walk in next door & feed from the pit with a bar in front of them hooked to the fencer,round straw would be sitting on top of the silage plastic, the system worked very well & beds were very clean.

Robson99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123530794#Comment_123530794

That would be called Hardship to those of us part time farmers. Pit silage and Straw bedding are fine if you are a full time farmer who likes to spend all spare time there as well

Aly Daly

I am semi retired now but I had no issues with the system when I was running the business full time,I found the contrast between my working life & farming life very enjoyable.

Tibulus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123530928#Comment_123530928

Agree with straw

But moved from pit to bales 4 years ago and definitely find the bales more work, both feeding and making.

funkey_monkey

Would like to see this lads setup:

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1HLNCvWZM1/