Cattle farm construction pictures for a 50-head operation

When cattle farmers establish a cattle farm, there are many points that need attention, otherwise they will cause all kinds of problems for the cattle farm later, such as environment, disease and so on. Therefore a good cattle farm construction plan is very important.

Below, combined with cattle farm construction pictures, let us talk about the construction of a cattle farm of about 50 head.

Main issues to consider in cattle farm construction

The choice of cattle farm site requires careful consideration, overall arrangement and relatively long-term planning. It must be combined with agriculture and animal husbandry development plans, farmland basic construction plans and residential building plans, and must meet the needs of modern cattle farming. The selected site must have room for development.

Cattle farm construction pictures for 50 head

According to the design goal, the beef cattle barn adopts a double-row open design, with a brick-wood or steel frame structure. The barn is 5 m high, 10 m long and 8 m wide.

The barn is double-row, designed on the basis of 16 beef cattle stalls, with a total barn area of 80 sq m. In the middle is a 1.8 m feeding passage, with 8 beef cattle stalls on each side. On both sides of the feeding passage are feed troughs, 60 cm wide, with an outer edge 60 cm high and an inner edge 35 cm high. Above the feed trough is a row of neck railings 1.1 m high, used to prevent cattle from dashing out of the stalls and to help with feeding management. Behind the feed trough is a cattle stall 1.7 m long, with a slope of 2.0%, high in front and low at the back, with an average stall width of 1 m per head. The manure and urine channel is 30 cm wide and 15 cm deep. Behind the manure and urine channel is a 1 m passage, for easy cleaning of manure and urine.

3. The barn roof should use low thermal conductivity and heat-insulating materials, colored steel nest panels or grey tile roofing.

4. The barn floor and cattle stalls are of cement structure.

5. Establish supporting ancillary facilities such as water storage tanks, biogas digesters and silage pits.

6. The barn site should be downwind of the residential area, more than 5 m away from dwellings, and located below the water source.

Common cattle farm construction layouts

1. Double-row cattle barn

Double-row cattle barn: for beef cattle farming, the length of the barn can be determined by the number of cattle raised or by geographical conditions. It is arranged as an open pen, with a walkway in the middle, and feed troughs and waterers on both sides of the walkway, with cattle standing head-to-head to eat. The barn can be single-storey or two-storey, with forage stored on the upper floor and feed-drop holes, so that forage can be put directly into the feed trough. This kind of barn has good heat preservation and cold protection, and is relatively suitable for feeding fattening cattle in northern regions. For raising cows, cattle stalls must be made, and for feeding calves, partitions must be installed.

2. Southern shed-type cattle barn

This kind of beef cattle farming barn is mainly a combination of pens and cattle sheds, with a simple structure, low cost and good ventilation. It is suitable for southern regions where winters are not too cold. The barn area must allow all beef cattle to stand and lie down on rainy days. One side of the shed is provided with feed troughs and waterers. The other side is provided with a hay rack.

3. Northern warm shed cattle barn

Beef cattle farming in northern regions can use a barn form that combines plastic film insulation with a cattle shed. The plastic film covers 2/3 of the cattle shed area. The plastic film selected is white, transparent and non-drip plastic film, with a thickness of 0.02~0.05 mm. The slope of the plastic film covering the shed is between 40°~60°, and the slope is determined according to actual conditions such as terrain and area. The covering period runs from November to March of the following year, carried out in good time according to local climate conditions.

 The plastic film of the warm shed must be pulled tight and flat, without ventilation; in the north, when the weather is too cold, straw curtains etc. must also be added to ensure insulation. During the day, use the air inlet and exhaust vents set in the south wall to ventilate 1~2 times, so as to discharge moisture and toxic gases from the shed. The density for raising fattening cattle in a warm shed cattle barn is preferably 4 sq m per head.

4. Rural warehouse cattle barn

  Unused warehouses or other idle houses in rural areas can be used as cattle barns for beef cattle farming. However, because this kind of house was not built according to cattle barn requirements, it cannot simply be converted for use as a cattle barn and must be modified. According to local requirements for winter cold protection and summer ventilation and heat avoidance, first modify and install doors and windows. Then make the floor into non-slip, water-impermeable cement or sandy soil floor. Build feed troughs, passages and other facilities so that feeding management measures can proceed normally.

5. Solar cattle barn

This is based on a double-slope cattle barn roof in the north, with the sunny half-slope closed off with double-layer plastic film. At the same time, paint the sunny outer wall black, then build a slanted wooden frame and close it with double-layer plastic film, thus forming a triangular solar energy receiving compartment outside the sunny wall; by opening symmetrically arranged upper and lower ventilation holes at equal distances in the wall to connect with the cattle barn, the hot air heated by solar energy in the triangular receiving compartment continuously flows into the cattle barn through the upper ventilation holes, playing a heat-preserving role.

Construction plan for a 50-head cattle farm

1: Each barn is 30 m long, 10 m wide, with a middle passage of 1.5 m, double-sided feed troughs, trough width 60 cm, height 75 cm, trough depth 25 cm, spacing of 1.1 m per head of cattle, floor slope 15 degrees, and good ventilation is required. Feed shed construction land (per 50 head of cattle)

Requires length 15 m, width 8 m, height 4.5 m. A total of 240 sq m of forage shed, and good ventilation is required.

Manure measuring pit

1: Every 100 head of cattle requires 1—1.5 mu

2: Cattle manure can be used to make biogas, grow mushrooms and other fungi, raise earthworms, etc.

Structure of a 50-head cattle farm

1. Foundation and walls: foundation depth 8-100 cm, brick wall thickness 24 cm, double-slope cattle barn ridge height 4.0--5.0 m, front and rear eaves height L0--3.5 m. The lower part of the barn inner wall has a wall skirt, to prevent moisture from seeping into the wall and to improve the wall's sturdiness and heat insulation.

2. Doors and windows: door height 2.1-2.2 m, width 2--2.5 m. Doors are generally set as double-opening doors, and can also be set as up-and-down rolling doors. Closed windows should be larger, height 1.5 m, width 1.5 m, and the window sill height is preferably 1.2 m from the ground.

3. Site area: beef cattle production, cattle farm management, staff living and other ancillary buildings require a certain site and space. The size of the cattle farm can be calculated according to the area required per head of cattle, combined with long-term planning. The area of barns and other buildings is 15%-20% of the total site area. Because cattle body size, production purpose and feeding methods differ, the barn area occupied per head of cattle also differs. The area required per head for fattening cattle is 1.6-4.6 sq m; in open-lot fattening barns with bedding, each head occupies 2.3-4.6 sq m, and with partitions, each head occupies 1.6--2.0 sq m.

4. Roof: the most commonly used is the double-slope roof. This roof form can be applied to cattle barns of relatively large span and can be used for various herds of various scales. This kind of roof is economical, has good heat insulation, and is easy to construct.

5. Cattle stalls and feed troughs: beef cattle farms mostly use group feeding with open troughs. Cattle stalls are generally required to be 1.6-1.8 m long and 1.0-1.2 m wide. The stall slope is 1.5%, with the trough end higher. The feed trough is set in front of the cattle stall; for cattle farming, fixed cement troughs are most suitable, with a top width of 0.6--0.8 m, a bottom width of 0.35-0.40 m, an arc shape, an inner edge height of 0.35 m (on the cattle stall side), and an outer edge height of 0.6--0.8 m (on the walkway side). For simple operation and labor saving, it is better to build a combined passage-and-trough type with a high passage and low trough position. That is, the outer edge of the trough and the passage are on the same horizontal plane.

6. Passage and manure and urine channel: for a double-row cattle barn with head-to-head feeding, the middle passage is 1.4--1.8 m wide. The passage width should be based on the feed cart being able to pass through, depth 0.15--0.3 m, slope 1:50-1:100.

In the next few years, beef cattle farming will still remain promising. So we must farm cattle sustainably, starting with scientific cattle farm construction.

The following are some cattle farm construction cases from farms, for everyone's reference only:

Exterior view picture of a peripheral-style 50-head cattle farm construction

Steel structure 50-head cattle farm construction rendering

Picture of calf pens in a 50-head cattle farm construction

Warm shed style 50-head cattle farm construction rendering

Simple style 50-head cattle farm construction rendering

Standardized 50-head cattle farm construction rendering