Tie Stalls for Oxen

[oxdrover7]

I am looking for dimensions for individual tie stalls for my teams. I have a team of Dutch Belts and a team of Holsteins and could potentially have a team of Swiss some day. What would be the ideal dimensions for stalls for a full grown ox. They would mostly be in the stalls just at night and turned out to pasture or a dry lot during the day. Thank you in advance for your assistance.

[Tim Harrigan]

What do you mean by tie stalls? Are you referring to a box stall that you could tie them in if you wish to, or more along the lines of a stanchion?

[oxdrover7]

More along the lines of stanchions. Straw is a pretty scarce commodity around here any more and we thought stanchions with sawdust should keep them cleaner at night with less bedding. Again, we just want to have them tied at night mostly.

[Tim Harrigan]

Are you going to have stall dividers? Made of what? Feed trough in front? Trough for manure in the back? What type of floor?

[mink]

i keep some hereford beef inside in the winter . they have a 2 inch black iron pipe going across in front about waist high . they concrete they stand on is 5 foot 6 and a gutter behind them thats about 18 inches wide , just a little bit wider than a wide flat shovel. i got a hereford bull id say weights 1300 live and he fits just right , they manure falls in the gutter so he dont lay on it. i use 1 drinking cup for every 2 beef then a 2 pipe divider waist high and knee high . then 2 more beef . each stall for 2 is 6 ft 6 wide

[Baystatetom]

I keep my steers in a converted horse stall (box Stall). It is 8’x10′. I used to let them loose in there like a horse but it seamed to use a lot of bedding. I made it so they each have 4X8′ with 2′ in between. I used 4″x4″ to make a railing around them. Their heads stick out into the center isle of the barn (not included in the 4×8′ measure). I like it that way because you don’t have to walk in between them to hook them up. That way if my wife or father in law does chores for me they don’t have to squeeze in beside them.
I will say though that they never got out of the box stall, but with the new system they have broken clips, chains and collars several times now. A mess in the barn and a few days feed is the cost every time.
The other side of the barn has old cow stanchions, but they must have been for skinny little jerseys or something because they won’t halfway close on my steers necks.
~Tom

[oxdrover7]

Thanks for all of the responses. Tim our thought was to use freestall divider loops as partitions since we have access to several of those at the “right price”, meaning free. We were planning a manager in front not sure of the dimensions but thought 2-3 feet. The base would be of limestone screenings with a rubber mat on top sloped from head to tail. There would be no trough in the rear for manure though. Baystate my original thought was approximately 4ft by 8ft but I don’t want to screw this up. I would rather error on the side of too big than to small. From my dairy farm back ground I know that if there is a lunge area up front like the feed trough, it may affect the size. Just not much experience with tie stalls. Thanks again for all of the advice.

[Tim Harrigan]

If you have some experience with dairy free stalls you have a good sense of what you need. One of the key things with width is you do not want them swinging sideways. I am trying to think through scaling up to a full grown Holstein or Swiss and I am just not sure. I am thinking 8 feet might not be enough if you use a brisket board and allow for lunge space. Also, I am picturing my full grown Dutch Belts and I am not sure if 4 feet is enough. Five might be better. If the stalls are not elevated maybe the length is not quite as critical. Can you hold off on building permanent stalls until you have some experience with a full grown team? Not fun tearing them out if they are not right.

[CharlyBonifaz]

numbers for dairy freestalls:
stall length to solid front: 2x rump height
stall length for completely open front: 1,8x rump height
bed length (t0 brisket board): 1,2x rump height
deterrent strap in front open stalls: 0,7x rump height (nothing below this to impede head)
stall width: 2x hook bone/hip width
hope that helps

[Tim Harrigan]

Thanks, Elke. I will check these out based on Will. Holsteins or Swiss will be larger though. By rump height, are you referring to the tail head? Pin bones?

[CharlyBonifaz]

By rump height, are you referring to the tail head?

yes (sorry answer needs 10 characters 😎 )

[oxdrover7]

Thank you all for your help and expertise. I guess we have decided that 5 feet would be the minimum width of the stalls. I just have to compute the appropriate length. The length will not be quite as critical since they will be at one end of the barn and could essentially have the whole length :). As we progress I will keep you all posted.

[Anonymous]

My steers are on vertical steel pipes with a 12″ chains. Bunk in front, gutter at rear, it’s an old dairy barn. My steers lay down off to the side, up close to the bunk, where the bedding is dry. Is that wrong, should they remain perpendicular to the bunk? They both are close together, but they can swing they’re rumps off to the side to lay down. They stay clean, otherwise they’d be in the piddle of the middle.

[Tim Harrigan]

@CharlyBonifaz 31973 wrote:

numbers for dairy freestalls:
stall length to solid front: 2x rump height
stall length for completely open front: 1,8x rump height
bed length (t0 brisket board): 1,2x rump height
deterrent strap in front open stalls: 0,7x rump height (nothing below this to impede head)
stall width: 2x hook bone/hip width
hope that helps

OK, Will is about 64 inches rump height. Some of the bigger breeds like Holstein or Swiss could easily be 4-6 inches taller. So based on Will, and Elke’s stall size guidelines, a reasonable stall for him would be:

Length, solid front: 128 inches
Length w/ open front: 115 inches
Length to brisket board: 77 inches
Height of barrier in front of open stalls: 45 inches
Stall width: 54 inches

These seem reasonable, the only one that seems odd to me is the 77 inch length to the brisket board. That seems like a lot of lunge space to the front of the stall. Elke, can you check that just to make sure that 1,2 x rump height guideline is correct?

[CharlyBonifaz]

@Tim Harrigan 32363 wrote:

These seem reasonable, the only one that seems odd to me is the 77 inch length to the brisket board. That seems like a lot of lunge space to the front of the stall. Elke, can you check that just to make sure that 1,2 x rump height guideline is correct?

.
been checking, and think those numbers are ok since it also says:
neck rail forward location: 1,2x rump height (directly above brisket board)
the only other thing important was: nothing to impede with head bob when getting up
info is from an aabp-conference about 5 years ago

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