A Complete Analysis of Key Points for Cattle Farm Planning and Layout

SummaryFoundation and walls: the foundation depth is about 80 cm, and the brick wall thickness is about 24 cm. Doors and windows: they can be set as roll-up doors, and enclosed windows need to be larger. Site area: the area of cattle sheds and other buildings is 15-20% of the total site area. Roof: gable roof. Cattle beds and feed troughs: feed troughs need to be set in front of the cattle beds. Passageways and manure and urine gutters: the passageway width should be based on the standard that a feed cart can pass through.

I. Foundation and Walls

The foundation depth is about 80 cm, the brick wall thickness is about 24 cm, the ridge height of a gable cattle shed is 4.0-5.0 m, and the front and rear eave height is 10-3.5 m. Generally, the lower part of the inner wall of a cattle shed should have a wall skirt to prevent moisture from seeping into the wall, which helps improve the wall's durability and insulation.

II. Doors and Windows

The door height is 2.1-2.2 m and the width is 2-2.5 m. Doors are generally set as double doors, and can also be set as roll-up doors. Generally, enclosed windows need to be larger, with a height of 1.5 m and a width of 1.5 m, and the window sill height is preferably about 1.2 m above the ground.

III. Site Area

1. Generally, beef cattle production, cattle farm management, staff living, and other auxiliary buildings require a certain amount of site and space. Therefore, the size of the cattle farm can be calculated according to the area required per head of cattle and in combination with long-term planning.

2. The area of cattle sheds and other buildings is between 15-20% of the total site area. Because cattle body size, production purpose, feeding methods, and so on differ, the cattle shed area occupied per head of cattle also varies.

3. The area required per head of fattening cattle is 1.6-4.6 sq m. Each head of cattle in a open pen fattening system with bedding occupies 2.3-4.6 sq m, while each head of cattle in a partitioned pen occupies 1.6-2.0 sq m.

IV. Roof

The more commonly used type is the gable roof. This type of roof can be applied to cattle sheds with larger spans, and can also be used for various herds of various scales. It is not only economical, but also has good insulation, and is easy to construct and build later.

V. Cattle Beds and Feed Troughs

1. Beef cattle farms generally use group feeding with open troughs. The cattle bed length is required to be 1.6-1.8 m, the width is 1.0-1.2 m, the cattle bed slope is 1.5%, and the end position of the cattle trough is high.

2. Feed troughs need to be set in front of the cattle beds. For cattle raising, fixed cement troughs are more suitable. Their upper width is 0.6-0.8 m, bottom width is 0.35-0.40 m, and they are arc-shaped. The inner edge height is 0.35 m and needs to be on the side near the cattle bed; the outer edge height is 0.6-0.8 m and needs to be on the side near the passageway.

3. For convenient operation and labor saving, it is advisable to build a high-passage, low-trough integrated passage-trough type, that is, the outer edge of the trough and the passageway are on the same horizontal plane.

VI. Passageways and Manure and Urine Gutters

Generally, for a double-row cattle shed with head-to-head feeding, the middle passageway width is 1.4-1.8 m. The passageway width should be based on the standard that a feed cart can pass through, the depth is 0.15-0.3 m, and the slope is 1:50-1:100.