Building calving/confinement shed

[Till-Hill]

50 x 108 x 14 tall. Open front with that clear stuff on south side to let light in. What do you think? Want to house 50 pair year round. Will split into 3 groups with portable freestanding panels. Back side will be lime with bed pack. Up front I'm going to use steel fenceline feed panels as I already have them. I know calves will get out but I'll fence around shed. Also will set creep gate up and calves will have access to two 2-3 acre pastures. Shed built with concrete/waters/fencing/rock/site preg will be right around $80k (shed was $63.5k with concrete)

 

[Turkeybird]

You will be hauling alot of feed. But it is a nice shed

 

[Till-Hill]

You will be hauling alot of feed. But it is a nice shed

Yep I know that. Right now tho we are hauling 35 pairs to 5 different pastures, so 5 bulls. Lower that down 2-3 bulls depending on how AI goes. Bunkers of feed and TMR is 1.75 miles away at dairy farm where I work. Be half hour + of chores every day but used to take 3 hours twice a week just to try and find cows on pasture + 2 trips a year getting them there and back.

 

[jkwilson]

That style roof overhang is a pain on an ag building. Rain, dew and frost will cause water to drip off a lot. I'd consider a lower pitch so you can run a gutter to downspouts. Get the water away from the barn.

I'm not a fan of those plastic panels on a roof. They expand and contract differently than the metal and leaks are common. I'd prefer a more conventional roof line with the clear plastic in vertical surfaces and eaves all around to keep the water off of them. I have a hay barn with the clear ridge cap and there are times I'd swear there were lights inside.

Seems like a lot of money and a lot of work. You'll be hauling a lot of feed and manure, and confinement on that scale brings on issues itself, including regulatory issues for your manure since that applies to any confined feeding operation regardless of scale.

 

[Supa Dexta]

You may want it a touch higher for storage in a few yrs when the cow thing doesn't work out inside it. You're likely looking at a 20+ yr pay back on it. I dont see it pencilling. And you'll fight health issues long before 20 yrs.

 

[TexasBred]

By all means concrete the floors or you'll end up with nothing but a shyt hole. Would be nice if every pen was accessible with a bobcat.