Photos: Farmer houses beef cattle in poultry sheds

Herefordshire beef farmer Mervyn Thomas has intrepidly converted a redundant poultry shed into cattle housing. 

The vast area has been transformed into a 17-bay cattle shed which accommodates his whole herd of 100-suckler cows. 

The mammoth task included taking out all of the concrete plinths, crushing 500t of concrete and relaying a cement floor. He also had to take out the side walls and replace them with concrete and Yorkshire boarding. 

He says the design has proved beneficial to animal health, with existing poultry fans being left in to aid air movement. 

“I left the insulation in the roof but opened up the apex of the roof to let the air out. Because it is smooth underneath the air flows really well,” which he says creates a stack effect, with hot air rising through the roof and drawing fresh into the building from side inlets.