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| So i think I know roughly the area of the country you're from and I'm thinking you're a fairly large outfit.
I have mixed feelings on them in today's markets.
My wife my boys and I run 3k head. Third in very well drained and large apron outside lots third in bed pack and third in slat barns
Throw 900lbers in the slats and there isn't a lot to worry about. It you have your sq ft around 27-30. Get tighter and it really can be a bugger with tail issues and feet problems. So really watch that when building salesman say 23-25 sq ft.
If you throw 500lbers on slats it better not be getting cold for a few months. They don't generate enough heat to keep themselves warm or get the manure down through the slats. The smaller calves will just plain finish smaller on slats too. That's why I keep them out of the barn until 900.
Another weird thing I've noticed is if you throw a bigger calf on slats that has been warmed up on feed they kinda fall apart for awhile. We keep them on backgrounding ration until they get in the barn.
Knock on wood we haven't had any hairy heel wart in the barns. I do run some disinfectant every month over the slats.
I built all my barns for under a grand a head. Hearing now they are double that.
The thing as I'm getting older and not wanting to really hire anymore guys is the slat barns take a lot of work out of bedding hauling manure scraping. Even pulling cattle is a lot easier. But at what point is it just not feasible? On a thousand head deal you'd have 2mil wrapped up... I'm betting you could have a dream of an indoor outdoor lot for 2mil and feed a lot more cattle with that money... but then you have to bed and scrape deal with the elements. It's a toss up good luck
Edited by Iowa-beef 7/28/2024 23:03
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Slatted floor confinement buildings for beef cattle
