One of the most dangerous times on any suckler farm is when cows are calving.

Often, farmers may be working off-farm and rushing home to get to a cow in the late stages of calving that needs some assistance.

However, having good facilities in place can make this job relatively straightforward and, more importantly, safe.

This was exactly what Declan Fennell from Co Clare was hoping to achieve for his 40-cow suckler herd.

Declan was in need of better calving facilities to ensure that working full-time off the farm could be combined with the safe management of the herd, particularly around calving.

He set about converting an old milking parlour that was used in his parents’ time to four individual calving pens.

“This shed was just one large pen for calving cows,” Declan explained.

“Having this big of an area meant it was difficult to manage when you were trying to restrain a cow and you could only have one cow in the pen at a time.”

Declan also runs his own contracting business, fabricating and constructing sheds including all associated steel and concrete work, which meant he could design all aspects of the retrofit the way he wanted to.

“I had seen a lot of different setups over the years on other farms, so I had a good idea of what I wanted.

"I wanted to be able to safely restrain a cow but I also wanted to make sure that I had safe access to each individual pen,” he said.

Pictures one to three

The majority of the existing walls were in place as they had been part of the old milking parlour. This dictated the size of the development to a certain extent.

There are four similar-sized calving pens in the shed which measure 4m to 4.1m by 3.8m to 3.9m, giving each pen slightly less than 16m2 floor space.

Picture one.

In an ideal world Declan would have left pens larger but like many developments farmers have to adapt what is already in place on the farm.

Each pen is fitted with a lockable feed barrier space, while there is also a headgate in the centre of each gate dividing the pens.

Picture two.

“Generally, most calving gates would be along the edge of the pen but I prefer having them in the centre.

"It means that if a cow does go down there is less chance that she will do damage to herself or her calf.

"We still have one pen when the head gate is along the wall if it is needed,” Declan said.

Picture three.

Pictures four and five

“I wanted each pen to have its own independent headgate (picture four). You see in some sheds where the one centre gate serves the two pens but I think these can be awkward if you have cows in both pens either side of the gate.

“I also see that these type of headgates can work well as a slip-through point too to provide a quick exit from the pens if needed.”

Picture four.

One of the four pens is fitted with a calving gate to allow for a caesarean section to be safely carried out (picture five).

This pen has a restraining gate that would keep the cow in position along the wall of the shed. The gate has been designed so that it can be raised or lowered.

“I can let the gate down if we are doing a section but it can be raised if I want to get a calf sucking,” Declan explained. “This way at least the cow is always restrained.

Picture five.

“The other three pens are generally for cows to calve in by themselves whereas this pen would be used if there were real difficulties with the calving.”

A headscoop was also installed in this pen, so that treatments can be administered intravenously if required.

Pictures six and seven

One of the key design aspects of the shed was the 1.5m wide passageways that are laid out in the shape of a cross in the shed.

“This means I can come into the shed and go to any of the pens safely. It also means that it is safe if you have a vet coming or if you need to move a cow into or out of one of the pens,” Declan said.

Picture six.

Small stub walls were installed along this passageway, with a barrier on top. The shed can be accessed by two sliding doors on one side of the shed to allow a tractor in to easily clean the pens, with all cows bedded with wood shavings.

There is also a separate sliding door to access the central passageway.

One simple L-shaped gate was designed to provide access to a small storage room (picture seven), again ensuring that the farmer does not have to go through the pen to access any part of the shed.

This can be conveniently folded back, if desired. Simple changes such as this one can make a shed a much safer place. Farm safety does not always have to involve big, expensive investment.

Picture seven.

All steelwork in the shed has been galvanised while fibre cement sheeting was installed throughout the roof of this high-spec shed.

Declan, who runs the company Declan Fennell Contractor Ltd completed all of the work for the shed himself, but the total cost including materials – when labour was accounted for – was approximately €25,000 including VAT for the 110m2 facility.

While this shed ensures that you do not have to go through a pen to get to another pen, the same cannot be said for every new shed being constructed.

This is now a mandatory requirement of getting TAMS grant aid on a new farm building. For reference, if you are constructing a calving pen through the scheme, calving pens in a shed have a reference cost of €205.20/m2.