Nigel O’Kane farms with his uncle Billy O’Kane just outside of Claregalway in Co Galway. Nigel is part of the Irish Farmers Journal BETTER farm programme and decided to build the shed on his 22ha farm so that cows close to calving would no longer have to spend time on an outdoor pad.

The shed will also be used to house dairy-bred calves that are bought in every year. This is a recent venture for Nigel in an effort to improve output on the farm.

“We had to make sure there was good ventilation in the shed, but we also had to prevent any draughts on the calves,” he said.

As Nigel works full-time as a plumber off the farm, he needed a shed that would allow quick and safe movement of cattle.

The shed

Nigel decided to construct a four-bay single-apex roofed slatted shed. Incorporated in the design of the shed is a creep with cattle handling facilities.

“When building a shed now, farmers have no choice but to design them for one person anymore,” he said.

Calving facilities are located in an adjoining shed, which will be connected to the new shed over the coming weeks. This will allow Nigel to easily move cattle from the slatted accommodation to the calving pens quickly and safely.

Vented sheeting is used above the outer wall of the shed. There was the option to leave this entire side of the shed open.

However, Nigel believed that the draughts entering the shed would be too much for calves.

Installing spaced sheeting

On the creep side of the shed, the decision was made not to install spaced sheeting above the mass concrete wall. The existing adjoining shed provides sufficient shelter from the rain while still allowing a good flow of air throughout the shed.

Measurements

The shed measures 18.2m long by 12.8m wide.

At the apex, the shed stands at a height of 5.3m, while it is 2.9m high at the eaves, with an 8ft-deep slatted tank in place.

The four bays measure 5.2m by 4.5m, with 14ft 6in slats installed. There are two agitation points, one at either end of the shed.

Both the creep area and the feed passage are 3.7m wide and have a 1 in 30 fall towards the slatted area, helping to keep these areas dry.

Nigel said that he also intends to use the creep area to hold suckler calves if conditions do not allow calves to get out to pasture soon after calving in the spring time.

There are four sliding doors on the shed, two at either end, to ensure ease of access.

There are feeding barriers at the front and back of pens.

This was done so that if the decision is made to move away from suckler cows and focus solely on beef production in the future, cattle can be fed front and back, with the creep acting as a secondary feed passage.

This will allow a greater number of cattle to be kept in pens.

Crush

A long crush capable of holding approximately five cows is in place in the creep. The crush is fitted with an automatic headgate and a calving gate.

A head scoop is also ready to be installed.

Two well-hung gates at the back of the chute act as a funnel to get cattle from the first pen of the shed up the chute.

By moving the pens of cattle up along, it allows all cattle to be funnelled into the crush from the first pen of the shed. The creep of the shed is also divided into three sections by dividing gates.

Adjustable pipe creep gates were used between the slatted pens and the creep area. The pipes are can be adjusted to suit the size of the calves.

TAMS

There have been recent changes to the TAMS II specifications. The specifications now state that all creep pens must be accessible without passing through another animal pen.

This must apply to all farm buildings where planning permission is sought after 6 September 2017. It must also be incorporated into all designs, where possible, prior to July 2017.

There have been similar changes for the design of loose houses. Now all pens must be accessible from either outside the building or from a suitable passage within the building. In no cases can the only access to a loose area be through another animal pen. Further changes to the specifications can be seen on the Department’s website www.agriculture.gov.ie.

Costs

The total cost of the project came to approximately €75,000 including VAT, according to Nigel. Nigel qualified as a young farmer when applying for a TAMS II grant, meaning that he could claim grant aid of 60% on the total cost of the project excluding VAT.

When the grant is paid and VAT is claimed back, the net cost will be approximately €25,000. This also includes installing a roadway around the shed. In my opinion, this provides excellent value for money for the quality of the shed that is constructed.

Halcon Steel provided the shed, while Michael Leonard of NPL Plant Hire erected it, as well as carrying out all groundwork and concrete work on the site. JC Welding, Claregalway, was responsible for all interior fittings such as barriers and gates, while Johnnie Kenny, Claregalway, completed all electrical work on the shed.

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