Watch: four-bay dairy calf to beef shed

Pat Collins and his father Matt farm in Castlemartyr, Co Cork. Pat has just completed a four-bay slatted shed with a layback for his new business of dairy calf to beef cattle. Pat started farming in his own right recently, which enabled him to apply for a TAMS II grant.

Because he is a qualified young farmer he was able to apply through the young farmer’s capital investment scheme of TAMS II where he was entitled to a 60% grant towards the shed.

According to Pat, the new shed will assist expansion of the beef business and help reduce overall labour on the farm.

A handling unit was also erected adjoining the shed. He said this was an expensive addition, but a necessary one because help is not always available and he wanted facilities to allow one man to carry out work easily. Figure 1 shows a plan view of the shed and handling area with the main dimmensions.

In spring, the currently housed weanlings will go out to grass and the layback area will be used to rear a new batch of dairy-bred calves that arrive on farm in February. Pat and Matt buy Hereford and Friesian bull calves and Angus heifers, all are sold as stores in April.

The shed

The shed is very high, measuring 20ft at the eaves. Pat said he wanted a high airy shed because young stock are more prone to pneumonia. The shed is four standard bays long. There are 16ft 6in slats used in the slatted area and these are over a 7ft-deep slurry tank. The slurry tank is actually one bay longer to allow for increased capacity.

The steel work was erected by Denis Keneally and all concrete work done by Dermot Kiely from Waterford. Condon Engineering kitted the shed out with penning, including the crush and holding areas outside.

An 8ft wide overhang at the front is 15ft high and there is 2.5ft between the overhang and the eaves of the shed. This is designed to maximise fresh air entering the shed and warm air leaving the shed through the canopy on top.

Inside, the area is very well laid out and makes for comfortable accommodation for the dairy-bred weanlings. Each slatted pen is over 15ft wide and 22ft long. There is feeding space for 20 weanlings in each pen. If the weanlings are not being fed concentrates, stocking rates can be increased considerably. The weanlings can be locked into the slatted area and fed on both sides of the slats if needs be.

He put the layback in the shed because he wanted to make sure the weanlings were comfortable at housing. “They are in a few weeks now and every single animal goes back to the layback after having silage,” said Pat.

Two timbers are used between the layback and the slatted floor to prevent straw clogging up the slats. The 4ft stainless steel drinkers have capacity for 150 litres of water and the tip-over function makes cleaning easier.

At the back of the shed, bales of straw are stacked. The bales are stacked four high and there is still plenty of clearance from the eaves. In spring, the plan is to send the weanlings out to grass and clean out the shed before the calves come in.

All the pillars for the penning sit in sleeves and are removable, which makes cleaning with the front loader of a tractor much easier.

Having a large layback area is ideal for calf rearing. The back wall has been plumbed with water pipes and taps so that a trough can be easily fitted. Feeders and troughs can be hung off the gates to allow calves to be fed easily.

The gable ends of the shed each feature holding pens for cattle that lead to a race which is situated behind the shed.

Pat had two main reasons for making sure there were plenty of holding pens for cattle. During slurry agitation, each pen of weanlings could be removed from the shed without being mixed with one of the other pens.

Similarly, for the annual TB test, one pen of animals at a time can be moved through the race and directly back to their original pen.

The race is 12m long and there is a protected walkway beside it.

Some stock boarding to the right of the entrance helps to direct stock into the mouth of the race. There is a small door at the end of the shed to allow cattle to get back inside.

Cost

The shed and penning cost approximately €80,000 excluding VAT.

All going well, Pat should be entitled to a grant of €48,000 (60% of a maximum spend of €80,000).

He also built a silage slab at the same time as the shed and this is not included in the costings.

He applied through TAMS II for the shed and the pit – the penning was not included in the application.

“The shed has three functions – storing weanlings, rearing calves and storing straw – and is built to a very high spec.

“It will make my life easier and when else would I get the opportunity for a 60% grant,” explained Pat.