Portable Pasture Shelter For Calves
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Father and son Wisconsin dairymen Jim and Luke Wavrunek designed and built a slick portable pasture shelter for grazing dairy heifers from 2 to 4 months old. The idea came to them after they attended a Door County “Breakfast on the Farm” event a couple years ago and spotted an old abandoned building, which that producer used for calf housing. The building could be moved for cleaning, providing fresh stalls for the livestock.
“Seeing that, we thought why not build something ourselves that we could move every day around a pasture,” says Jim. “We went home and put our thoughts on paper, eventually building a 24-ft. square portable shelter.”
All sides of the structure use 4-ft. tall steel hog fencing panels that are welded onto metal tubing for extra strength. Panels interlock on the corners with a metal pipe. A feed trough with a hinged cover is attached to one side and two 55-gal. drums are strapped to another side, supplying fresh water in a float cup. One end of the shelter rests on metal feet and the opposite end is supported by wheels from an old hay conveyor. A large white tarp covers the shelter to protect calves from the sun and rain.
The Wavruneks move the shelter with their skid steer on a schedule that coincides with feeding their milk cows and replacement animals. “The calves do extremely well with zero scours and they stay really clean,” Jim says. “They’re getting fresh grass a couple times a day and we also supplement dry feed that we deliver with a four wheeler. It’s a very economical and efficient way to raise calves on pasture.”
The Wavruneks say that having calves outside during warm months and moving them frequently to new pasture reduces flies and is good for the animals. “It’s called aggressive grazing, and we’ve had zero health problems,” Jim says. The moveable housing has also cut down on feeding costs, eliminating the need to use dry hay. Nutrient content in the livestock’s manure has increased, showing 83 percent water and 17 percent dry matter. “By having them outside there is just less water in the manure,” he says.
The Wavruneks have also noticed fewer pneumonia infections by having the calves outside with fresh air and exercise. “If a calf doesn’t get pneumonia, that translates into better growth, and once they freshen, we see less mastitis,” Luke says.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Wavrunek Dairy, 5714 South County Road P, Denmark, Wis. 54208.
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Portable Pasture Shelter For Calves BUILDINGS Livestock Father and son Wisconsin dairymen Jim and Luke Wavrunek designed and built a slick portable pasture shelter for grazing dairy heifers from 2 to 4 months old The idea came to them after they attended a Door County “Breakfast on the Farm” event a couple years ago and spotted an old abandoned building which that producer used for calf housing The building could be moved for cleaning providing fresh stalls for the livestock “Seeing that we thought why not build something ourselves that we could move every day around a pasture ” says Jim “We went home and put our thoughts on paper eventually building a 24-ft square portable shelter ” All sides of the structure use 4-ft tall steel hog fencing panels that are welded onto metal tubing for extra strength Panels interlock on the corners with a metal pipe A feed trough with a hinged cover is attached to one side and two 55-gal drums are strapped to another side supplying fresh water in a float cup One end of the shelter rests on metal feet and the opposite end is supported by wheels from an old hay conveyor A large white tarp covers the shelter to protect calves from the sun and rain The Wavruneks move the shelter with their skid steer on a schedule that coincides with feeding their milk cows and replacement animals “The calves do extremely well with zero scours and they stay really clean ” Jim says “They’re getting fresh grass a couple times a day and we also supplement dry feed that we deliver with a four wheeler It’s a very economical and efficient way to raise calves on pasture ” The Wavruneks say that having calves outside during warm months and moving them frequently to new pasture reduces flies and is good for the animals “It’s called aggressive grazing and we’ve had zero health problems ” Jim says The moveable housing has also cut down on feeding costs eliminating the need to use dry hay Nutrient content in the livestock’s manure has increased showing 83 percent water and 17 percent dry matter “By having them outside there is just less water in the manure ” he says The Wavruneks have also noticed fewer pneumonia infections by having the calves outside with fresh air and exercise “If a calf doesn’t get pneumonia that translates into better growth and once they freshen we see less mastitis ” Luke says Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Wavrunek Dairy 5714 South County Road P Denmark Wis 54208
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