No wasted space in suckler shed

I often feature big winter sheds on these pages. But of course the average suckler herd in Ireland has 12 cows, so I’m always pleased to feature well designed smaller sheds too.

Paul Mooney

7 August 2013

Picture one This shed ticks the important boxes in being simple, labour saving, flexible, etc. It’s three bays wide with the roof spanning back 4.8m (16 feet) plus an overhang over the feed face. The roof is A-shaped which gives more shelter than a single roof. The wing wall at the gable end provides shelter. There is a slatted tank under the two bays on the left, so it’s 10.8m (35 feet) long with a 14 foot six inch (4.4 m) slat.

Picture two In this shed, there is no lieback area behind the slats. Instead, the third bay, nearest the camera, will be bedded and used for this purpose and as a calving pen. The barriers between the pens have creep gates, giving calves access to the bedded area. The floor slab of this bay slopes down to the tank for drainage. One reason why the bedded area is at the end of the pens is that the ground behind the shed falls off sharply and would have had to be built up with stone if a lieback

Picture three The third bay is fitted with a calving gate at the front instead of a feeding barrier. Normally, it’s straightforward to catch a cow in the headgate using nuts. If necessary, the gate can be swung across to trap an animal in the headgate. The cow can be held in place with just the cesarian section of the gate, etc. To the right is a gate giving access to a second yard with a handling unit. This gate is long enough to meet with the gate fronting the bedded bay. The two gate

Picture four The handling unit consists of a 10m long chute with a headgate. It piggybacks on to the wall of the yard in front of the new shed. The handling yard here can be divided into a number of pens for easier handling. Items like a backing gate, catwalk, etc, can be added later if wanted.

Picture five The Roughans got Declan Fennell to enclose the open yard in front of the shed so he put up this 2m shuttered wall on three sides. It will make handling of livestock secure and will also help keep the yard area tidy. However, consider your future expansion plans before putting up an enclosing wall like this.

Picture six As is so common in western counties, the site was sloping and ground had to be made up. Much of the underground tank is essentially overground. Declan Fennell told me that the walls of the third bedded bay are shuttered down to the level of the floor of the tank and then backfilled. Sloping ground can add to cost if stone has to be bought in to provide a firm base under concrete. An alternative approach on some sites is to cut into the higher ground and build into it. The clay spo

A key issue for sheds built for small numbers is cost. It’s going to cost more per unit of capacity than a big one and will therefore be more expensive relative to annual cattle sales. So among other requirements are that it has no unnecessary space.

This week I feature a suckler house built in Co Clare for about 12 cows. It was built by Cooraclare-based Declan Fennel whose sheds I have featured before. The farmer is Margaret Roughan of Fountain, Ennis.

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