Fabric-Covered Calf Barns

Whether you are raising them for veal production or to become future dairy cows, your calves need warmth and shelter from the elements. They also need conditions that keep their stress levels in check and promote their ongoing well-being.

In the rapidly evolving agriculture industry, fabric structures are popular for housing livestock. They take advantage of the natural environment to keep animals healthy, safe, and productive. Calhoun’s fabric-covered barns make ideal calf sheds. Learn more about the benefits of fabric-covered buildings for calves and how they help you raise a healthy herd.

How to Raise Healthy Calves

Calf management is important for the overall health and well-being of your herd. While there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution to raising healthy calves, there are best practices to follow to protect your animals:

1. Healthy calves need healthy housing. A calf barn should have adequate airflow and must protect the calves from rain, sun, and wind. It should also provide easy access to food and water while allowing animals to move freely. Sufficient space is critical to maintaining air quality in calf barns, and pens should provide a minimum of 35 square feet of bedded space per calf.
2. To keep the spread of disease to a minimum, keep calves of different ages in different areas. If there are more than four months between calves, they shouldn’t live in the same part of the barn together. After weaning, you can group calves by size or age in groups of up to five. In larger groups, calves are more prone to respiratory diseases.
3. Calves need excellent ventilation, controlled temperatures, and plenty of shade. When they get too much sun, calves become heat-stressed and often stop eating, potentially to the point of starvation. However, access to some light is important for increasing milk yields. The ideal temperature for calves is 60 degrees Fahrenheit, though temperatures between 50 and 85 degrees may be acceptable. Proper ventilation is critical for calves’ overall health. When airflow is weak or limited, dust, moisture and microorganisms accumulate in the barn as low airflow increases the risk of disease and causes the humidity level to climb, which may result in foot rot if the conditions are sufficiently moist. The buildup of dust and microorganisms may affect calves’ feed intake and make them more susceptible to respiratory illnesses. Limited airflow also causes humidity levels in the barn to increase to suboptimal levels.

Benefits of Calhoun’s Calf Barn Coverings

You want to create optimal conditions for your herd’s healthy growth, and fabric calf barn structures are gaining popularity. Calhoun’s fabric-covered calf barns create safe living quarters for young cows. Your customization options are limitless, and we build our structures based on your exact specifications. Other benefits of using a fabric-covered structure as a calf shed include:

Excellent Ventilation and Lighting

The fabric on our structures encourages airflow, so your calves will have the clean air they need to thrive and remain in good health. Offering up to 16% translucency on non-fire-retardant fabric and 19% on fire-retardant fabric, the fabric also allows plenty of natural light to enter the barn. This contributes to lower stress levels without exposing calves to too much sunlight.

Fabric calf barns encourage natural airflow while shielding the calves from inclement weather. Our fabric structures naturally have better ventilation than traditional concrete alternatives, and we offer numerous options to improve airflow throughout your calf barn, including chimney vents and wall vents. Calves will have the clean air they need to thrive, and you’ll control their environment and reduce the likelihood of respiratory diseases.

Temperature Regulation

Calves do best in relatively cool temperatures. However, when temperatures dip too low — below 50 degrees — calves experience reduced feed efficiency since they begin to convert the energy they get from food to warmth rather than using it to grow. Newborns absorb colostrum more slowly in colder temperatures.

When temperatures creep above 85 degrees, calves start to eat less. They may also sweat more and breathe more heavily to cool down. All of these factors reduce their growth rates.

A fabric-covered barn gives you more control over the temperature, keeping hot or cold outside air out. Calhoun’s fabric structures are thermally non-conductive, meaning heat transfer occurs slowly. Even on a hot or humid day, the interiors are less susceptible to humidity. Additional HVAC and insulation options regulate temperatures further.

The fabric also improves airflow and provides shade, which helps your calves maintain a healthy temperature.

Weatherproof Fabric

Moisture exposure affects air temperature and may contribute to decreased air quality if it results in mold or mildew growth. A fabric-covered shelter is weatherproof and capable of keeping out rain and snow.

Free-Span Interiors

A free-span interior provides a wide open expanse of space inside the structure. This design provides the flexibility and freedom to set up your calf shed as you wish without having beams or posts get in the way. It’s important to keep calf hutches far from each other to reduce the spread of disease, and a free-span interior provides you with the space your calves need to thrive.

Durability

You want a structure that will last. Calhoun’s fabric-covered calf barns feature frames made of hot-dip galvanized steel, which resists corrosion and is engineered for longevity. We also provide the option to make our structures with fire-resistant fabrics to give your calves an additional layer of protection.

We boost durability with a site-specific analysis to ensure your structure is weather-resistant. As the surrounding terrain and structures impact the effects of the elements, we assist with placement and material choice to align your structure with the conditions in your specific location.

Reduced Costs

The structure you use to house your calves helps you control costs. The right housing increases calves’ growth rate and helps you control veterinary expenses. Plus, a non-conductive fabric will assist with keeping the interior cool in the summer and warm in the winter, so you maintain control of your heating and cooling costs. Additionally, fabric structures require less maintenance than traditional barns, so you save money on repairs.

Sustainability

Through our fabric partner, NovaShield, Calhoun uses the first membrane structure fabric in the world to have achieved Cradle to Cradle (C2C) certification. Our fabric structures are designed for energy efficiency — their translucent nature allows light to penetrate and eliminates the need for artificial lighting during the day.

Trust Calhoun Super Structure for Fabric-Covered Calf Barns

Housing is essential for calf welfare and provider profitability. Calhoun helps you with standard and custom structures for any setup if you want to upgrade your calf barn. Since 1992, we’ve provided the agriculture industry with expertly engineered fabric structures for strength and longevity.

Our dedication to customer service sets us apart. We perform a site-specific analysis on every structure we produce, incorporating unique design elements to create robust, resilient structures that work with nature to lower your overall costs. Our strength is in our structure, so request a quote and start your journey toward more sustainable, cost-effective farming today!