Here I feature the roofing over of an open slurry pit to give a modern, efficient suckler shed for up to 25 cows and calves. This approach kept building costs down, and also put the new shed conveniently in the middle of the existing yard set-up.

It will allow the farmer involved, David O’Shea of Kilrush, Co Clare, to expand cow numbers. Labour efficiency was a priority. David has a busy tool hire and hardware shop – O’Shea Sales & Hire. The shed was put up last February by Cooraclare farm building contractor Declan Fennell.

Spine wall

The conversion involved putting slats on the six-foot-deep pit and the steelwork on top. The two men decided to use the floor of the pit, the existing back wall and two end walls – that saved a lot of concrete.

Two rows of 14ft 6in slats would be used, so therefore a new spine wall was needed. A new front wall was needed also as the slurry pit was about 36ft wide – too wide for the slats.

The spine wall would have to be 20in wide to support slats on each side and shed pillars. For this wall, Declan Fennell dug out a 5ft-wide strip of the pit floor. He put in a 10in foundation slab with reinforcement to carry the new 20in wall.

The new front wall is 9in wide and reinforced. While the tank is just 6ft deep, it extends under the existing two-pen slatted house on the left of the main picture.

The new shed is three bays long and the roof spans 44ft including a 10ft overhang covering the feed face. The A-roof has a ridge opening and there is vented sheeting at the back, so it’s a fresh, airy shed.

There are no clear light sheets in the roof. After seeing the damage caused to roofs by the storms of last winter, David didn’t want them.

Pens

Internally, the layout of the new shed is flexible. At present, David has it set up with two pens at the front for cows. There are two pens behind them, one a lie-back for calves, the other a calving pen.

One bay, nearest the existing cubicle house, is run as a large pen for yearlings, but it could be divided for cows and their calves.

All pens are slatted. David will use some rubber matting in the calves’ pen, under straw, and in the calving pen.

In the future, by rearranging pens, this shed could hold 25 cows and calves. David told me that another option for him would be to knock the block end wall that separates the new shed from the old cubicle house, and to put in a feed barrier here. That would allow him fill the first bay with up to 25 bought-in cattle.

This conversion cost €40,000 including VAT. That included the shed and some work around the yard. Declan Fennell did the complete job, including ground work, concreting, manufacture of the slats and fabrication and erection of the steelwork.