A few years ago, we began renovating the old dairy barn into a maternity/calving barn. Eden Shale hasn't had dairy cows since the 1970’s, and the dairy barn wasn’t designed for proper beef cattle management. Much like the bull barn, the dairy barn had a number of issues - poor storm water management; poor flooring; inefficient use of space; under-utilization of existing concrete; no centralized water point; no lanes for access to multiple pastures, etc. One of the reasons we decided to repurpose this barn into a calving facility is because of its location. This barn is the closest to our farm manager's (Greg) house. Having the barn close to Greg maximizes efficiency of his time. Dr. Higgins designed and helped us renovate this structure to incorporate loose housing for the animals during calving season, which allows us to better manage the herd during this critical time.

The image below is a blueprint of the multi-purpose facility that the calving barn becomes after all renovation phases are complete. 

Before Renovations

After Renovations