Calf shelters

[BlackCattleRancher]

Does anyone use calf shelters for calving in late winter? Seems there is always a raging high wind freezing blizzard comes up for a few days in late Feb or March and wish those calves had a shelter duck in out of the wind into. I calve on bedded straw packs behind windbreaks, the days I'd like them to have a little shelter is when it is 35 deg out and rains all afternoon then drops 30 or 40 degrees in the evening and the wind kicks up 20 or 30 mph and a blizzard ensues. What do you use for calf shelters?

 

[Anonymous]

I have a couple of little lean to's that are shut off so only the calves can get in- and the cows can't....Have them open to the south so the sun can shine in...Calves like to lay in there when the wind is howling.. They are next to a bigger windbreak so that momma can stand outside- out of the wind.....

One of the best I seen that a neighbor has is that he took some old underground fuel tanks that had been removed--cut them in half - and then cut holes in them big enough for the calves to go in...Has skids welded on them- so can move them around by pulling them with the tractor....And on even the coldest day- if the sun is shining that metal heats up in there plumb toasty....

 

[Kato]

Some people in our area use old school bus bodies that they buy from wreckers. They've got doors, and as a bonus, windows to let light in. And they last forever.

We use a lot of big sheds here, and have pens in the back for calving. We just put an electric wire across the front of a section of each shed, and the calves use it fine. We used to have a couple of small shelters, but they really need to be moved once in a while because if you ever get a scour outbreak going they can be time bombs. Out in a good big open area where they can be moved once in a while, they work great.

 

[flyingS]

I'v seen several small grain storage bin cut in half with a pipe across the open end and skids under them used for shelters. Same concept as the old fuel tanks. Generaly if you can find one that is rusted out on the bottom you can about buy them for nothing and a lot of babies can fit under half of one of those.

 

[scout]

we use old hog huts you can buy them at sales cheap callves can get in cows cant.