Livestock/General Farming photo thread TAKE #2 ::::RULES IN 1st POST::::

MikeSoys · 29-11-2020 12:04am

Just wondering
I've cattle in a slatted shed( about 7 bullocks a pen).. . I'd like to have the shed a little cleaner does anyone clean the shed during the winter ie let cattle out to a yard and remove the muck and put them back in after a quick power wash say once a week or anything?, love to see a pic or two of how other peoples sheds are

White Clover · 29-11-2020 9:32am

MikeSoys wrote: »

Just wondering
I've cattle in a slatted shed( about 7 bullocks a pen).. . I'd like to have the shed a little cleaner does anyone clean the shed during the winter ie let cattle out to a yard and remove the muck and put them back in after a quick power wash say once a week or anything?, love to see a pic or two of how other peoples sheds are

What size are the pens? Too few or too many in the pen and they'll be dirty.

Lime Tree Farm · 30-11-2020 12:03am

MikeSoys wrote: »

Just wondering
I've cattle in a slatted shed( about 7 bullocks a pen).. . I'd like to have the shed a little cleaner does anyone clean the shed during the winter ie let cattle out to a yard and remove the muck and put them back in after a quick power wash say once a week or anything?, love to see a pic or two of how other peoples sheds are

For the cows I use a wide spade to gather it to where their back legs are at when they are at feed barrier, they will trample it down through the slats in no length of time.

Lady Haywire · 30-11-2020 11:37am

MikeSoys wrote: »

Just wondering
I've cattle in a slatted shed( about 7 bullocks a pen).. . I'd like to have the shed a little cleaner does anyone clean the shed during the winter ie let cattle out to a yard and remove the muck and put them back in after a quick power wash say once a week or anything?, love to see a pic or two of how other peoples sheds are

Morning & evening here, all is scraped down to just in front of their back feet. Keeps stock quiet too when you're rummaging about between them.

_Brian · 30-11-2020 11:47am

Lady Haywire wrote: »

Morning & evening here, all is scraped down to just in front of their back feet. Keeps stock quiet too when you're rummaging about between them.

Know a few people who do this.

We don’t

Lady Haywire · 30-11-2020 12:00pm

_Brian wrote: »

Know a few people who do this.

We don’t

Just suits here as I'm generally in the back with creep feeding anyway. Depends on the slope with the lying area/if there's a lying area etc too, I'd not be at all happy if I hadn't ours cleaned down daily

_Brian · 30-11-2020 12:16pm

Lady Haywire wrote: »

Just suits here as I'm generally in the back with creep feeding anyway. Depends on the slope with the lying area/if there's a lying area etc too, I'd not be at all happy if I hadn't ours cleaned down daily

Yea I think it’s to do with layout amd creeps etc.

We just have straight sorted bays no creep etc and find that stock keep them clean.

furandfeather · 01-12-2020 11:44pm

Nice start to the morning Twin gunshot heifers

Quickly followed by pulling dead lgl bull calf out of a ped charlolais cow - oh the joys of farming !

tanko · 01-12-2020 11:52pm

Lovely markings on those calves, will you try and foster one onto the other cow?

Hard Knocks · 01-12-2020 11:54pm

furandfeather wrote: »

Nice start to the morning Twin gunshot heifers

Quickly followed by pulling dead lgl bull calf out of a ped charlolais cow - oh the joys of farming !

Sadly comes to all of us
It’s sickening but better outside the house

furandfeather · 01-12-2020 11:58pm

tanko wrote: »

Lovely markings on those calves, will you try and foster one onto the other cow?

I thought about it then quickly dismissed it. Less work im looking for! In fairness their mother will have plenty to rear them

Neo Sanders · 02-12-2020 12:10am

furandfeather wrote: »

Nice start to the morning Twin gunshot heifers

Quickly followed by pulling dead lgl bull calf out of a ped charlolais cow - oh the joys of farming !

Pity bout the ch.. Lovely sí calves, you'll surely keep them , i had 2 sets of twins off gunshot last year, out of 5 put to him... Sounds like more than a coincidence??

charolais0153 · 02-12-2020 1:18am

Neo Sanders wrote: »

Pity bout the ch.. Lovely sí calves, you'll surely keep them , i had 2 sets of twins off gunshot last year, out of 5 put to him... Sounds like more than a coincidence??

What kind of cows

Neo Sanders · 02-12-2020 9:10am

charolais0153 wrote: »

What kind of cows

SIX cows

charolais0153 · 02-12-2020 11:30am

Neo Sanders wrote: »

SIX cows

Simmental cows be more likely to have twins, has nothing to do with the choice of bull

MikeSoys · 02-12-2020 11:38am

hi just love to see others slatted sheds to see whare i am(on their cleanness) ..see attached is pics taken from my 4 bay single. last year i put cattle out of each shed and gave it a quick clean. only to be dirty again the next day.
pens are 16'x16'(i think)- 7 cattle in each pen(their about 560-610kgs each)

Neo Sanders · 02-12-2020 2:01pm

MikeSoys wrote: »

hi just love to see others slatted sheds to see whare i am(on their cleanness) ..see attached is pics taken from my 4 bay single. last year i put cattle out of each shed and gave it a quick clean. only to be dirty again the next day.
pens are 16'x16'(i think)- 7 cattle in each pen(their about 560-610kgs each)

IMO you're under stocked, I have similar size pens, I've 13 500kg animals in that pen. I'd put 10 or 11 of the size you mentioned.... The slats are cleaner than yours and I never clean them.... I've rubber also.... Sorry I won't have a picture for a few days, bit laid up at the moment

wrangler · 02-12-2020 2:39pm

tanko wrote: »

Lovely markings on those calves, will you try and foster one onto the other cow?

I wonder could thay be wet fostered like we do with lambs, if it was that simple it'd be a shame not to

RobinBanks · 02-12-2020 2:47pm

MikeSoys wrote: »

hi just love to see others slatted sheds to see whare i am(on their cleanness) ..see attached is pics taken from my 4 bay single. last year i put cattle out of each shed and gave it a quick clean. only to be dirty again the next day.
pens are 16'x16'(i think)- 7 cattle in each pen(their about 560-610kgs each)

I have those mats aswell. Cattke are filthy and I have 7 large cows per pin. The grips in the rubber mats hold allot of muck.

MikeSoys · 02-12-2020 2:51pm

Neo Sanders wrote: »

IMO you're under stocked, I have similar size pens, I've 13 500kg animals in that pen. I'd put 10 or 11 of the size you mentioned.... The slats are cleaner than yours and I never clean them.... I've rubber also.... Sorry I won't have a picture for a few days, bit laid up at the moment

okay, i should have had pens wider[in hindsight]..when feeding the 7 fill up the barrier ..more then 8 might mean their not all able to eat.

MikeSoys · 02-12-2020 2:53pm

i was thinking of setting up some sort of sprinkler type system that would wash the slats while their at the barrier for 10 seconds or something just to keep it better. one for each pen hooked up to the tap or somthing ..

charolais0153 · 02-12-2020 2:54pm

MikeSoys wrote: »

okay, i should have had pens wider[in hindsight]..when feeding the 7 fill up the barrier ..more then 8 might mean their not all able to eat.

If your not giving meal, headspace isn't that important. Just keep silage pushed in

Neo Sanders · 02-12-2020 3:22pm

charolais0153 wrote: »

If your not giving meal, headspace isn't that important. Just keep silage pushed in

I'd agree, only 8 have room at the feed barrier here, but that's not an issue. Silage is wheeled in morning and evening.... I have access to give meal at the back. OP if you're feeding meal then you might be caught that way on the stocking density.

The idea of setting up a way to wash the slats down daily sounds like way too much work. I've never heard of anyone doing anything like this... That's another job to be done every day, for what gain? You'd be much better off to look at modifying the set up so that you have access to feed meal at the back. You'd also increase the capacity of your shed from 28 to 40 (4 spans X 10 cattle)

I have easy fix rubber on mine and the cattle are clean as on any other set-up. But you need to have the pens stocked correctly.

MikeSoys · 02-12-2020 3:34pm

charolais0153 wrote: »

If your not giving meal, headspace isn't that important. Just keep silage pushed in

thanks yeah meal being given morning and evening

MikeSoys · 02-12-2020 3:34pm

Neo Sanders wrote: »

I'd agree, only 8 have room at the feed barrier here, but that's not an issue. Silage is wheeled in morning and evening.... I have access to give meal at the back. OP if you're feeding meal then you might be caught that way on the stocking density.

The idea of setting up a way to wash the slats down daily sounds like way too much work. I've never heard of anyone doing anything like this... That's another job to be done every day, for what gain? You'd be much better off to look at modifying the set up so that you have access to feed meal at the back. You'd also increase the capacity of your shed from 28 to 40 (4 spans X 10 cattle)

I have easy fix rubber on mine and the cattle are clean as on any other set-up. But you need to have the pens stocked correctly.

thanks yeah meal being given morning and evening

Dozer1 · 02-12-2020 7:15pm

As if the day wasn't long enough...

patsy_mccabe · 04-12-2020 4:30pm

Limestone Cowboy · 04-12-2020 5:25pm

wrangler wrote: »

I wonder could thay be wet fostered like we do with lambs, if it was that simple it'd be a shame not to

Ya it works with calves too, I have done it a few times. Actually got the idea from reading about lambs being wet fostered on here years ago.

funkey_monkey · 06-12-2020 9:03pm

Seen on reddit Ireland.

Discuss...

High bike · 06-12-2020 9:17pm

funkey_monkey wrote: »

Seen on reddit Ireland.

Discuss...

rough conditions to winter cattle on

wrangler · 06-12-2020 9:19pm

High bike wrote: »

rough conditions to winter cattle on

Hard to believe with all the grants available, there can't be money to be made that way...... only lost

Dozer1 · 06-12-2020 10:02pm

Shed here finally done this week..but I'd a few not far off that..

High bike · 06-12-2020 10:23pm

wrangler wrote: »

Hard to believe with all the grants available, there can't be money to be made that way...... only lost

theywouldnt be putting up weight anyway

High bike · 06-12-2020 10:26pm

Dozer1 wrote: »

Shed here finally done this week..but I'd a few not far off that..

Looks a super job

funkey_monkey · 06-12-2020 10:35pm

Dozer1 wrote: »

Shed here finally done this week..but I'd a few not far off that..

That looks the business - best of luck with that setup. So slated pen on one side of feed passage and the slatted pen with a lie back on the opposite? I presume the lie back will be straw bedded?

With feeding at both ends of the pens what stocking density can you get?
Do you need to put down mats at the gates to help prevent the cattle curling up the slat mats?
Were your mats costly?
Your gate posts on the slats - are they onto a column?

Great setup the animals will be content and thrive in that shed.

kollegeknight · 06-12-2020 10:39pm

Dozer1 wrote: »

Shed here finally done this week..but I'd a few not far off that..

Really great job. Do you mind me asking how much were the mats per bay?

grassroot1 · 06-12-2020 10:42pm

funkey_monkey wrote: »

Seen on reddit Ireland.

Discuss...

Says a lot about any farming buisness when you see cattle not sculled.
That sort of messing is neither good for man or beast

patsy_mccabe · 06-12-2020 10:52pm

funkey_monkey wrote: »

Seen on reddit Ireland.

Discuss...

Looks bad. Maybe not as bad, if they have a dry spot to lay down, but I doubt it.

Murang · 06-12-2020 11:13pm

Dozer1 wrote: »

Shed here finally done this week..but I'd a few not far off that..

Did you have to wait long to get the slat rubber I rang comfort slat agent in cork 3 times and he still hasn’t come out to measure up

wrangler · 06-12-2020 11:20pm

funkey_monkey wrote: »

That looks the business - best of luck with that setup. So slated pen on one side of feed passage and the slatted pen with a lie back on the opposite? I presume the lie back will be straw bedded?

With feeding at both ends of the pens what stocking density can you get?
Do you need to put down mats at the gates to help prevent the cattle curling up the slat mats?
Were your mats costly?
Your gate posts on the slats - are they onto a column?

Great setup the animals will be content and thrive in that shed.

My tenant put similar in my shed and I hate the sight of them. The gate posts should be continued on up to the truss above, cattle get some power when they push the top of them..... maybe I'm too particular.
When you lease your farm you just have to turn a blind eye

Grueller · 07-12-2020 9:04am

wrangler wrote: »

My tenant put similar in my shed and I hate the sight of them. The gate posts should be continued on up to the truss above, cattle get some power when they push the top of them..... maybe I'm too particular.
When you lease your farm you just have to turn a blind eye

I made up a new crush last year here. I have it bolted to a slat and braced it to a wall with 5 cm wall thickness in 50x50 box. It is a great job. Not a stir out of it.

Dozer1 · 07-12-2020 10:20am

Thanks All, great comfort long may it last,
I'll avoid straw in the lie back/calving pens if I can, I've some old mats I'm going to use to see how the calves like them and if they go alright then I might get a roll of mat in a year or too for the 3 pens. Straw & Hay drives my sinus mad as well as the annual cost and storing the heap of muck would be an issue aswell.

Rang all the mat crowds in Oct, comfort were only crowd that rang back, I ordered them Oct 9th, measured Oct 20th and in on Saturday last. Came to 11,600 for 6 bays and that includes VAT.

As for the Slat pillars, went to see older sheds that had them and they were rock solid with no issues reported so I was happy to go with them, time will tell. Shed is bigger than I need but I'm not going building any more so with this done through TAMS it'll see me out. outside crush and yard still not done but hopefully by Jan it will be.

funkey_monkey · 07-12-2020 12:30pm

Did you consider sloping the lie-back, so that it drains down into the slats?

wrangler · 07-12-2020 12:37pm

Dozer1 wrote: »

Thanks All, great comfort long may it last,
I'll avoid straw in the lie back/calving pens if I can, I've some old mats I'm going to use to see how the calves like them and if they go alright then I might get a roll of mat in a year or too for the 3 pens. Straw & Hay drives my sinus mad as well as the annual cost and storing the heap of muck would be an issue aswell.

Rang all the mat crowds in Oct, comfort were only crowd that rang back, I ordered them Oct 9th, measured Oct 20th and in on Saturday last. Came to 11,600 for 6 bays and that includes VAT.

As for the Slat pillars, went to see older sheds that had them and they were rock solid with no issues reported so I was happy to go with them, time will tell. Shed is bigger than I need but I'm not going building any more so with this done through TAMS it'll see me out. outside crush and yard still not done but hopefully by Jan it will be.

I took one down and made a bracket to catch five slats and they are able to lift the five slats when they push the tops, it probably works alright on gang slats, I'll put proper pillars to the truss when the shed is empty next summer

RobinBanks · 07-12-2020 3:25pm

Dozer1 wrote: »

Shed here finally done this week..but I'd a few not far off that..

Thats a lovely looking job, fair play. Would you mind showing a picture of how the Pillars in the middle of the slats are fixed in place?

Dozer1 · 07-12-2020 5:11pm

creep is well sloped already, I'll fire a few pics of the pillars tomorrow

Dozer1 · 08-12-2020 5:52pm

Slat pillars held on either side grabs 2 on either side with a t piece underneath the slat

MikeSoys · 12-12-2020 11:02pm

Dozer1 wrote: »

Shed here finally done this week..but I'd a few not far off that..

Lovely job

patsy_mccabe · 15-12-2020 7:33pm

funkey_monkey · 01-01-2021 1:01am

Weighed some calves and the effect that the pneumonia on the effected ones was big.
Best one down from 1.55kg/day down to just over 1kg/day. A few others dropped from lower initial values.
All heading in right direction now thankfully.

Livestock/General Farming photo thread TAKE #2 ::::RULES IN 1st POST::::

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