Where To Start On Designing Your New Shed? Our Team Can Advise

Designing a new young stock building for your farm can be daunting.  At Robinsons we work together to make sure all our buildings meet the expectations of our customers. 

Roans Dairy farm on the West Coast of Scotland was looking for a new calf rearing shed that would both suit their location and husbandry needs. Being on a coastal location, specific design needs had to be considered such as steel size and finish to meet CE marking requirements.   A galvanised finish was selected for easier maintenance and longevity.  

Extra ventilation was added by increasing the roof pitch towards an open protected ridge adapted to suit the building and an added space on the last sheeting rail before connection to the space boarding sides for a through the flow of air.

Throughout went into the whole process; sheeted gates were staggered down one side to access the individual bays with Galebreaker roller screens above to protect the livestock from the coastal breeze and cold weather. The enclosed sections were finished with concrete wall panels and Yorkshire boarding.

Individual areas for the milk mixing stations were designed to be situated between pens with steel platforms above for the water to mix with powdered milk.

Each pen was separated with concrete wall panels rather than the traditional gates for easy cleaning and to help prevent any cross-contamination.   A drain ran the length of the shed in front of the pens for the liquid to drain from the bedded pens. Concrete floors generally have a run on them somewhere between flat and 1%, however, here the slope on the concrete towards the drain was increased to 3.5%.   A raised wooden kerb was put in place under the gates to allow water to escape without rotting the wood.

A 2” x “2” weld mesh sheet was added to the pen gates to help keep smaller calves secure.

A bespoke double-sided hay rack was designed and built to fit onto our concrete panels. These could be sat on the panels or bolted onto the walls for a more secure and permanent fixture.

The pens were designed to house calves as they progressed from the automatic milk feeders to the older calves moving onto cake and straw. They wanted to utilise as much space as possible for feeding. Our team used their expertise to create a feeder trough that would hold a larger volume. We created an 800mm deep steel frame and added stock boarding to seal the trough.

Holes have been put into the hinges so R clips could be added to prevent feed barriers from lifting.  The Roan family were very happy with the final results!