The calving season that usually kicks off around February is a critical time on the farm, requiring careful planning and thoughtful consideration of how to set up the ideal environment for birthing and raising newborn calves.
The level of shelter provided mainly in the form of housing conditions for calving, plays a pivotal role in the health, growth, and overall development of calves. Hence, there is always a big rush among cattle farms just before calving begins to find and integrate the ideal structures for the task at hand.
Being innovative, modular, and robust, Agri Span stands as the ultimate shelter for calf housing that far outperforms both traditional buildings for housing calves as well as other modular structures that try to fit this purpose.
As the calving season approaches, it is important for farmers to plan the arrival of new calves. Calf shelters play a pivotal role in the early life of a calf, providing them with a safe, comfortable, and controlled environment.
In this regard, Agri Span provides the optimal environment for calving, complete with comfortable and stress-free conditions that promote good hygiene, ventilation, and disease prevention for optimal results.
Read on to explore why you should move fast to secure your orders of Agri Span units before the calving rush materialises.
What does Agri Span offer in ensuring optimal results from calving?
Perfected with over 40 years of design and engineering, Agri Span is built to meet all livestock housing needs of modern commercial livestock farming operations. Utilising a versatile and ultra-flexible setup of Agri Span can be the ideal answer for calving and calf housing due to the following key capabilities:
- Uncompromised protection from the elements
One of the main requirements during calving is secure protection from rains, snow, heavy draughts, and extremely cold weather. This largely depends on the level of climate control and insulation offered by the shelter.
Keeping the temperatures within comfortable levels that are above the LCT (lowest critical temperature) of cows is crucial for establishing high-welfare calving conditions and encouraging healthy and natural growth while also reducing losses due to calf mortality.
The robust PVC-coated fabric canopy of Agri Span plays a vital role as a dependable and resilient part of the exterior, as an unwavering barrier to protect from the most adverse weather conditions and create well-insulated and comfortable interiors for calving that enables optimal bedding and care for newborn calves.
- Natural environments for maximum yields
Good ventilation, adequate amounts of light, and abundant space and airflow within the structure used for calf housing and calving can go a long way in optimising the results and yields for farms from the entire process.
Having good airflow and natural ventilation in place can help to maintain highly sanitary and healthy conditions within the shelter by efficiently expelling contaminated/dirty air while keeping the interior dry and free from moisture. This helps to significantly reduce the spread of diseases/infections among the herd to help farms cut back on treatment costs.
Moreover, having optimal levels of lighting (such that follows the natural day/night cycle) coupled with spacious interiors helps to promote natural behaviours among the animals and reduce stress. This promotes healthy growth rates and maximises yields.
Compared to traditional, unventilated barns, Agri Span comes complete with a translucent light strip that runs the length of the structure and lets in abundant natural lighting to save costs around the farm while establishing the ultimate conditions for livestock housing.
The side netting allows for great airflow and natural ventilation to lower humidity, maintain optimal temperatures, avoid the concentration of pathogens, and reduce ammonia within the structure. The extremely spacious interiors prevent overcrowding and allow for customised penning. These factors combined, promote better growth rates and healthier calves overall.
- Unmatched flexibility and strength deployed at speed
In preparation for the calving season in spring, many farmers across the UK will be preparing housing in the new year to be ready for calving. Hence, this is no time to enter into a costly, complicated, and time-consuming construction project for a traditional building.
Instead, the flexibility, relocatability, and swift installation that comes with modular structures without compromising on strength and durability, make them the ideal choice for modern calf housing and cattle farming.
Boasting deployment times as low as 48 hours, Agri Span offers commercial cattle farms the perfect structure in the least amount of time. Due to this reason and as Agri Span has been specifically designed to create an ideal environment for calves, the calving season is the most popular time of year for Agri Span.
In order to always live up to the commitment of rapid deployment, McGregor follows a business model where buffer stocks of Agri Span are kept on hand all year round, helping to keep lead times as short as possible during the rush.
Speed of deployment is backed up by unparalleled quality at McGregor, with two dedicated state-of-the-art factories in Hampshire manufacturing Agri Span to meet the highest production standards using the highest quality raw materials such as high-strength galvanised steel and long-lasting PVC-coated fabric canopies.
Despite early spring being a busy time for the factories, the McGregor team is still able to achieve exceptionally short lead times even amid the rush. Therefore, farms that wish to secure their housing for calves early on in the season can also have their Agri Span setups ready in a couple of days.
- Leverage the expertise of a provider specialising in calf housing in the UK
With a little bit of professional advice and some careful consideration, you’ll be able to secure the perfect shelter for calving on your farm in time while staying ahead of the seasonal rush.
Agri Span is a fantastic investment for commercial farms that are looking to improve growth rates, reduce their use of antibiotics, or produce healthier calves this season. Contact a member of our team today and you can have your Agri Span installed in just a few days, well in time for calving season.
With professional help and expert-led insights from the team of livestock housing specialists at McGregor Agri who have built a solid track record and reputation for supplying the ultimate shelters for housing cattle and calves, you too can conveniently find the ideal shelter to house your birthing cows and newborn calves comfortably.
James Noble
Farm Manager, Heckfield Place
We found that in traditional barns we had 7-month-old calves reaching 115 kilos but in Agri Span they were reaching the 150 kilos mark within sixteen weeks