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Jason in MI

Posted 2/26/2009 22:02 (#624382 - in reply to #622548)
Subject: RE: Dairy heifer barn: pictures, ideas or plans?

Adrian MI

We have a variety of barns for heifers, they all have their postives and negatives. We have perfected them every time we build another one. They all have a 10 or 12 ft scrape alley and a 25-30 ft bedded area with a fence between them.
Coverall type barns are light, airy, and have lots of ventilation. The way we built ours we feed on the outside wall, so when it snows and rains, the feed doesn't keep very well. We also have a hard time getting it closed up in the winter, so we keep pregnant heifers in them now instead of younger ones.
Drive by barns are nice as the feed stays dry from rain, but the snow still blows into it if its blowing the wrong way. We have one barn facing east and one facing south and some days the wind ends up blowing in the open side, but they can be reasonably built money wise.
Drive through barns keep all the rain and snow out and stay pretty warm during the coldest days. They cost a litte more to build, but you can share a common feed alley and manure storage.
We started a new barn last fall exactly like your neighbors, we got everything done, but the cement. Its a 40x288 barn open to the south, with a 6 ft overhang over the feed alley. It has 17 pens for 3-6 month olds, we put about 20 heifers per pen.

Jason