How to build a standard beef cattle barn? Things to know

Cattle barn refers to a building used to raise dairy cows and beef cattle. Depending on the climate conditions in the north and south, semi-open cattle barns, plastic warm-shed cattle barns, etc. can be built. Semi-open cattle barns have good ventilation and are suitable for southern regions; plastic warm-shed cattle barns have good insulation and are more suitable for the cold northern winters. Here the editor introduces the construction methods of these two types of cattle barns and the matters needing attention!

I. Semi-open cattle barn

A semi-open cattle barn has walls on three sides, is open on the sunny side, has a partial roof, and is provided with a fence on the open side; water troughs and feed troughs are set inside the pen, and beef cattle are kept loose in it. Each barn (group) holds 15-20 head, and each head occupies an area of 4-5 sq m. This type of cattle barn has low construction cost and saves labor, but its cold protection effect in cold winters is poor.

II. Plastic warm-shed cattle barn

The plastic warm-shed cattle barn is a type of semi-open cattle barn, and is a relatively heat-retaining semi-open cattle barn introduced in recent years in the cold northern regions. Compared with ordinary semi-open cattle barns, its insulation effect is better. A plastic warm-shed cattle barn has full walls on three sides, a half-height wall on the sunny side, and a roof covering 1/2-2/3. The sunny side is open to the outdoors in warm seasons; in cold seasons, the open side is supported with bamboo strips, steel bars and other materials, covered with single-layer or double-layer plastic, with a gap left between the two layers of film, so that the cattle barn is in a closed state, using solar energy and the heat emitted by the cattle themselves to raise the temperature inside the cattle barn and prevent heat loss.

III. Equipment inside the cattle barn

1. Cattle bed: The cattle bed is the place where cattle eat feed and rest. The length of the cattle bed varies with the size of the cattle. The general beef cattle bed is designed so that the front body of the cattle is close to the rear wall of the feed trough, the hind legs are close to the edge of the cattle bed, and the manure can fall directly into the manure ditch. An adult cow bed is 1.8-2 m long and 1.1-1.3 m wide; a breeding bull bed is 2-2.2 m long and 1.3-1.5 m wide; a fattening cattle bed is 1.9-2.1 m long and 1.2-1.3 m wide; a growing cattle bed for cattle over 6 months old is 1.7-1.8 m long and 1-1.2 m wide. The cattle bed should be 5 cm above the ground and maintain a gentle slope, which is good for washing and keeping dry. The cattle bed is best made with a lime-sand-clay ground, which both retains heat and protects the hooves.

2. Feed trough: The feed trough can be built as a fixed type or a movable type. Cement troughs, iron troughs, and wooden troughs can all be used as cattle feed troughs. The length of the feed trough is the same as the width of the cattle bed, the upper opening is 60-70 cm wide, the bottom is 35-45 cm wide, the trough height on the side near the cattle is 40-50 cm, and the trough height on the side away from the cattle is 70-80 cm, with an arc-shaped bottom; a railing is set behind the feed trough to block the cattle.

3. Manure ditch: A manure discharge ditch is set between the cattle bed and the passage, with a ditch width of 35-40 cm and a depth of 10-15 cm, and the ditch bottom has a certain slope to allow sewage to flow.

4. Manure cleaning passage: The manure cleaning passage is also the passage for cattle to enter and exit. It is mostly built as a cement road surface, and the road surface should have a certain slope and be scored with lines to prevent slipping. The manure cleaning passage is 1.5-2 m wide. Manure cleaning passages are also left at both ends of the cattle pen, with a width of 1.5-2 m.

5. Feed passage: A feed passage is set in front of the feed trough. It is appropriate for the passage to be 10 cm above the ground. The feed passage is generally 1.5-2 m wide.

6. Doors of the cattle barn: Beef cattle barns usually have two side doors at both ends of the barn, that is, directly facing the central feed passage; longer cattle barns also have doors on the leeward and sunny side of the longitudinal wall, so as to facilitate the entry and exit of people and cattle. The doors should be made as double push doors, without a threshold, and their size is preferably 2-2.2 m×2-2.2 m.

IV. When building a plastic-film warm-shed cattle barn, attention should be paid to the following aspects:

(1) Choose a suitable orientation. A plastic-film warm-shed cattle barn needs to face south, and the angle toward the south-east or south-west should not exceed 15°; there should be no tall buildings or trees blocking it within at least 10 m to the south of the barn.

(2) Choose a suitable plastic film. Polyvinyl chloride and other plastic films with high transmittance to sunlight and low transmittance to long-wave radiation from the ground should be chosen, and their thickness is preferably 80-100 micrometers.

(3) Set ventilation and air exchange openings reasonably. The air inlet of the shed should be set on the south wall, and its height from the ground should preferably be slightly higher than the height of the cattle; the air outlet should be set on the leeward side of the top of the shed, with a windproof cap on top. The area of the air outlet is preferably 20 cm×20 cm, and the area of the air inlet is half the area of the air outlet. Set one air outlet every 3 m.

(4) Have a suitable incident angle for the shed. The incident angle of the shed should be greater than or equal to the solar altitude angle at the local winter solstice.

(5) Pay attention to the setting of the plastic film slope. The angle between the plastic film and the ground should preferably be 55-65°.