cement pad

[Dean the hobby farmer]

Plan on feeding cattle outside this winter I would like to pour cement pad for the cattle to stand on while feeding .There will be approxiately 10 head how big should the pad be

 

[Alice]

ok, this is a really dumb question and I'm gonna take a lot of hits for it, but I gotta know...do ya'll get a lot of ice up there?

The reason I'm asking...our big round concrete water troughs sit on cement pads and when we do get ice here and the troughs freeze over, those pads are treacherous as heck when we go out to break the ice on the water. And, I've watched calves/cows try to get up on them when its icy and I hold my breath just waiting for one of them to go down.

But, I'm certain that there is a good reason behind why you want to pour a concrete pad to feed on and I'm just not hep to it.

Alice

 

[Dean the hobby farmer]

I guess I should explain this more where I plan on feeding cattle ,its get really soft when we get any amount of rain.I plan on putting this pad close to my barn so I could roll the bales out of the barn into the feeder.This feeder will have a roof over it to keep the bad weather off the cattle.The reason for the pad so I can keep the mature clean out ,maybe I am wrong with idea give me some advice.Thanks Dean

 

[NamVet_Farmer44]

to keep the bad weather off the cattle.

:shock: Do what now?...keep bad weather off cattle??? :shock:

 

[dj]

Stolen from here
http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/liv ... ousreq.htm

 

[jkwilson]

Don't mess with the concrete. Just use whatever you can get locally that is just a little coarser than lime. It will pack down like concrete but won't cost nearly what concrete does.

 

[Alice]

I guess I should explain this more where I plan on feeding cattle ,its get really soft when we get any amount of rain.I plan on putting this pad close to my barn so I could roll the bales out of the barn into the feeder.This feeder will have a roof over it to keep the bad weather off the cattle.The reason for the pad so I can keep the mature clean out ,maybe I am wrong with idea give me some advice.Thanks Dean

I'm sorry...when I read concrete slab the first thing that came to mind was our water troughs out in the middle of some unsheltered holding areas that we've opened up. I understand what you're talking about now. My bad...

Alice

 

[Cattle Rack Rancher]

If it was me, I'd probably try to get some 6" down crushed rock instead of going with concrete. It'll pack in and tie up the mud without getting too slippery for the cattle to walk on. JMHO.

 

[dun]

For a feed floor I like concrete so that it can be scraped easier and not put a lot of misc in the scraped up manure. For everything else I like the roadbase option rather then concrete. One problem with concrete is that no matter how rough you make it or grooved, unless you wash it periodiaclly the moo mud builds up in the rough surface/grooves and gets slick as, well you know what it gets as slick as

dun

 

[Dean the hobby farmer]

Thanks everyone for the replies for some reason this area behind the barn get really soft.I will have to dig down to solid bottom first then haul some shale in first then compact some crusher dust for the final layer.I was told that crusher dust gets like cement when compact,I will let you know what option I will go with.Thanks Dean

 

[preston39]

Dean..,

I would give the approach some more thought.

We all look for ways to eliminate the animals standing in mud up to their knees. But, the options are limited.

A neighbor poured a concrete pad some few years ago and even brushed it for a rough surface. When it got cold, urine and rain froze on the surface and he had 3-4 injuries of legs, hips and several knee abrasions with skinned legs had to be treated. You can't stop those guys from butting and shoving each other. He lost an older cow from a broken/damaged hip.

He took out the cement, dirt and back filled with 1' of sand with 4-6" of 1/4" to 0" limestone rock, slanted for drainage. It packed into a rough surface almost as hard as cement with no slippage.

We feed on inclines, for drainage and find that works.

 

[badger]

I would,nt dream of feeding cattle without a concrete pad. Thousands of cattle are fed and dairy cows use concrete barnyards daily.