After you have a blueprint for a cattle barn, more advanced features and designs can be added to those basics. Dozens of cattle barn ideas exist regarding how to make the space most efficient, comfortable, and pleasant for workers and animals.
From understanding how to care for your livestock to what workers need, this plays into cattle barn layout as much as periphery features. Here are our favourite cattle barn ideas for your farm.
Analyze Weather Data
When building or accessorizing a cattle barn, look at recent and historical weather data to determine what conditions your barn is most likely to meet. This will help you design a system based on its performance needs. Look at the highs and lows of temperature, humidity, and wind.
Use a Monoslope Roof
A mono-slope roof is where one side of your barn is built higher than the other. This maximizes sun and air movement, bringing in more sun for heat in the winter while also providing shade in the summer. Monoslope roofs are also known for barn ventilation. It is an alternative to a vented gable roof barn.
Consider Barn Ventilation
How you move air and heat through your barn says a lot about the comfort you can provide livestock. The wider and taller the building, the better the barn ventilation. Many farmers opt for mechanical ventilation, i.e. barn exhaust fans, instead of natural means, ensuring air movement consistently.
Positive Pressure Ventilation
A positive pressure ventilation system draws fresh air in from the outside and ensures it’s distributed evenly throughout the building through a tubing hole system. Whether you use natural ventilation or barn exhaust fans, a PPV system can assist, particularly when it comes to colder times of the year when you want air movement but without drafts.
Shelter from Extreme Weather
The primary job of a cattle barn is to provide shelter from rain, snow, cold, and the hot summer sun. Design choices matter. A barn that is open on one side. A solid wall angled to block prevailing winds. An enclosed barn may be better for young livestock to protect them through winter.
Optimize Your Barn Flooring
A bedded pack floor typically uses bedding on a concrete or dirt floor. The bedding, such as straw or cornstalks, can be collected and replaced when dirty. Another approach is a deep pit with a slatted floor. This floor is made of concrete, but sometimes rubber, and has openings for waste that drain into a pit underneath.
Advantages of a Manure Bay
A manure bay maintains manure value and provides flexibility in hauling. However you store your manure or decide on a pit, these choices must be connected to how you design your cattle barn.
Curtain Walls for Calves
The curtain walls go a long way to keep calves comfortable and protected. They can be easily adjusted, preventing humidity buildup and reducing drafts.
Monitor Heat, Gases, and Humidity
Cattle indoors produce heat, noxious gases, and humidity. They can reach dangerous levels quickly. Monitor these elements as much as you can. If airflow fails and humidity rises, you can end up with ammonia, hydrogen sulphide, and bacteria freely transported throughout your barn.
Use Heat Sparingly
If cattle are fed well, have the right bedding, have good air quality, and are doing well, there may be little to no need for supplemental heat. Heat should always be used sparingly. An ideal temperature target is 4-10 degrees Celsius in winter.
Use Side Walls
Side walls can be manually raised or pulled down depending on the weather. This is where natural ventilation can help take some of the weight off your exhaust fans.
Utilize Multiple Barns
Raising cattle, you may opt for two barns – a calving barn and a finishing barn. This makes your work easier, allowing you to check cows in minutes instead of taking hours when they’re out on pasture. Farms utilizing multiple barns can see it pay dividends when there is a reason to do it.
Widen Your Lanes
Wider lanes in a barn make feeding easier for cattle and help remove manure and transfer cows.
Types of Pens
When assembling your barn layout, consider the amount and type of pens you need for your cattle. Large group pens are perfect for monitoring large groups of cows simultaneously.
For cows that are calving, they will need their separate pens. For cows who need assistance, some sort of calving enclosure or calving trimming chute may be required.
For calving pairs, separate pens are essential while they bond – within 12-24 hours. Separate pens are best for calving pairs for 2-3 days during poor weather conditions.