This is the time of year when cattle farmers arrange the fit-out of new sheds, pricing and buying feed barriers, pen barriers and gates. Farmers also carry out repairs and improvements to existing sheds, ahead of housing.

How will pens be filled? If cattle enter through a door at one or both gable ends, then pen barriers will need to be hinged to allow them to access middle pens. Feed barriers won’t need to be latched and hinged.

Feed barriers

If cattle enter the pens from the feed passage, then the feed barriers will need to be hinged at one end and latched at the other. You must decide if you want a hinged barrier sitting over a fixed concrete or plank wall or a complete unit in which the lower planks also swing open. The advantage of the latter is that cattle do not have to step or jump over a stub wall. They will be more willing to enter/exit the pen. This can be a particular issue with older suckler cows. There is a greater risk of an animal slipping and falling if it has to step or jump over a stub wall.

A standard 15ft 9in diagonal feed barrier will cost anything from €220 to €260 (all prices exclude VAT) supply only. Price will vary with the gauge of metal used, etc. A unit that is hinged at one end and has a sliding latch at the other will cost €25 to €35 more.

A complete unit with planks built in will cost an extra €100 more again, or €340 to €380. However, there is no need then to either shutter a low concrete wall or buy planks, either of which will cost €30 to €60 per bay.

A complete unit must be strongly made to be able to withstand the force of cattle leaning on it. They are heavy. The silage has to be cleared from the feed face to allow these units to be swung open. Locking barriers are becoming more popular in suckler sheds. They cost €420 to €500 per bay. Some farmers dislike the banging noise made by early barriers, although most now have plastic stops.

Barriers made of single, adjustable rails continue to be installed in finisher and dairy sheds where no calves will be housed. They perform well, particularly where a short-chopped silage is put into troughs by the diet feeder. The cost is as low as €30 per bay to include tubing and brackets to attach them to the pillars.

Recently, I went to look at the fit-out of the new suckler shed at Teagasc Grange and met with Dessie Donohoe of Performance Steel, Oldcastle, Co Meath, who is carrying out the work.

Pictures one and two

This post will be used to support barrier gates. It’s a strong 6in x 6in beam and will be able to cope with the weight, the pushing action of cattle and twisting by a swinging gate.

Dessie Donohoe welds these plates on top to give the pillars additional resistance to twisting. Posts are strongest when they are concreted into the floor slab.

Pictures three and four

These pin hinges are used to attach gates and pen barriers to shed pillars and posts. The flanges of the RSJ pillars make fixing straightforward. Each is held by two 14mm bolts with locking nuts.

The hinge comes with bolt holes pre-drilled. The pin is long enough to remain in place despite any shaking. The chain ensures that it won’t be lost.

The lower hinge to be fitted under this one may be the same or may be an eye bolt. The same hinges may be used at the other end of the barrier or – if the barrier is intended to be opened frequently – there may be sliding latches at the top and bottom. If there are hinges at both ends, the gate can open at either side.

Picture five

Where the pillar holding a barrier or gate is flush in the shuttered wall, then bolts cannot be used to hold on the hinge. Instead, it must be welded on as shown here.

Picture six

Sliding latches like this are quick to open. Once latches are fitted, the gate can only open at this one end. All such latches have a mechanism built in to prevent cattle from opening them.

Picture seven

Eye bolts serve as a hinge, but they also allow adjustment to level a barrier or gate and cope with leaning posts/pillars. They can be used with the pin hinge, shown in picture four.

Alternatively, if two of these are fitted on the end of a barrier, they can be lengthened or shortened to make the barrier fit between the two pillars.

Picture eight

This four-rail barrier will be hinged at both ends. It is telescopic, which makes hanging the barrier straightforward. The gap between the bars is 12in and the barrier will be hung 12in off the slatted floor. Barriers like this sell for between €240 and €260, plus VAT.

Picture nine

All major manufacturers now offer telescopic barriers and gates. There is a generous overlap between the two sides, helping to keep this barrier strong.

Picture 10

This telescopic gate is five-rail, so it is suited for use with small stock, ie in a lieback pen. It has sliding latches for regular opening. Again, the latches have a lock mechanism to stop cattle nosing them open. A 13ft-16ft gate like this will sell for between €220 and €260.

Picture 11

This feed barrier will hang off an RSJ pillar on two eye bolts. At the other end, there will be two sliding latches. It will open at one end.

The planks underneath are part of the barrier assembly and will swing open with it to give cattle a clear, safe path into or out of the pen. Barriers like this cost €320 to €400 from a supplier.

Picture 12

A calving gate with headgate has to be strongly fixed in place. This one has a large square footplate, which will be bolted onto the floor.

It is also held in place against the shed pillar – top and bottom – by a total of four bolts.

Most farmers now buy hinged telescopic barriers for the sides of pens. They cost no more than fixed, bolt-on barriers. They give flexibility in the movement of cattle in and out of pens. A row of pens can be made into a passage by opening barriers. This allows easier cleaning out of any strawbedded area, e.g. lieback. Pens can be doubled if you want to keep one large batch of cattle together.

For older stock, four rail barriers with a 12in gap between the rails are recommended. An animal will be able to withdraw its head from this gap. Five rail barriers are best kept for young stock, i.e. lieback pens.

A four-rail 13ft to 16ft telescopic hinged rail will cost €220 to €260, depending on gauge of tubing. Going for five rails in the same length will cost approximately €25 more.