Show steer pen layout help

[Tacobug52]

I will hopefully be getting a show steer next year but I need a bit more space in my barn for him so I drew out the lay out of my barn to get so feedback on it. I can’t move the pig pen, my dad wants to convert the tack room into a wash room so I think I can do that. But keep in mind that I am on a budget so nothing to big please, thanks for helping in advance

 

[JessicaAaron]

Sure, I'd be happy to help with that.

 

[Tacobug52]

Sure, I'd be happy to help with that.

I actually think I figured it out here’s my design

 

[SageHill]

I actually think I figured it out here’s my design View attachment 110697

7x6 seems small if you’ll have more than one head. @farmerjan would have better info on that.

 

[Tacobug52]

7x6 seems small if you’ll have more than one head. @farmerjan would have better info on that.

Im only doing one steer but I might make it a bit bigger

 

[farmerjan]

7x6 is not as big as 2 sheets of plywood laid on the ground next to each other... which are 8x8.... how much time is this steer going to be in this pen? That's barely enough room for him to turn around in and lay down. If he stays in here very long, you will be cleaning it out constantly, he will not get much exercise and when he does get out into the pasture, he will run and want to stay out for the movement. If this is a place to bring him in, to tie and to feed and brush etc., but not to confine for long periods of time, then it should be adequate.
Think of it this way... it is barely big enough for a 6 ft man to lay day on the floor in either direction... 200 lbs flat out on the floor....
A king size bed is about 6x7 ft... not so big an area unless it is not intended to be used except for penning up for short periods of time... kept in for a few hours etc...feeding and such.
Not being critical. It will do for using it, it will not do for long times to be kept in.
I built a "barn" for my horse when a teenager for my first horse. My dad helped... we sank telephone poles in for corners...8x16... horse got 8x10 and feed/tack room was 6x8. I had sheets of marine plywood available... it worked fine, she was only kept in for short periods of time... or when I washed her before a show and bedded with straw so she would stay clean... BUT ... horse manure is not loose like cattle manure... Kept door to stall open so she could come and go into her "pasture".... Served her well for several years...

 

[Tacobug52]

7x6 is not as big as 2 sheets of plywood laid on the ground next to each other... which are 8x8.... how much time is this steer going to be in this pen? That's barely enough room for him to turn around in and lay down. If he stays in here very long, you will be cleaning it out constantly, he will not get much exercise and when he does get out into the pasture, he will run and want to stay out for the movement. If this is a place to bring him in, to tie and to feed and brush etc., but not to confine for long periods of time, then it should be adequate.
Think of it this way... it is barely big enough for a 6 ft man to lay day on the floor in either direction... 200 lbs flat out on the floor....
A king size bed is about 6x7 ft... not so big an area unless it is not intended to be used except for penning up for short periods of time... kept in for a few hours etc...feeding and such.
Not being critical. It will do for using it, it will not do for long times to be kept in.
I built a "barn" for my horse when a teenager for my first horse. My dad helped... we sank telephone poles in for corners...8x16... horse got 8x10 and feed/tack room was 6x8. I had sheets of marine plywood available... it worked fine, she was only kept in for short periods of time... or when I washed her before a show and bedded with straw so she would stay clean... BUT ... horse manure is not loose like cattle manure... Kept door to stall open so she could come and go into her "pasture".... Served her well for several years...

I will be getting him in December and selling him in July, my friend that has raised steers said that the pen is a good size. How we raise steer is that they always have access to a pen to walk around, so the steer can go and get water or walk around his pen at night if he likes. I did think that the shelter was a little small so I wanted to see what you guys thought. What size shelter do you recommend for my fair they have to be at least 1050lbs I don’t know what the max weight would be but we’ve had steers as big as 1784lbs I don’t think there’s a max to be honest . Thanks for trying to help me out I really appreciate it!

 

[farmerjan]

Having access to being in or out should make the pen size work fine. I was thinking he would be confined to it most/all the time. That is adequate for getting in out of bad weather, getting in under shade, feeding etc. Plenty adequate for 6-8 months of use. He will be able to lay down and get up and turn around and all that. Would be plenty big enough for any of my beef cows to be in if they came and went when they wanted outside, and to "lock them in" to feed or tie up to groom or anything like that. I think it will do fine.

 

[Finnie]

How we raise steer is that they always have access to a pen to walk around, so the steer can go and get water or walk around his pen at night if he likes

I’m not sure if I understand you right. Are you saying he gets the 11.5x11.5 pen to walk around in if he wants to leave his 6x7 shelter? 24/7 for 6 months? Or are you saying that’s where he gets locked up at night but during the day he has access to a whole pasture?

 

[Tacobug52]

I’m not sure if I understand you right. Are you saying he gets the 11.5x11.5 pen to walk around in if he wants to leave his 6x7 shelter? 24/7 for 6 months? Or are you saying that’s where he gets locked up at night but during the day he has access to a whole pasture?

Hi Finnie!
So he will be able to leave his shelter whenever same with going in all throughout the day and night. He will be a show steer so when I get him halter trained I will take him out for walks/training, I do have a large field that’s about 3 acres and I used to have a smaller pen, but when we were keeping some of our friends steers (that where for meat not show) broke down that part of the fence because the last owner didn’t put the fence up right. So overall he will be staying in that pen most of the time, however like I said above I will be taking him out for exercise and such. If my dad ends up fixing that fence for the smaller pen I do plan on turning him out there for a few hours each day. I will also be raising him to auction off because at my fair we have to show to sell, so I will have to balance it out so he can make weight. Unfortunately the FFA steers are kept in a smaller pen at the school and half that pen is a shelter that can just barely keep a full grown steer, it’s the same with commercial meat cows. I hope this helps you understand better if you have any other questions let me know please keep in mind that this will be my first steer so I’ve only done research I don’t have really any experience except helping my friend with hers, so sorry if I got anything wrong. I hope you have a great rest of your day!