As wet weather brings the grazing season to a close, housing has become a leading priority for cattle. When housing cattle, it is important not to overstock pens.

If cattle do not have sufficient lying or feeding space, their performance will quickly suffer. For cows housed on slats, allow a minimum of 2.5m2 per animal. If cows are on a straw bed, this space should be doubled.

For cows with calves at foot, increase the space allowance to between 4m2 and 5m2, depending on the size of calves. Ideally, provide a separate creep area for calves.

Slats

For weanlings under 300kg liveweight, lying space on slats should be at least 1.5m2, increasing to 2.5m2 for animals over 300kg up to finishing weight. Again, if animals are on a straw bed, double this lying space requirement.

When housing finishing cattle, especially young bulls, pen animals based on their final liveweight.

This means there is less risk of overstocking animals that have to be regrouped mid-winter to increase lying space.

Remember that steers or bulls on a high-concentrate diet will be gaining between 1kg and 1.5kg/day respectively.

At 1.5kg/day, a pen of eight 500kg bulls will be gaining a combined liveweight of 84kg every week.

This means every six weeks, there is 504kg of liveweight gained by the group, which is the equivalent of adding one extra animal to the group.

This highlights how quickly animals can become overstocked in housing pens.

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