Comfort is a crucial factor in a store-to-beef finishing enterprise, according to Liam Hurley who farms alongside his father, Pat, outside Kilmallock in Co. Limerick.
The Hurleys have operated a beef finishing system for several decades and are definitive in how their process works.
“In the springtime we buy them in at around 350 to 400 kilos and from July, August, September on, we buy them at 500 to 550 or 60 kilos. Our main breeds here on the farm would be Aberdeen Angus, Hereford, Limousin and Charolais.
“We kill a couple of hundred cattle in the year and we’d winter anything from 100 to 110 cattle in the year also.”
To get to this point, the Hurleys have operated their winter-housing arrangement out of two existing sheds spanning nine bays in total. However, through a combination of natural expansion and one eye on the future, space was beginning to become much tighter.
Space and comfort are key in their business, so Pat and Liam opted to erect a new four-bay shed across the yard from the old sheds.
Considerable thought went into the design of the shed with Pat and Liam were able to draw on what was lacking in the old sheds to inspire what the new shed would feature.
Liam explained:
“The new shed is 63-foot deep by 44-foot wide. The bays here are 19-foot deep by 15-foot 9-inches wide and we’re hoping to keep about 11 or 12 year-and-a-halves in each pen comfortably.
“There’s a canopy just above me which is about eight foot wide and that’s just to keep the feed area dry in the real wet weather. We’ve feed barriers on both sides so if you have 11 or 12 cattle in each pen, you can feed six on one side, six on the other side comfortably.
“The reason we went with vented sheeting at the back of the shed was just to let clean air into the cattle and we decided to put in an indoor crush just to dose and inject the cattle in the wintertime. While we put in a post and rail to leave cattle from the old shed into the new shed.”
With the shed built, Pat and Liam agreed that there was only one element missing.
Efficient store-to-beef system
The Hurleys have built their operation on maximising efficiencies where possible and with EASYFIX SR Slat Rubber installed for over 10-years in their old sheds, they wanted to install it in their new shed too.
Both father and son agreed that the rubber was a very beneficial component for their animals, particularly for the system they are in.
“We already have 9-bays of the EASYFIX SR rubber mats used in the two old houses here. The reason we went with them is that the system we’re in we find them very beneficial for the cattle,” Liam said.
“In particular, it reduces lameness, joint pain, it gives the animal longer standing periods at the feed barrier which gives a higher feed intake to the animal. This particular SR Slat Rubber has a diamond-grip and a great foothold for the animal.”
The decision to put slat rubber into the new shed was a very important one for the Liam and Pat. With liveweight gain being such a crucial measurement in their operation, the rubber greatly helps increase the productivity of their animals but also reduce injuries which can affect lack of thrive – not to mention a reduction in vet bills.
While slat rubber isn’t a silver bullet in a beef enterprise, it is certainly a hugely effective cog in the wheel alongside the likes of nutrition, breeding and animal health.
“All-in-all we’ve been using the EASYFIX Slat Rubber now for the last 10 years and we’re extremely happy with them. If we were to build another shed in the morning I would definitely go ahead with the EASYFIX rubber mats,” Liam concluded.
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