The Autumn Housing Countdown: 10 Jobs Worth Doing Before Cattle Come Inside

Autumn housing has a habit of arriving quickly.

One week cattle are still out comfortably; the next, persistent rain, falling temperatures or ground conditions mean housing moves straight to the top of the job list.

That is why preparing cattle housing for winter is worth doing before the pressure is on.

A relatively small repair, blocked drain or bedding problem is much easier to deal with in an empty shed than with a full group of cattle standing around you.

A few hours spent checking housing now can help make the transition indoors smoother for cattle and staff, while reducing the risk of avoidable problems appearing during the busiest months of the year.

So, before the gates close on another grazing season, here are 10 jobs worth ticking off.

1. Walk the sheds as if the cattle were arriving tomorrow

Start with a proper walk-through of every building that will be used this winter.

Not a quick look from the doorway. Walk the cubicles, passages, collecting areas, feed spaces and handling routes and look for anything that has deteriorated since the cattle went out.

Pay particular attention to:

• damaged cubicle divisions
• loose or damaged fittings
• worn or uneven cubicle surfaces
• sharp edges or protrusions
• damaged gates and barriers
• doors that no longer open or secure properly
• areas of corrosion
• damaged concrete
• anything that could restrict cattle movement

Minor defects have an inconvenient habit of becoming bigger jobs once a shed is occupied.

Where possible, repair them while you still have room to work safely and without disrupting the herd.

It is also worth looking at the building from the cow’s point of view. Can cattle enter, turn, feed, drink, lie down and move through the building comfortably? Housing that worked last year may not necessarily work as well this year if group sizes or stocking arrangements have changed.

2. Check floors, passages and drainage

A dry cubicle is only one part of keeping housed cattle clean. The condition of passages and drainage around them matters too.

Check high-traffic areas for damaged or excessively worn surfaces, particularly around water troughs, feed barriers, crossings, collecting yards and entrances.

Look at where water and slurry actually travel.

Are drains clear? Are channels working as intended? Are there low spots where liquid collects? Does rainwater enter the building anywhere it should not?

Once cattle are inside and passageways are in constant use, jobs involving drainage or concrete become much more awkward.

Good housekeeping around passages also supports the bedding system. If cattle are continually walking through unnecessarily wet or dirty areas before entering cubicles, keeping beds clean becomes harder regardless of the bedding being used.

3. Give empty housing a thorough clean

If there is an opportunity to thoroughly clean cattle accommodation before housing, use it.

Remove accumulated organic material from cubicles, walls, passages, corners, trough surrounds and other areas that are difficult to tackle once buildings are occupied.

Where a farm uses a cleaning and disinfection programme, follow the product manufacturer’s instructions and the farm’s own veterinary or hygiene protocols.

Pay attention to the places that are easily missed: behind water troughs, around posts, underneath barriers and in corners where material has accumulated.

Allowing cleaned areas sufficient time to dry where practical is also worth considering.

The aim is simple: start the housing period with the environment in the best practical condition rather than carrying last winter’s dirt straight into this one.

4. Look up: check ventilation before the shed fills

Ventilation problems can be much less obvious in an empty building.

Once the shed is full of cattle producing heat and moisture, shortcomings become easier to spot — but much harder to fix.

Before housing, inspect air inlets and outlets and check that they have not become obstructed or altered. Look for damaged Yorkshire boarding, blocked openings, cobwebs and dust accumulation, or anything else that could restrict airflow.

Think about any changes since last winter too. Have cattle numbers increased? Has the building layout changed? Has an extension or nearby structure altered how air moves around the shed?

Good ventilation is about removing excess moisture, heat and stale air without creating inappropriate draughts at animal level.

If you have recurring concerns about ventilation, particularly in buildings that regularly feel damp or stuffy when fully stocked, it may be worth getting specialist advice rather than accepting it as an unavoidable feature of winter housing.

5. Check every water point

Water trough problems become considerably more urgent when cattle are already housed.

Before they come in, check each trough and water point for cleanliness, condition and operation.

Look at:

• flow and refill performance
• leaks
• damaged fittings
• access around the trough
• drainage around drinking areas
• obvious contamination
• protection against freezing where relevant

Also consider whether the current number and position of drinking points still suit the group that will be using the building.

A leaking trough deserves particular attention. Apart from wasting water, a persistent leak can quickly create a wet area, increase slurry volume and make it harder to keep nearby cattle and bedding clean.

Fix it while the shed is empty rather than adding it to the winter job list.

6. Get feed areas ready for the winter routine

Housing changes the feeding routine overnight, so feed passages and barriers need to be ready from day one.

Check barriers, gates and feed surfaces for damage and make sure the feeding area can be cleaned and managed effectively.

Consider how cattle will access feed, particularly if group sizes have changed.

It is also worth looking beyond the barrier at the practical winter workflow.

Can machinery move through the building easily? Is there enough room to feed without creating unnecessary bottlenecks? Are gates positioned conveniently? Can staff complete routine jobs safely and efficiently?

A five-minute inconvenience repeated every day for five or six months stops being a small inconvenience.

Autumn preparation is a good opportunity to remove some of those frustrations before the daily winter routine begins.

7. Test lights, electrics and the things you normally discover in the dark

Shorter days expose lighting problems remarkably quickly.

Walk through the buildings with the lights switched on and identify failed lamps, poorly lit working areas and damaged fittings.

Pay particular attention to areas where staff need good visibility, including handling facilities, calving areas, feed passages, parlour routes and machinery access points.

Electrical installations in agricultural buildings operate in demanding conditions, so damaged or questionable electrical equipment should be dealt with by a suitably competent person.

While doing the check, think about staff as much as cattle.

Winter housing means more work taking place before sunrise and after dark. Good visibility makes routine jobs, inspections and cattle handling easier and safer.

8. Make sure slurry and manure systems are ready for day one

Once cattle are housed, slurry and manure production becomes part of the daily workload again.

Check scrapers, channels, pumps and other relevant equipment before they are needed continuously.

Clear blockages and make any repairs that are easier with buildings empty.

For farms using mechanical or automatic scrapers, a pre-housing inspection can be particularly worthwhile. Discovering a failure when passages are already full of cattle and slurry is rarely convenient.

Bedding choice and management should also be considered alongside the farm’s manure or slurry system.

The right approach depends on the individual housing setup, handling system and farm management. This is one reason bedding should be considered as part of the whole housing system rather than simply as something put into the cubicle.

9. Work out how bedding will move from store to cow

Before ordering winter bedding, think about more than how much will fit in the shed.

Think about how it will actually be used.

Where will deliveries be tipped or stored? How will the bedding stay protected? What equipment will move it? How frequently will cubicles or bedded areas be replenished? How much staff time does the process take?

The best bedding arrangement on paper can become inefficient if it creates unnecessary handling every day.

Review:

• available dry storage
• delivery access
• distance from storage to housing
• machinery and handling requirements
• application method
• frequency of bedding
• staff time required
• contingency arrangements if access becomes difficult

This is also a good opportunity to look at last winter.

Did you repeatedly run short in one building? Was too much time spent moving bedding? Did the location of the stockpile create extra handling? Was delivery access difficult during poor weather?

Those lessons are useful now. By January, they are simply recurring problems.

10. Calculate your winter bedding requirement before you need it

Bedding is one of those inputs that can be easy to take for granted — until stocks start getting low.

Rather than waiting until cattle are housed, use the pre-housing period to estimate what you are likely to need.

There is no single figure that suits every farm. Requirements will depend on the number and type of cattle, housing system, bedding product, management routine, application rate and length of the housing period.

Start with the basics:

Number of cattle × expected bedding use × anticipated housing period

Then sense-check that figure against what the farm actually used last winter.

If cattle numbers have increased, housing arrangements have changed or the previous winter exposed weaknesses in your bedding routine, adjust accordingly.

Storage capacity matters too.

Some farms have space to hold significant stocks; others need more regular deliveries. Neither approach is automatically right or wrong. The important thing is having a supply plan that suits the farm rather than relying on an urgent order when stocks are nearly gone.

It is sensible to consider a contingency as well.

Prolonged wet weather can bring cattle inside earlier than planned or keep them housed later into spring. Poor weather can also make farm access and deliveries more challenging.

Having some resilience in the bedding plan gives the business more options when conditions change.

Choosing cattle bedding for winter

Bedding choice should fit the farm rather than the other way around.

Consider the cubicle or housing design, manure and slurry handling arrangements, storage, application equipment, labour availability and the farm’s priorities around cleanliness, comfort and moisture management.

Ease of use matters because bedding is not a once-a-year job. During housing, it becomes part of the routine.

A product or system that creates unnecessary handling or does not suit the housing setup can add cost in ways that are not immediately obvious on the purchase price alone.

At Platts Agriculture, we work with livestock farmers using different housing systems and management approaches. The starting point should therefore be understanding the farm and its requirements before deciding on the most appropriate bedding option and winter supply plan.

Autumn Housing Checklist

Before cattle come inside, make time to:

• Walk every shed and repair cubicles, gates and damaged fittings.
• Check floors, passages and drainage.
• Thoroughly clean housing while buildings are empty.
• Inspect ventilation inlets and outlets.
• Clean and test water troughs and fix leaks.
• Check feed barriers, passages and machinery access.
• Test lighting and inspect electrical equipment.
• Service slurry and manure-handling systems.
• Review bedding storage, handling and labour requirements.
• Estimate winter bedding needs and plan supply before stocks become urgent.

A morning spent going through that list now could save considerably more time once the sheds are full.

Don’t wait for the first wet week

There will always be jobs that get pushed back during a busy summer.

The problem with housing preparation is that the window for getting them done comfortably can close very quickly.

Once cattle are inside, repairs become harder, daily workloads increase and problems that were relatively simple in an empty building have to be managed around livestock.

So use the weeks before housing to get ahead.

Walk the buildings. Fix what needs fixing. Check the systems that will soon be working every day. And work out what bedding you are likely to need before the pressure is on.

A smoother winter housing period rarely comes down to one big decision. More often, it is the result of getting a lot of small things right before the cattle walk through the door.