Content
A shed for bulls is planned taking into account the number of livestock. Additionally, they take into account the characteristic features of the breed, a number of other nuances. To independently build a farm building, you need to have minimal construction skills, but first you need to clearly understand the requirements for the barn.
Cattle shed requirements
A barn for bulls is like a house for a man. Everything should be thought out here: walls, floor, ceiling, interior arrangement. Animals spend indoors at least 10 hours a day. In winter, cows stay here almost around the clock. So that the cattle does not experience discomfort, a number of important requirements are imposed on the barn:
- ensuring complete safety for animals and for the people who are caring for them;
- reliable fixation of workover during maintenance work;
- free access to food and drink, availability of devices for abrupt stopping of feeding;
- the presence of free space so that the animal can lie down, stand, freely enter and exit;
- the internal arrangement should be thought out in such a way as to reduce the number and time of maintenance work to a minimum in the future.
It is useful to take bulls out of the barn even in the cold season. To ensure the comfort of walking for the animals, you need to take care of the paddock. A fenced area is being set up near the barn. The size depends on the number of livestock. From above, the corral is covered with a canopy, deaf side partitions are placed.
How to build a cattle shed with your own hands
Having decided on the construction of a barn for bulls, one must take into account the peculiarities of the agricultural structure. In addition to adults, calves will be kept in the barn, and they are more whimsical. For the cold season, you will need to build individual houses. The easiest option is to fold them from straw bales. Inside the house, the calf will be warm, dry and comfortable.
A modern type of housing for young animals is a plastic box. The house is made of durable polymer, it is well washed from dirt, can be treated with disinfectants. A light box can be freely carried by two people around the barn, placed in the right place. The house is equipped with a doorway. There is a dry feed dispenser, a hay compartment. Under the dome of the box, heat is excellently retained. The calf feels comfortable.
When building a barn for keeping cows, it is important to foresee what breeds of cattle will be kept here in the future. Animals of each species differ in size. A stationary shed made of blocks or other material is considered reliable. If we talk about practicality, then a sliding barn comes out on top here. The structure is being erected from shields. The material for the manufacture of a sliding barn is boards, metal pipes, a profile, a wooden bar. In the future, if necessary, such a shed can be quickly disassembled and assembled for resizing.
Inside the barn, bulls and heifers of different ages will be kept. Each animal will need a stall. Young animals are given less footage, and an adult animal - more space. The size of the stall should ensure the free stay of bulls and cows. The animal is given just enough space to go to bed, turn around freely, go to the feeder, drinker.The width of the stall should be enough for a person to freely approach the cow, milk.
However, the size of the free space cannot be greatly overestimated. In addition to not saving space inside the barn, the problem of unsanitary conditions arises. In a stall that is too wide, the bulls feel at ease. Freely take food out of the trough, scatter it on the floor. There is a problem of rapid litter contamination.
See the video for more information on bull sheds:
Create a plan
To build a barn, you will need to develop a plan, create a drawing with dimensions. They begin to sketch the scheme when they have already precisely determined the number of bulls kept.
When they are going to build a shed for calves and adult bulls, in addition to drawing up drawings, the plan takes into account the location of the farm building in a private yard. It is optimal to remove the barn 20 m from residential buildings, water sources, and other vital objects. If it is impossible to fulfill the requirement due to the restriction of the territory, the distance is reduced to 15 m.
When the issue is resolved with the construction site of the barn, they return to drawing up the drawings. When determining the size of the barn, one adult bull or cow is assigned a plot with a width of 1.1-1.2 m, a length of 1.7-2.1 m. For young bulls, the requirements differ, which is associated with their active mobility. The plot is allocated with a width of 1.25 m, a length of 1.4 m.
When calculating the size of the stall, the feeders are taken into account. They must be removed from the bulls. Steam escaping from the nostrils will enter the feed when the feeder is located close. It will quickly become damp and moldy.
The height of the ceiling of the barn is equipped according to the standard of 2.5 m.This parameter is enough for bulls and service personnel. If the shed turned out to be 3 m high, there is nothing to worry about. It is worse if the barn ceilings are too low. Discomfort is created for bulls and service personnel: movement is limited, the accumulation of dampness and harmful gases increases inside the barn.
Knowing how much area is needed for one bull, the value is multiplied by the number of livestock kept. The result will show the overall dimensions of the barn, but without the paddock. If a large number of bulls are supposed to be kept, double-sided stalls are equipped inside the barn. A free path with a minimum width of 1.5 m is left between the rows of sections. It is advisable to make a through passage in the shed by installing doors at the end of the building.
Required tools and building materials
A shed for bulls is often erected from those materials that are available to the owner. A tree is considered a good option. The material is available, inexpensive, and has good thermal insulation properties. Inside the wooden shed, the bulls will be warm and comfortable. If blocks, bricks are available, then this material can be used for the construction of walls. Shed roofs are usually constructed from inexpensive materials. Slate, roofing felt, corrugated board will do.
The tool for erecting a barn for bulls is selected taking into account the selected building material. In any case, you will need:
- shovel;
- Master OK;
- hammer;
- Bulgarian;
- saw;
- screwdriver.
If you build stone walls for the barn, pour the strip foundation, it is advisable to have a concrete mixer. It is very difficult to pound a large amount of mortar by hand.
Construction works
The process of erecting a barn for keeping bulls consists of several stages, each of which involves the construction of a certain part of the building: foundation, floor, walls, roof, ceiling. The last stage is the internal arrangement of the barn.
The construction of a barn begins from the foundation.How long the structure for keeping bulls will stand depends on its strength. Sheds are usually placed on a strip or columnar base. It is important to consider that bulls create additional heavy load on the foundation. If a wooden shed is erected for 2-3 bulls, then a columnar base is sufficient. From the name it is clear that the foundation consists of individual concrete pillars installed at a certain distance around the perimeter of the future barn.
Large sheds where a herd of bulls is supposed to be kept, as well as buildings with stone walls, are placed on a strip foundation. A trench is dug under a monolithic base, the walls are covered with roofing material. Formwork is installed around the perimeter. Inside the trench, a reinforcing frame is tied from rods. Concrete is poured in layers. It is advisable to complete the work in a day, otherwise a monolithic base will not work.
The depth of the shed foundation is laid below the point of seasonal soil freezing. If the soil on the site is heaving, additional measures are taken to strengthen it. Sometimes, for difficult areas, a strip foundation is combined with a columnar base, thick layers of a cushion of crushed stone with sand are poured.
The floor in the barn needs a solid one. Bulls create an impressive load with their weight. Boards quickly deteriorate. The wood wears out from the hooves. Dampness affects negatively. Worn planks begin to break under the weight of the bulls. In addition, the wood is saturated with the smell of manure.
The concrete floor provides ideal strength. The coating is resistant to dampness, withstands a large weight of bulls, does not absorb manure odors. The disadvantage is that the concrete is cold. Bulls will catch cold, hurt.
It is optimal for bulls to make a combined floor in a barn. The base is poured with concrete. Removable wooden shields are laid on top. If necessary, they are taken out into the street, cleaned, disinfected, dried. The bulls are provided with additional warmth on the floor with a bed of hay or straw.
The walls of the barn for a small herd of bulls are erected from wood. For such a construction, a frame is assembled from a bar, put on a columnar foundation, sheathed with a board. If it is supposed to keep a large herd of bulls from 20 heads, then bricks or blocks are chosen for the construction of the walls of the barn.
The walls are equipped with small ventilation ducts at a height of 2.5 m from the floorboards. Ventilation in summer provides fresh air. In winter, the barn vents are closed to conserve heat. For ventilation, air ducts with adjustable dampers are installed.
Windows are installed on the walls with an indent of 1.2 m from the floor. They provide daylight to the barn. It is advisable to equip the barn windows with vents in order to perform ventilation.
The roof is installed with a single-slope or double-slope roof. The first option is simpler, but not practical. The gable roof of the barn forms an attic. Due to the additional closed space, it is better to keep warm inside the barn in winter. The attic is used for storing hay and working equipment.
The roof frame of the barn is the rafter system. Waterproofing and roofing are laid on the battens. A lean-to canopy is launched from the roof, covering the entire area of the paddock for walking.
Interior arrangement of the barn
The arrangement of the barn begins with the installation of a corral for each bull. The construction is made of durable materials. Usually they use metal or concrete partitions. A feeder and a drinker are hung on the outer wall of the stall. They will be available to animals and owners for service.
Homemade feeders are made in the form of boxes with a height of opposite sides of 30 and 75 cm.The lower part is located towards the stall. The animal will freely get food, but not throw it over the high opposite side.
Feeders and drinkers are not placed on the floor. It is optimal to raise them about 10 cm from the flooring. The best option is a drinker with an uninterrupted water supply. It can even be installed in the far corner of the stall.
Conclusion
The bull shed can be converted, if necessary, to house other animals or poultry. Only the internal arrangement of the barn is changed, and the building itself continues to fulfill its functional duties.
