Feedlot Covers & Dairy Sheds
Protect the health, welfare and
performance of your cattle.
Trusted by dairy and cattle farmers across Australia.
Features designed to suit your requirements.
We’ve become leaders in our field simply because we listen to our customers, we will discuss with you all the features that you may not have thought of for increased efficiency to give you the best outcome.
Canopies & verandahs
Ventilation
Concrete panels
Doors
Stormwater
Natural light
LED lighting
Walkways
Feedlot covers designed to protect your livestock.
From small to large scale commercial operations. Our team have designed some of the largest feedlot covers in the country. Improving operations and the health of livestock has meant an increase in productivity and profitability. From stockyard sale covers to huge operational feedlot covers our team has delivered some of the largest stockyard projects across South Australia.
Naracoorte regional livestock exchange
Naracoorte
Stock yard sale cover
17760m2
The project
What we delivered
- Construct a cover that protects the existing yard infrastructure
- Harvest stormwater from site and enable reuse in a truck wash
- Prioritise airflow and ventilation, to be well maintained
- Roof design considered with emphasis on acoustics and noise level
Mayura Station Feedlot
Millicent
Feedlot cover
11560m2
The project
A new feedlot cover was installed at Mayura Station to enhance cattle productivity and comfort. This advanced shade structure provides essential protection from harsh weather while ensuring optimal ventilation. By improving airflow and shielding livestock from the elements, the cover enhances well-being and feed conversion rates, supporting more efficient and effective feedlot operations.
What we delivered
- The project was installed while the facility was still in full operation
- Constructed on a green field site
- Designed to house over 2000 wagyu cattle
- Feedlot structure resulted in the increase of all year round weight gain of cattle
Enjoy a world of protection and
flexibility for your livestock.
When you build with Spanlift you’re building for the future. Our objective is a provide world-class cattle livestock infrustructure, improving your facilities to make your operations as productive and flexible as possible. Benefits of what your can expect are:
- Improved working conditions with better workflow
- Provide a safer working environment for your staff and livestock
- Better protection for your livestock and workers
- Protection from the elements increasing workflow processors
- Gain greater productivity with increased efficiency in design
- Coordinate working schedules and process activities
- Systemise your workflow and productivity
- Improve ventilation and insulation and unloading
- Enjoy more profitability and flexibility
- Ease of access for loading and unloading
Design objectives for feedlot covers.
Constructing a cattle stockyard cover involves a blend of practicality, durability, and animal welfare considerations. The design should provide shelter from extremely harsh weather while ensuring ease of operation for livestock handlers. Within the design of these structures, we go beyond the structure to gain a comprehensive understanding of animal welfare and workflow operations to comprehensively create a design that ensures your investment will last for generations to come.
Size and Layout
The size of the stockyard cover should accommodate the number of cattle intended to be housed comfortably. It should also allow for efficient movement of animals and handlers to minimise stress on animals.
Natural light and ventilation
Roofs are engineered to provide adequate protection from sun, rain, and wind. But must also provide sufficient airflow and maximise natural lighting. Proper ventilation is crucial to prevent heat stress in summer and minimise odors.
Workflow efficiency
Internal infrastructure
For optimal functionality, it is imperative to have a clear understanding of the internal infrastructure. This is dependent on understanding operator safety and animal welfare are major considerations in the overall structure.
Maximising workflow operations.
Loading and unloading:
The layout should include designated areas for loading and unloading cattle safely. This may involve ramps or chutes to guide animals into and out of the stockyard cover effectively. Transport and trucks moving in and out of the facility.
Feeding and watering:
Adequate space should be allocated for feed and water troughs to ensure all animals have access. Automated feeding systems can reduce labour requirements and ensure consistent nutrition.
Cleaning and waste management:
Proper drainage systems are essential for managing waste and maintaining hygiene. Regular cleaning schedules should be implemented to prevent buildup of waste and reduce disease risks.
Cattle movement:
It is imperative to understand cattle movement and flow throughout different sections of the shelter from watering and feeding to bedding. These are just some of the details we explore.
Improve your milking operations
with custom designed dairy sheds.
We share the same values as our customers stability, longevity and structural integrity.
Designing dairy sheds for dairy farmers across SA since 2006.
40m x 15m x 4.5
34m x 15 x 4.5m
40m x 12m x 4.5m
Designing your dairy shed to maximise your operations.
A rotary dairy will ensure you can milk large numbers of cows at once and can come in a variety of sizes to suit your operational needs. We help you design systems will essentially ensure each cow has its own space to preventing herd hierarchy during milking.
Some features in the design include:
- Superior corrosion protection with non-threaded wind bracing, butt join purlins and hot dipped galvanised trusses and columns
- Placement of wall girts to ensure there is minimal bedding material accumulating against wall girts which can result in premature corrosion
- Lining the bottom section of your internal walls to enable fast and effective wash down
- Purpose built sliding doors and milk tanker access doors
- Sliding door systems with no floor track to trip over
- Unique ventilation systems designed as part of the building to minimise heat, methane and ammonia build-up
- A building-sized to suit your dairy platform
- Column protector systems to prevent animal bruising
Resources to guide you along the way.
There is no one size fits all for feedlot covers or dairy sheds, these designs need a lot of thought and consultation, our building consultants will discuss with you all aspects and features of your operations to help to help refine your ideas.
Streamlined process ensuring a smooth journey from concept to completion.
At Spanlift, it’s important for us to fully understand what you want to create and how we can add value. We do this by exploring all options and aspects of your project, we provide you with ideas and options you may not have considered.
As a result, we give you a comprehensive, tailor-made solution that fully comprehends what your vision is and provides you with what you need. Over the years we have refined our process that alleviates all the hassle, so you don’t need to worry.
We go the extra mile, because your journey is important to us.
Family owned and operated,
protecting your livestock since 2006.
We share the same values as our customers stability, longevity and structural integrity.
Frequently asked questions.
Any questions you may have our building consultants will be more than happy to assist you.
Natural light is your next best friend after airflow. Think about your new feedlot or cover in the same way as you would your own home. Nice and bright and airy, vs dark and stingy. The more natural light the better, but not at the expense of introducing heat. Spanlift’s vented light ridge is a good option to achieve this result.
Giving livestock shade/shelter has a significant impact on FCR (feed conversion rate) & on milk production. Studies show that consistent milk production in cows in a feedbarn vs ones in the paddock that showed a significant drop that took multiple days to recover. Also the FCR is much higher, especially at the start and end of the lifecycle.
The use of a building dictates the optimum height of a building. As a general statement height is cheap, which helps with clearances of equipment and reduces reflected heat. However when it comes to shelter it's possible to have too much of a good thing and compromise on weather increase. Our consultants will help steer you through this process.
Always start with the end in mind. Equipment is getting bigger, herds are getting bigger, farms are getting bigger, and robotics are coming in. Older buildings are nearly all too small or too low. It’s obviously impossible to predict what the future will be, however, we suggest looking at what equipment the industry leaders are using and make sure that you design to accommodate it so that as the future comes, you can adapt your operation as simply as possible.
Industry insights from Spanlift.
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