Ready to make the smart choice?
Manage your livestock more efficiently and protect them from the elements.
SmartShelters free stall shelters bridge the gap between indoor and outdoor farming. With a structural-grade DuraSteel frame and heavy-duty ripstop cover, they shield your animals from extreme weather and heat while providing ample ventilation and natural light.
Whether for short-term needs or for longer-term applications, a SmartShelters free stall shelter will help improve cow comfort, health, and productivity.
REQUEST A QUOTE
Free stall shelters are structures that house livestock and provide them with feed and water. Typically designed to house cattle for extended periods, free stall shelters usually include both feed alleys and cow alleys with bedding.
Sheltered free stall barns bring a wealth of benefits, including:
We recommend that your free stall barn provides each cow with at least 10-12m² of floor space and at least 750mm of feed space.
Our free stall barns can feature steel or timber post mounted shelters, available in the following range:
Every SmartShelters free stall barn is custom-made in our Auckland manufacturing facility to meet the needs of farmers across New Zealand. Choose from a range of add-ons, including side eaves for additional coverage and guttering for effective rainwater management.
Contact our team to discuss the most suitable size and layout for your requirements.
With a covered free stall barn design, your animals will be dry and warm all year round, increasing cow comfort and reducing energy spent on staying warm in paddocks during winter — all leading to greater returns in the long run.
Dedicated feed areas and water troughs simplify feeding, while a comfortable resting area with soft bedding gives cows a designated space to rest. The shelter’s clearspan design allows easy access for machinery, lowering time spent on cleaning and maintenance.
Built in Auckland to withstand extreme weather conditions, our cow barns deliver trusted performance with local support and a fast turnaround. With over a century of experience, we’re New Zealand’s first shelter manufacturer.
Our 12-year warranty is the longest in the market and covers both the cover and frame against manufacturing defects. We use only premium construction materials to ensure durability and reliability under New Zealand conditions, giving you peace of mind that our cow barns deliver long-term value.
SmartShelters meet the latest engineering and industry standards, ensuring compliance with building codes and health and safety requirements. We take your environment into our design considerations: whether in the far north or the deep south, our livestock shelters work in any location.
Our main canopy hoop arches are constructed from premium C450-grade structural galvanised steel (square or rectangular profile) with a wall thickness of no less than 4mm. Meanwhile, our PVC-free SMARTSHIELD® structural fabric is the strongest and most robust shelter fabric on the New Zealand market.
We build custom free stalls for dairy cows according to your needs, with customisable spans, lengths, and heights. Choose from an unmatched range of add-ons and upgrades to create a livestock building that grows with your needs.
It’s important to view your free stall barn as an investment for your farm. The right construction will enable you to work smarter and be more productive, while also protecting your livestock from heat stress and improving cow comfort. As such, the lowest initial price isn’t always the lowest price in the long term.
There are a number of factors that will influence the price of your construction, including:
At SmartShelters, we recommend that a free stall barn used for feeding and bedding should offer each cow:
There are two main strategies for managing effluent in a free stall barn: through drainage systems and/or through bedding.
Having a large herd of cattle in the same confined space, each producing around 50 L of waste per day, makes effluent runoff unavoidable. Your free stall shelter will therefore need to be built with drainage in mind, considering both site selection and in-shelter drainage systems.
Smart drainage can efficiently manage effluent runoff, sending it directly to the farm effluent system. SmartShelters free stall shelters are designed for easy maintenance and cleaning, keeping cows healthier and farm hands happier.
See our composting barns to learn more about how bedding can help manage effluent runoff.
It stands to reason that a sheltered herd will be healthier, and a healthier herd will be more productive. That fact aside, the major increase in milk yields occurs when winter milking becomes viable. If you can milk your herd at a time when you previously hadn’t, the benefits of a free stall barn become clear.
But even if you already milk in winter or have no plans to do so, the cost savings that a SmartShelter barn can offer are compelling. Dramatically reduced feed expenditure, a healthier herd, and efficient management can quickly pay back the cost of the barn through savings alone.
Explore our case studies to see how our shelter barns have increased production for farms across New Zealand, or contact a member of our team today to discuss a truly smart shelter solution for your property.
Protect what matters with New Zealand-made shelters built on 100 years of trusted expertise. Contact us today!
You must enable JavaScript to submit this form
