There had been a lot of labour associated with calving – cows were calved in one shed, the calves walked and were even carried across the yard to the calf shed. For feeding, milk was carried from the parlour by bucket to the calf shed. It all required time and energy in a busy spring.

So Michael decided he needed a new calving unit which would reduce the workload. He wanted all operations to be under one roof: an open bedded holding area for cows near calving; one or two calving pens; pens for young suck calves; an open penned area for strong calves with access to and from grass from this area come February.

Michael and his father, Maurice, put a lot of thought into it. The solution they went for was to extend the existing round roofed hayshed and lean-to which Michael used as his calf house.

The shed was in good condition and located quite near the milking parlour. It could be extended by adding a lean-to on the other side.

The new lean-to was supplied by O’Dwyer Steel, Dundrum. Fit-out was by O’Donnell Engineering in Emly. John O’Donnell also gave Michael Ryan useful advice on the design of the shed. Maurice Ryan looked after the concreting work. The new set-up was in place for last January. The Ryans farm at Deansgrove near Cashel.

The cows’ area

Cows near calving are brought from the cubicle house to the open bedded area (see diagram) where they await calving. This area is approximately 8.5m long and 8m wide and can comfortably hold up to 15 cows.

The area is bedded with straw.

For easy cleaning with a front loader, the gates at front and back open fully and all pillars lift out of the floor slab.

The area is open on three sides, giving good ventilation.

The pen has locking feed barriers on the front.

Michael allows these cows no silage during the day. “They get silage up until 1pm then I close the locking barriers. I open them again last thing at night, as late as possible. A cow will then eat for three to four hours and she’ll wait another three to four hours to calve. Over 90% of them then calve between 6am and midnight. Out of 110 that calved this spring, only four calved outside of these hours.’’

The calving pens

At the rear of the open area are two calving pens with calving gates. If Michael wants, it’s very simple to move a cow from the open area to one of the pens. Overhead, he has a camera installed, allowing cows be monitored from the house.

“Most cows calve in the open straw area.”

Calf pens

Calves get a colostrum feed and are moved out of the calving pens into rearing pens behind via a gate in the back wall. The cow is moved across to the milking parlour. Michael has pens for up to 50 calves.

Open calf area

After three weeks, calves move from pens into the open area. Here they have access in and out to grass day and night with Michael expecting they will typically go out from mid-February onwards. This area is bedded but again, all gates open and pillars lift to allow easy cleaning out by a front loader.

These calves are fed once per day. By three to six weeks, calves are drinking a lot of milk. To reduce workload Michael installed an underground pipe from the dairy to the calving shed with a submersible pump at the dairy end and a valve at the other end.

This will pump a couple of hundred litres of milk in minutes into seven batch feeders. “By April we can be pumping across up to 300 litres of milk. There’s more calves and they’re being fed just once per day.’’

Maurice has set up gates to allow feeders to be filled without him getting pushed around. At feeding time calves are herded into one end of the pen and locked behind a gate. Maurice can then fill the feeders using the two inch hose, remove the hose and open the gate to let the calves out to feed.

Centre corridor

The centre corridor allows easy access from one part of the shed to another without having to open lots of gates, etc. “It’s crucial. It gives access to the calf pens at the rear of the shed – to an isolation pen we have on the right hand side.’’

WORKS WELL

“I wanted a unit with a bit of space that would be easy to clean on a busy spring day,’’ said Michael Ryan. “We’ve no time in spring to be messing.’’ The new set-up has worked like a dream, he said. “Spring time used to be laborious. This spring was a lot easier. I’m delighted with it.’’

Allowing the calves access to and from grass will harden them up gradually, he reckons. This spring he kept the bedded areas well cleaned out and he spread lime on the straw. “It’s a good airy shed.’’ The shed can be bedded in 20 mintues.

“My father and I put a lot of thought into it. It will be intensively used for three months.’’

Calf health

Reducing the labour of feeding calves meant Michael and Maurice could delay weaning last spring until calves hit a target weight of 90kg to 100kg. This boosted their health, important given the herd’s high EBI status, and reduced time spent nursing.

“The new camera also gives us great peace of mind,’’ Michael said. “We put a big effort into breeding. Our calf mortality is very low.’’

Cost

The new shed cost close to €16,000 including VAT. Steelwork, erected, cost €6,700. The 30 cubic meters of concrete, plus some stone filling, came to €2,850. Internal fit out by O’Donnell Engineering, including the locking barriers, came to €4,550. The new camera cost €1,168. All figures include VAT.