How to build a barn for livestock with your own hands. How to build a bull barn - a home for large cattle. Air, light, proper nutrition are the key to high milk yields

What should a barn be like?

A livestock shed should be comfortable for both the animals and the farmer, since the tethered type of housing requires frequent contact. Therefore, the main requirement for the construction of a barn concerns the size of the room itself. The breed of the cow, the number of heads, their weight and body size are taken into account.

There is no need to build concrete and stationary barns, especially for those breeders who plan to breed cattle.

It is better to make a frame stall for bulls with your own hands, made of metal and wood. This will make the process of building the barn easier and will allow you to change its size in the future.

Another important nuance– arrangement of a place for keeping calves. It is better to divide the room into 2 parts using a partition. One will house adult bulls and cows, the other will house young animals. For calves, a person himself can organize the proper conditions, provide a sufficient amount of food and protect them from violent individuals. In a separate area they will always be under the supervision of the farmer.

Preparatory activities

When deciding to build a barn for a cow, it is important to decide on the location. Livestock smells unpleasant, so it is better to build a barn about 20 m from your own home.

The selected development area should also be away from water supplies.

Without paying attention to this, there is a risk of poisoning drinking water. Harmful substances that contain animal waste products can become infected with infectious diseases.

It is important to determine the size of the cow stall, the width and length of the passages, as well as the possibility of free movement of cattle from the barn to the pen and back.

The calculation can be carried out taking into account the following parameters:

• stall area per adult cow – 6 m²;
• stall area for one adult cow and calf – 10 m²;
• the distance between the walls of the stalls is 1.2-1.5 m;
• stall width – 1.25-1.5 m;
• stall length – 2.5-3 m;
• passage to the feeder - 1 m.

The height of the shed walls is at least 2.5 m. Mandatory in the calculations of the ventilation and lighting systems.

How to build a shed

After completing the planning of the shed layout for bull calves, they move on to purchasing building materials and to the construction itself.

The construction of a building begins with laying the foundation. This stage of construction is the most important, because The reliability of the entire barn depends on the foundation of the barn.

Different types of foundation are used. The most popular foundations are:

1. Tape. Made from concrete. Follows the contours of the building.
2. Monolithic. It is a cast concrete surface, deepened 15-20 cm into the ground.
3. Columnar. The cheapest and easiest to install option. But its use is limited by the features of the building.

A columnar foundation is only suitable for light frame buildings made of wood. It is not suitable for concrete and brick buildings. It will not withstand heavy loads, which will affect the durability of the built barn.

Barn floor

It is better to make the floor in the barn concrete, because... it does not absorb moisture, serves as an additional barrier to rodents entering the barn and can withstand heavy loads. But concrete is cold, so before putting cattle into the barn you will need to insulate the floors. This can be done using straw.

The surface itself should be inclined. It is important that livestock waste products are drained into the slurry tank. Tilt up to 3° is allowed. By increasing it to 5°, the farmer risks harming the health of his pets. Due to the large slope of the floor, joint diseases are possible, as well as an increase in the number of miscarriages in cows.

The liquid collector is a drainage ditch built into the floor. Its width is up to 20 cm, and its depth is 8-10 cm. If the room is paved with straw, such a ditch need not be made. The process of removing manure will be simplified.

Walling

To build a bull barn that is reliable and durable, you will have to choose the right building materials. Wood is not suitable for large barns, because... the purchase of such material will be expensive, and the reliability and durability of the structure will be worse than that of a building made of brick or concrete blocks.

The tree is chosen for barns where no more than 5 heads will be kept. This material has high thermal insulation. It is easy to dismantle, repair or replace individual parts. It will be more difficult with strong concrete and brick walls. Widening the pens and passages will be more difficult.

When constructing walls, the presence of window openings and ventilation is also taken into account. It is important to maintain optimal air temperature in the barn. In winter it should not fall below 10°C, and in summer it should not rise above 28°C. The indicator is regulated by the quality of air exchange.

Roof installation

The roof is made pitched. The main roofing material is slate. It is not expensive and is durable. If the bull barn is brick or cinder block, it is better to have a two-row roof. This will ensure the presence of an air gap, which serves as thermal insulation for the room and will provide additional space for storing feed.

Another roofing option is polycarbonate panels. This material is durable, transmits light and is easy to install. But its use requires additional insulation of the roof.

Walking area

The barn needs to be equipped with a walking area. It should be spacious. Livestock must move freely throughout the territory allocated to them.

Certain requirements apply to the paddock. Walking will be useful and safe if the designated area contains:

• clean (the presence of garbage can harm the livestock);
• a canopy has been installed to create shade in the summer;
• A reliable enclosing structure with a gate has been installed.

It is important to pay attention to the construction of the pen, because... cattle spend several hours a day in it. It is important to maintain cleanliness in the designated area by removing excess garbage and waste products from cows.

Stall installation

Meat and dairy cow breeds differ in size. Therefore, the parameters of the cow stall are calculated in advance.

Different materials are used for construction. Convenience, ease of installation and the possibility of expansion are achieved using wood or metal pipes. A brick or concrete building will not have these advantages, but it will surpass them in durability.

Standard cow stall dimensions:

• Width - 1.25 m;
• Length - 2.6 m;
• Height – 1.6-2 m.

The intended use of such sizes is associated with the peculiarities of keeping livestock. During construction, the location of the cattle is taken into account. They should be in front of the feeder and drinking bowl, and with their backs in the gutter. The animal must not be allowed to move freely in the stall, because this will lead to the appearance of feces near the dining equipment.

Calf housing area

When developing a project, breeding prospects are taken into account. The calves are not kept on a leash, but are placed with their mother. Therefore, the stall for a cow should initially be larger.

Young individuals need fattening. They often do not have time to eat the required amount of feed; adult cows are ahead of them. Therefore, it is better to make separate stalls for calves. Special houses are popular. These are individual boxes with a small pen and installed feeders and drinkers. Breeders often make them with their own hands from scrap materials.

The simplest option is a wooden box. To build one, you will first have to make a drawing, which will indicate all the dimensions of the bull stall. Then construction begins. How to make a calf house:

1. The timber is cut according to the dimensions according to the drawings.
2. Using screws, twist the rectangular box. The height of a person is taken into account so that he can easily reach the cattle.
3. The floor is made of planks and covered with hay.
4. Fences are installed outside the box. They make a walking area.

Such houses should not be insulated. They are often installed indoors. In summer they can be easily moved outside.

Installation of feeders and drinkers

Feeders and drinkers are needed for both small and large livestock. This is an integral part of the internal arrangement of the barn.

The feeder itself often has the shape of an inverted trapezoid. Outer side the containers are high - 65-75 cm. The side that is closer to the stall is 20-30 centimeters smaller. The width of the lower base is 30-40 cm, and the service hole is made with a widening of 60 cm. It is easy to make such a feeder with your own hands or buy it in a specialized store.

The drinking bowl is installed on the side of the feeder. If you plan to keep them tethered, which is convenient for a small number of heads, cup or valve-float drinking schemes are suitable. They are automatic and connected to the general water supply system. Such systems are sold in specialized stores. You can make them yourself by first obtaining the drawings.

Lighting and ventilation of the barn

Another important nuance in building a shed concerns the installation of artificial lighting. In summer there will be no problems with light. The sun's rays will penetrate the room through the window openings. Both wooden and metal-plastic windows are used. It is better to make them sliding in order to easily organize ventilation of the barn. The person who will care for the livestock and milk the cows also needs light.

In winter daylight is not enough, which affects the productivity of cattle. Due to lack of light, livestock consumption of feed, as well as its absorption, is reduced by 10-15%. And this is a direct threat to milk yield, which is important to prevent. Therefore, it is important to arrange lighting; electric lamps help maintain the normal daylight hours of 14-15 hours. Both conventional incandescent lamps and fluorescent, mercury and halogen lamps are used.

A bad nuance is the organization of ventilation of a barn for cows. Organization of optimal temperature and humidity in the room and the unimpeded removal of toxic gaseous substances (emitted with livestock waste products) are the key to good immunity Cattle, regardless of the number of heads available.

Ventilation of a cow barn can be natural, artificial or mixed. For one bull or two heads, several ventilation holes are enough for air inflow and outflow. Air exchange will be more powerful if it is of a mixed type, when air enters through special channels in the walls and is removed using electrical equipment - fans. It is not profitable to install artificial ventilation at home. Such equipment is expensive and is often used in large barns with more than 20 animals.

A “barn” means a room for cows, equipped with stalls, a manure channel and a window for its removal, as well as tethers and feeders. Year-round keeping of cattle on farms or household plots is impossible without this structure. In modern conditions, with the availability of a wide range of building materials and technologies, it is quite possible to build a barn with your own hands.

The future structure should be 15 m from a residential building, and more than 20 m from a well or a well. It is better to locate it near the garden, since manure disposal is simplified.

You can build a barn from almost any materials (adobe, brick, foam and aerated concrete, cinder blocks, concrete), but for a small barn for one or two heads it is better to take wood. For a cow with a calf, the room size is 18 square meters. m. is quite sufficient, but if there are more of them, then they proceed from the norms of 6 m for an adult cow and 9 for the offspring.

Step-by-step instruction

Step 1. Laying the foundation. To do this, markings should be made with pegs along the perimeter of the future building. Then use a rope (fishing line) to draw the boundaries of the pit for the foundation. Now you need to remove the soil to a depth of 70 cm, provided the soil is not loose, install the formwork, pour the concrete solution, evenly distributing the reinforcement. The level of the finished base should be 10-15 cm above the soil surface. When it dries after a few days, you can lay waterproofing and begin building walls.

Step 2. Walling. The material is selected based on local climatic conditions and financial capabilities. The height of the walls should be 2.5 m. If your region has cold winters, it is recommended to use adobe bricks for laying the walls. Laying one and a half bricks will ensure optimal temperature in the barn during the cold season. At the base, the walls are laid out with ordinary bricks.

Prices for various types of timber

Step 3. Floor arrangement. It is made with a slope of 2 cm per 1 running meter. In the lower part, a trench should be made for the outflow of liquid waste, which ends in a liquid collector with a volume of 1 cubic meter. Removable wooden panels are installed on the concrete floor. It is advisable to choose a waterproof material as a floor covering. It is recommended to fill floors with concrete or cement. The best solution would be to use sawdust or salt as bedding.

Step 4. Window. Their area should be 10 times less than the floor area. Windows are located at a height above the cow's horns, and the number is to ensure sufficient lighting. In addition, along with ventilation, they will participate in the ventilation of the room. When planning windows, place them on the south and east sides - sunlight will allow cows to better withstand winters.

Step 5. Roof. As a rule, the roof of a barn is made of a low pitched planed board with thermal insulation, on top of which slate is laid. If a decision is made to install a gable roof, then it will need additional insulation. Installing a liftable canopy will allow you to effectively ventilate the room, as well as protect the room from bad weather.

Prices for different types of slate

Video - Review of the new barn

Internal equipment of the barn

When the barn is built, it needs to be equipped with feeders, drinking bowls, a stall and a compartment for the calf, and manure removal must be considered.

How to make your own feeder

Creating the right feeder is a necessary undertaking, since its use will help not waste feed unnecessarily and will be comfortable to use. So, for wet food you can prepare special plastic feeders, for grain - buckets, and for hay you can make lattice mangers made of wood or pipes with an open rectangular top, but tapering downwards.

The cow will take feed from them in portions, thus preventing it from being trampled.

Important! Although many people believe that the hay that spills out of the feeder makes the litter deeper.

The stationary feeder is separated from the animal by a partition and placed 70 cm from it. The height of the inner side is no more than 55-60 cm (oriented towards the cattle’s knee). The height of the outer wall is 30 cm for easy filling of the manger with food. Such elements are intended for open paddocks or stalls for mixed feed and hay. Such a product is made solid without gratings, for example from plywood or galvanized sheets.

You can make a trough-shaped feeder from half a large-diameter plastic pipe or galvanized drain installed on a frame. This design is very convenient to wash with a stream of water with good pressure. The main thing is to carefully process the cut.

Small nurseries with a width of only 5-7 cm are built for calves, since they can only have 2 kg of hay per day at the age of 6 months. Plastic buckets are suitable for grain mash.

The feeder can also be made from a metal pipe.

Step 1. From 8 pipes measuring 1 m, they are welded into 2 squares for the top and bottom.

Step 2. Four 90 cm pipes are placed vertically and complete the parallelepiped.

Step 3. Four more pipes of 90 cm each are placed in two pieces on opposite sides, retreating 15 cm from the middle of the crossbar. Thus, the distance between them will be 30 cm.

Step 4. The rectangle for the middle part is welded from 2-meter pipes and 2 elements of 30 cm each.

Step 5. Rods, 20 pcs. 60-70 cm long are placed in 10 cm increments (10 pieces on each side) and welded to the upper square and the middle rectangle.

Step 6. Another 8 rods of 30 cm are cut and placed in 10 cm increments in the middle rectangle so that the hay is on the grid.

Step 7 Another shortened pipe is thrown through the center from the ends.

Step 8 The seams are thoroughly cleaned and the structure is painted.

It is convenient for free-keeping animals to approach such a feeder from both sides. It is better to place it in the shade of trees or under a canopy.

Do-it-yourself drinking bowl for cows

Various materials can be used. If it is stainless steel or galvanized, then you should weld it into a rectangular box with a hole at the end to drain water. A similar structure is made from wood and the joints are tarred, but such a drinking bowl will have to be constantly dried and will not last long. A plastic gutter is made from a sewer pipe.

It’s easier to do it yourself and install an automatic drinker that works on the principle cistern toilet with float system. By the way, the float and valve can be taken from an old tank or bought:

Step 1. The metal tank must be equipped with a heating element to heat the water in cold weather.

Step 2. Then they make one hole for the flow of water, another for supplying it to the drinking bowl, and a third for the heater.

Step 3. Install the valve and float.

A cow will not drink stagnant water, so the recommended volume of the water container is 100 liters.

Wooden cow stall

A corral (stall) for a cow is needed to secure the cow in order to minimize manual labor during cleaning, feeding and milking.

Its dimensions should allow the animal to lie down and stand up without hindrance:

• for an adult – 1.2 x 2.0 m;
• for a cow with a calf – 1.6 x 2.0 m;
• for a calf – 1.0 x 1.5 m;
• for a young bull – 1.2 x 1.5 m.

Using the indicated dimensions, it is easy to build a stall from boards. They must be well planed.

If with the construction and equipment of a barn for one or two animals per personal plot everything is more or less clear, there are some difficulties with such an object on a farm.

Video - Construction of a wooden barn

Place for placing a barn according to sanitary standards

The productivity of the herd and its safety largely depend on the conditions of detention. If this is a damp, unventilated and cold room with drafts, then there is no talk of any return: the quality of hides and milk decreases sharply. And also, the incidence of cows increases, and feed costs increase.

It is unacceptable to select a site for the construction of the facility on the sites of former livestock farms, leather and raw materials enterprises, especially cattle burial grounds. It is preferable to have an elevated, flat place with a low location of subsoil waters and having such a relief that water flows from the surface are natural. Besides:

The location for the farm must meet conditions that ensure the production of a large number of products at a minimum of costs.

Requirements for building materials

To build a barn, various materials are used, taking into account the design, climate and terrain conditions. They must have:

• low thermal conductivity;
• breathability;
• accessibility;
• fire resistance;
• cheapness.

For long-term heated objects, it is permissible to use hollow bricks, concrete-expanded clay slabs, etc. But, since cowsheds are built on the assumption that the natural heat generated by the cattle is sufficient to warm it, the materials must have high heat transfer, and the foundation must have good waterproofing.

The thickness of the material and its heat transfer are selected taking into account the regional climate. For example:

• lightweight cellular concrete protected with a latex mixture or polyethylene;
• asbestos cement;
• expanded clay concrete;
• aluminum with insulation mineral wool or polystyrene.

A cowshed made of a reinforced concrete frame with asbestos-cement insulation over wooden beams is more efficient and less expensive than a structure made entirely of reinforced concrete slabs. In turn, an asbestos panel with foam plastic is much more economical and warmer than glass brickwork.

Construction of a barn from sandwich panels on a frame

Ceilings are also designed to maintain optimal temperature in the room. The attic is insulated with mineral wool, the roof is constructed from fireproof materials, for example, slate.

It is more convenient to install sliding gates with a thermal curtain in the vestibule; window openings – as small as possible with double glazing and window sills. The absence of internal supports in the barn makes it possible to carry out redevelopment and reconstruction of equipment.

Floor materials

Floors must have heat-protective properties, moisture resistance, resistance to chemical attack, and ease of cleaning and processing. They can be either lattice or solid with a slope (longitudinal 1-2 cm in the passage, transverse 2 cm in the stall) towards the discharge channels.

Important! Wooden floors are the most widespread, but they are not hygienic and imperfect.

The following types of flooring can be used:

• rubber cord;
• cordo-rubber-bitumen;
• expanded clay-bitumen;
• expanded clay-soil cement.

Wooden and foam concrete gratings are the warmest. To prevent injury to the limbs, it is better to make the slats for the slatted floor trapezoidal in shape and position the base upward. They are located perpendicular to the feeding line.

For cows, mixed floors are desirable to ensure the passage of waste products through the grate and the opportunity to rest on a continuous area.

What else should you pay attention to?

Feeding

The technological process consists of the most mechanized supply of feed and its preparation in order to feed a large group of cows at the same time. All feed must be subjected to sanitary and microbiological testing, since, if its composition is of poor quality, poisoning will be numerous. Water tests are carried out similarly.

Feeders should be waterproof, easily disinfected and cleaned. To remove liquid when washing, there must be a hole. The element should be located 6-8 cm above the floor of the stall. Feed dispensers can be mobile or stationary:

• rod;
• tape;
• scraper;
• screw.

All stationary feed dispensers additionally pollute the feed, can clutter the passage, and are problematic to clean and handle.

Mobile feed systems are easy to maintain.

The water supply must provide all consumers with water of appropriate quality in sufficient volumes, including meeting fire-fighting needs.

We will tell you more about the preparation of feeding areas for cows and other cattle below.

What is the best system for keeping cows?

There are three main types of cow housing:

• stall-pasture;
• stall-walking;
• tethered;

Let's consider their pros and cons of each of the named types.

Stall-pasture

Stall-walking

• a smaller area is required;
• the development is more compact;
• the length of communications is shorter.

Flaws:

• irregular exercise;
• maintenance technique;
• feeding and hygiene standards are violated.

Pyvyaznoe

This kind of maintenance is practiced at large industrial complexes. It allows you to differentiate between feeding and caring for livestock, but labor costs are significantly higher. In addition, there is no exercise. But it is much easier for service personnel, veterinarians and zoo specialists to inspect and care for each individual individually. Tethered pens are placed in multiple rows, combining two rows of stalls with one manure and feed aisle.

Tethered housing allows you to keep the health of cows under control, but is costly

Which bedding is better

The comfortable condition of the cow depends on the type of bedding. Materials must be:

• dry;
• low thermal conductivity;
• hygroscopic;
• dry;
• odorless and mold-free;
• non-marking.

For small barns in private farmsteads, the practice is to use straw, sand, and sawdust. On large farms and industrial complexes They use expensive mats made of inorganic materials, which are always moistened, but can freeze in winter.

Rubber and polyurethane coverings cost 90-270 euros for one stall.

In Europe, farmers have been using bedding made from recycled manure for quite some time. In our country, agricultural producers are just beginning to practice it.

The material consists of undigested feed residues - hay, silage, corn. They are passed through a filter-drying unit and the output is a crumbly brown mass that absorbs moisture well, smells like earth and does not stick to your hands. During use, it wears off and dissolves in wastewater, so it does not accumulate.

But this seemingly ideal material has two significant drawbacks:

1. Large costs for a filter-drying unit (FSU) for the production of bedding mass.
2. Its use is permissible only in regions with a dry climate, since under humid conditions it gradually turns into manure.

Traditional straw, sawdust and sand are warm and cheap. Moreover, straw is the most accessible and economical, and the fertilizer is of very high quality when used as bedding.

Its only drawback is that it is labor-intensive to replace. In addition, using 4 kg of bedding material per day per cow, space will be required to store the used bedding for 180-210 days, based on the figures presented in the table.

Table 1. Material consumption per cow depending on its type

Sawdust, compared to straw, absorbs moisture and becomes cold when wet. Sand can only be used in warm climates.

Biogas plant for manure processing

If a private owner with one or two cows can use manure to fertilize his garden, then for a farmer waste disposal is a big problem. New technologies have come to the rescue in the form of biogas processing plants.

The main conditions for the life of anaerobic bacteria are heat and the absence of oxygen. Under their influence, manure decomposes, releasing methane and carbon dioxide. One ton of cattle manure yields 55-60 cubic meters when processed. m. of biogas.

The process takes place in a sealed reactor with a receiver for supplying raw materials, a water supply and a pump for pumping the mass into the reactor.

Video - Making a biogas plant from a barrel for your home

Conclusion

So, if the barn is properly designed, built and equipped, the animals will “thank you” with calves and high milk yields. For households, you can equip an existing barn for it, but for farmers, a carefully thought-out plan is needed before starting construction.

Since farming is Lately is becoming increasingly popular, the question of how to build a barn has become very relevant. Indeed, the products obtained from cattle breeding are inherently basic in the diet of any person, so milk and meat will always find a market. And any practical owner would prefer to have these products from their own, “tested” animals. It is not surprising that many farmers prefer to have a small herd of cows or at least their own cows. However, since cows are very sensitive to housing conditions, the success of a livestock farm directly depends on the creation of optimal conditions and a properly constructed barn.

Since farming has recently become increasingly popular, the question of how to build a barn has become very relevant.

How to build a barn for livestock? It is quite possible for any owner to build a room in which a cow with a calf or a small herd of cattle, for example 5 heads, will live, that is, do-it-yourself cattle sheds are quite doable. To do this, you must first develop a barn design. First of all, you need to decide on the location of the room. By sanitary standards the barn must be located at least 15 m from the well with drinking water. This will keep the water clean. The area of ​​the premises for one cow, including space for equipment, feeders, drinkers and hay, must be at least 18 m². If a barn is being built for 10 heads of cattle, then the calculation is based on 6 m² per cow, plus the area of ​​utility rooms. When building a barn for 20 heads or more, the construction plan must include a room for storing milk, a maternity room, an isolation ward, a utility block and other utility rooms. It is better to entrust the design of a large barn to a specialist, as he will be able to take into account all the necessary details and correctly reflect them on the floor plan.

Sometimes a cow shed is attached to the back wall of a house. This allows you to save on building materials. But most often barns are built at a distance from the house. When choosing a place for a barn, you must provide a pen for animals.

How to build a barn with your own hands? The construction of a barn begins with preparing the site for construction and selecting building materials. IN different time and in different places people used stone to build cowsheds, wooden logs, adobe brick, burnt brick, cinder blocks, foam blocks, sand blocks and various reinforced concrete structures. The most environmentally friendly are wooden barns and barns made of adobe bricks. Such buildings retain heat well and have optimal gas exchange. However, the choice of material is determined by regional availability and natural conditions. It is important for any owner to build a room of high quality and inexpensively. In any case, to work, you will need tools such as a shovel, a stake, a level, and a rope. And the materials used are screws, nails, cement, clay, sand.

Room for cattle (video)

Foundation of the building

On the site allocated for the barn, the top fertile layer of soil is removed. The foundation of the building must be located on a solid foundation. Its depth and width depend on the material of the barn walls. A frame barn does not require a foundation at all. But such a barn is only suitable for warm regions. If the walls of the barn are made of stone or cinder block, or the building is built on loose soils, then the foundation is buried into the ground at least 70 cm. For lighter walls, the foundation can be made less deep. They are suitable for small buildings strip base. To do this, they mark the site and dig trenches. Then the formwork is installed and the stone-cement mixture is poured. The concrete foundation is quite strong and durable. You can also make the base from baked brick or rubble stone. The top of the foundation is covered with roofing felt or other moisture-proof material. This will ensure waterproofing of walls and partitions.

What to make walls and roof from

Stone walls, of course, are the strongest and most durable, but made this way they will not meet some requirements - it can be damp and cold in the barn. If heating and ventilation of such a room is not provided, the animals in it will get sick, which will inevitably affect their productivity. Brick and cinder block are more expensive materials. They retain heat well, but still require additional thermal insulation. The best materials For a private barn, adobe brick and shell rock are considered. These are inexpensive materials with low thermal conductivity, ideal for the construction of a barn. Sufficiently warm walls that do not require additional insulation are obtained with a thickness of 1.5 bricks. They are usually made 2.5 m high. A higher room will be colder, and if the walls are lower, it will be stuffy inside. The barn should have windows for natural light. They are made above the level of the animal's head. Whatever material the walls of the barn are made of, they must be plastered and whitewashed. This is done for additional disinfection of the room.

The most suitable and cheapest material for a barn roof is slate roofing. The roof is made from planed boards and adjusted during the process to ensure a complete fit. A thermal insulation layer is laid on top of the boards and pressed down with slate. The roof should have a slight slope to remove precipitation.

How are things in the West?

In the West, cowsheds are often made two-story or with a large attic. The upper room is intended for storing hay. The advantages of such a construction include saving space and natural additional insulation of the barn ceiling. In addition, hay is better preserved in a ventilated attic. Among the disadvantages is an increased fire hazard. Dry hay can ignite even from sunlight, and in this case it will be more difficult to extinguish the fire.

Cowshed made of wooden structures (video)

What are floors and manure storage made from?

Proper flooring in a barn is very important. Any flooring material has both its advantages and disadvantages. A prerequisite is that the floor in the barn must be warm. Naturally, a wooden floor will be the warmest. It can be made from wooden planks 5 cm thick. But over time, such floors lose their quality and begin to absorb animal feces, which increases the concentration of ammonia in the room. In addition, wood floors are not durable. They will have to be changed approximately every 5-6 years. Brick floors are more durable. They will last 13-15 years, but they require insulation with a straw bedding. Concrete floors are even more durable, but this is a cold and damp material, on which in winter the bedding should be at least 30 cm. Clay floors with boards nailed on top are good. This design is cheap and practical.

The floors in the barn are built at a height of about 10 cm above the ground and always on a slope. This will allow urine to drain and make cleaning easier. The slope is approximately 5°. Greater floor slopes can lead to disease in the cows' limbs. At the end of the slope, make a drainage ditch about 15 cm deep and about 30 cm wide. The ditch should be of such a size that a shovel can fit into it.

The slurry is drained from the gutter into a special tank. The volume of the tank is calculated based on the livestock. For 1 cow you need to allocate 0.3 m³ (or 300 l) of liquid collection tank per month. A slurry tank is usually located in the backyard. Make it no more than 3 m deep. This tank must have waterproof walls. Therefore, most often it is made of concrete. The inside of the walls is coated with bitumen. This container must be closed with a tight lid. The farmyard must be equipped with a manure storage facility. When planning a manure storage facility, the volume of the pit is calculated taking into account the fact that one cow produces about 1 ton of manure per month. The depth of the pit usually does not exceed 0.5 m. The walls are lined with stone or made of concrete. The bottom is made with a slope towards the liquid collector. A canopy must be provided over the manure storage facility. During the winter, the manure in such a pit rots and becomes an excellent fertilizer that is in demand among farmers.

Internal structure of the room

A small cow shed usually has no internal partitions, and all the animals in it are kept in one room. Barns for a large number of cattle have internal partitions separating the stalls. Thus, each animal is, as it were, in a separate room. The size of a cow stall depends on the breed, sex and age of the animal. So, for one adult cow, a stall with an average size of 1.2x1.8 m is provided. The width of a stall for a cow with a calf is increased to 1.5 m. Therefore, it is advisable to make the internal partitions mobile. For dairy cows, the width and length of the stall may be slightly smaller, for beef cows - slightly larger. A separate room must be provided for bulls. Sometimes a farmer builds a barn to house and fatten only bulls for meat.

How to build a barn for oxen? When constructing premises of this type, stalls are provided for calves and adult bulls. A stall for bulls is made measuring 1.25x2.4 m, and for calves it should be 1x1.5 m in size. The stall must have a split to secure the animal.

Ideally, each animal should have its own feeder and water bowl. This would protect animals from contracting many types of infections. One such feeder should hold up to 8 kg of feed. They make individual feeders from boards. The wood is carefully cleaned and sanded, and a small recess is made in the front part for the head and neck of the animal. Drinkers can also be made from boards or stainless steel. To build feeders and feeders, you need to know their dimensions. The height of the feeder should be 65 cm, the width - about 80 cm, and the length - at least 1-1.3 m. The feeders are placed in front of the stall, and the wall of the feeder adjacent to the stall is made 30-35 cm shorter than the opposite one. In practice, large barns use tray feeders and drinkers made of brick or concrete.

The premises for livestock must be equipped electric lighting and ventilation. Additional lighting in winter will increase milk yield by up to 10%, and ventilation will protect animals from poisoning by ammonia vapors.

The premises for animals must be clean and dry. In cold weather, straw bedding is placed in the stalls to protect against colds. The bedding is changed every day. If the drainage of slurry and manure is well adjusted and most of If the litter remains dry, it is enough to replace some of the straw by adding fresh straw. A thick layer of bedding will keep the barn warm and the animals healthy during the winter months. It is advisable to equip it with a canopy for walking animals in the hot summer with remote feeders and drinking bowls.