Below are some pictures of what the barn floor looked like before. (You can click on an image to enlarge it) The barn floor was just dirt. We wanted to leave the old milking parlor intact so everything beyond the milking parlor was left alone. There is a concrete ledge in the corner, near the milking parlor, that was too thick to dig up so we decided to leave it there.
Once we dug out the old floor, we installed a geo-grid and backfilled it with 6 inches of dense grade aggregate (DGA). This will make the barn able to withstand high use without becoming a muddy mess. On top of that concrete pad by the milking parlor, we added a head chute in we ever have to pull a calf, help a calf to start nursing, etc. Lastly, we put 8 inches of wood shavings on top of the geo-grid and DGA.
Once we dug out the old floor, we installed a geo-grid and backfilled it with 6 inches of dense grade aggregate (DGA). This will make the barn able to withstand high use without becoming a muddy mess. On top of that concrete pad by the milking parlor, we added a head chute in we ever have to pull a calf, help a calf to start nursing, etc. Lastly, we put 8 inches of wood shavings on top of the geo-grid and DGA.
We installed new gates and reconfigured them to better facilitate calving in the barn. The area under roof is not designed to house the entire herd. Pens consisting of various sizes are used based on need. Occupancy is rotated between first time heifers and cows that have just calved or will soon calve. The concept is to provide a dry, clean bedding area to monitor calves and make sure the heifers take to the calves.
We have the first calf heifers in a field right beside the barn. As they calve they get moved into the barn and spend about 24 hours there getting dried off, confirming that they have nursed, and just making sure they are strong and viable before we turn them out. We ear tag the calves and turn the pairs out to a different pasture as they are able. The design allows approximately 25 percent of the herd to use the indoor facility at one time. This constant flow of cows and calves through the barn has worked very well and the animals are not spending enough time in the barn to create a big mess. The floors make a better ground than the previous concrete, to provide more support and less temperature variables for those calving cows.
We have the first calf heifers in a field right beside the barn. As they calve they get moved into the barn and spend about 24 hours there getting dried off, confirming that they have nursed, and just making sure they are strong and viable before we turn them out. We ear tag the calves and turn the pairs out to a different pasture as they are able. The design allows approximately 25 percent of the herd to use the indoor facility at one time. This constant flow of cows and calves through the barn has worked very well and the animals are not spending enough time in the barn to create a big mess. The floors make a better ground than the previous concrete, to provide more support and less temperature variables for those calving cows.
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The image to the left was taken after 25 days of rotating pairs through the barn. You can see that the sawdust was still providing clean and dry bedding for the calves. We add straw for clean bedding as necessary, but that is minimal. This facility allows the calves to get out of the mud, dry off, and get a strong start.
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It has been 4 years since we completed the renovation and all of our heifers have calved in this barn. We have not added any bedding to it and have not cleaned it out once. That's due to the pervious flooring, which allows for the moisture to flow out of the barn and for the bedding to dry out.
It has been 4 years since we completed the renovation and all of our heifers have calved in this barn. We have not added any bedding to it and have not cleaned it out once. That's due to the pervious flooring, which allows for the moisture to flow out of the barn and for the bedding to dry out.
