How to Build Calf Pens

Small pens are ideal places to keep calves until weaning age, around three months. Newborns will need feed, water, milk and shelter, and you should keep them isolated from each other to prevent them from instinctively nursing on anything that moves. Separating them also helps you to monitor their health and keeps sick ones from infecting others.
Pens should be made so they are easy to move for cleaning. An excellent way to do this is to provide a small house, about 4 feet by 3 feet, and attach a length of wire in a U shape to both sides of the pen.

Things You'll Need

  • 14 feet of 4-foot-high woven wire
  • 1 calf house, 4 feet by 3 feet
  • 6 screws
  • 1 bottle holder
  • 1 feed pan
  • 1 water pan
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Instructions

  1. Building a calf pen for newborns

    • 1

      Level the ground where the calf pen will go. Place the calf hut--a small box-frame covered in plywood--on one edge of the area. Turn the hut to keep the calf out of the wind yet provide ample exposure to sunlight.

    • 2

      Drill three screws into the frame along each wall leading to the side with the door opening. Attach the wire by bending the end into a U shape and hooking it over the head of each screw. This should secure the wire in the desired shape. The calf should have a yard of about 10 square feet to stand in when not inside the house.

    • 3

      Finish the pen by setting out a bottle holder, water pan and feed pan. Let the calf into the pen by unhooking the wire from the three screws. Lock the calf in by hooking it back on.