DEAS 1097:2022  
ICS 65.120  
 
© EAC 202 2               First Edition 202 2  
DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
 
Cattle feedlot operations — Specification   
  DEAS 1097:2022  
 EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  DEAS 1097 :2022 
© EAC 20 22 – All rights reserved                 iii 
 Foreword  
 
Development of the East African Standards has been necessitated by the need for harmonizing requirements 
governing quality of products and services  in East Africa. It is envisaged that through harmonized 
standardization, trade barriers which are encountered when goods and services are exchanged within the 
Community will be removed.  
 
In order to meet the above objectives, the EAC Partner States have enacted an East African Standardization, 
Quality Assurance, Metrology and Test Act, 2006 (EAC SQMT Act, 2006) to make provisions for ensuring 
standardization, quality assurance, metrology and testing of products produced or originating in a third country 
and traded in the Community in order to facilitate industrial d evelopment and trade as well as helping to 
protect the health and safety of society and the environment in the Co mmunity.  
 
East African Standards are formulated in accordance with the procedures  established by the East African 
Standards Committee. The East African Standards Committee is established under the provisions of Article 4 
of the EAC SQMT Act, 2006. The Committee is composed of representatives of the National Standards 
Bodies in Partner States, together with the representatives from the private sectors and consumer 
organizations. Draft East African Standards are circulated to stakeholders through the National Standards 
Bodies in the Partner States. The comments received are discussed and incorporated before finalization of 
standards, in accordance with the procedures of the Community.  
 
Article 15(1) of the EAC SQMT Act, 2006 provides that “Within six months of the declaration of an East African 
Standard, the Partner States shall adopt, wi thout deviation from the approved text of the standard, the East 
African Standard as a national standard and withdraw any existing national standard with similar scope and 
purpose”.  
 
East African Standards are subject to review, to keep pace with technolog ical advances. Users of the East 
African Standards are therefore expected to ensure that they always have the latest versions of the standards 
they are implementing.  
 
© East African Community 2021  — All rights reserved* 
East African Community  
P O Box 109 6  
Arusha  
Tanzania  
Tel: 255 27 2504253/8  
Fax: 255 -27-2504481/2504255  
E-Mail: eac@eachq.org  
Web: www.each.int  
 
 
                                                      
* 2021  EAC — All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved worldwide for EAC Partner States’ NSBs. 
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS 1097 :2022 
 
1               © EAC 202 2 – All rights reserved  
 Cattle feedlot operations — Specification  
1 Scope  
This Draft East Afri can Standard specifies requirements for cattle feedlot. It includes space 
requirement, feeding and watering facilities . 
2 Normative references  
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated 
references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced 
document (including any amendments) applies.  
3 Terms and definitions  
For the purposes of this standard, the following terms and definitions shall apply.  
3.1 
feedlo t  
land area with its physical facilities used for cattle fattening  under controlled conditions   
 
4 Location  
4.1 The location shall conform to the land use plan of the area.  
4.2 The site shall be accessible to service roads, water and power  supply .  
4.3 The site shall be on an open  ground that allows free air circulation.  
4.4 The site shall be well drained.  
4.5 The building shall be constructed in an east -west orientation and the structure for 
marketable animals shall be located near the service road.  
The feedlot pen shall be rectangular. T he area for the shed  shall have its long sides 
on a North-South orientation and the holding facility for marketable animals shall be 
located near the service road  
4.6 The site shall be located where the prevailing winds  will not carry odors to the 
farmhouse  and the residential settlement .  
  
 
© EAC 202 2 – All rights reserved               2 
 5 Space requirement s  
The recommended minimum floor space requirement for cattle is shown in Table 1 .  
Table 1 – Floor space requirement for cattle  
Animal category  
(according to weigh t) Minimum l ot/loafing  area per 
animal  
m2  Maximum 
shed area 
m2 Maximum f eeder 
space  
cm 
Less than 200 kg,    
10   2 
   50 
Between 200 – 400 kg 
   
15  2.5    70  
Greater than 400 Kg ,   
25   3   80 
 
7 Structural requirement  
7.1 Floor  
7.1.1 Concrete floor s shall be skid resistant. The minimum floor thickness shall be 76 mm with 2 % – 
4 % slope towards the drainage.  
7.1.2 If the floor is earth lot, it shall have a slope of 4  % – 7 %. 
7.2 Roof  
7.2.1  Adequate roofing shall be provided over the feeder space to  protect against rain and 
excessive heat from the sun.  
7.2.2  The roof slope shall not be less than 25  %. If roofing is made of indigenous materials, the 
minimum roof slope shall be 58  %. 
7.2.3  The minimum height of the top of the roof beam shall be 2.2 m from the floor.  
7.3 Pen wall  
7.3.1  Pen walling and post shall be preferably made of G.I. pipes schedule 40. The diameter of 
vertical and horizontal railing member of the pen wall shall be at least 50 mm and 75 mm for the post. 
D -55. Other building and fenc ing materials that meet desired strength for cattle containment may be 
used to construct the holding pen. Poles embedded into the ground should be termite resistant or 
treated against the same .  
7.3.2  The maximum center to center spacing between vertical r ailing members shall be 2 m and 
for horizontal railing member, spacing shall be 400 mm.  
7.3.3  The maximum center to center spacing between post shall be 2 m and shall be embedded in a 
concrete pedestal with a minimum depth of 400 mm.  
7.3.4  Each post shall be provided with 150 mm concrete protectors.  
7.3.5  The pen shall be 1. 5 m – 1.6 m high.   
© EAC 202 2 – All rights reserved               3 
 7.3.6  Fittings and internal surfaces of the pens shall be free from sharp edges or projections to avoid 
injury to the animals.  
7.3.7  Paints that may be toxic to anima ls shall not be used on surfaces accessible to them.  
 8 Functional requirement s 
8.1 Pen size Pen width should be adequate to provide the required trough length and standing space 
for the number and size of cattle being fed in the pen.  
8.2 Pen Facilities  
8.2.1 Feeding trough  
8.2.1.1 Feeding trough shall be placed   on a higher gradient  of the feeding area .  
8.2.1.2 Inside surfaces of the feeding trough should be smooth and it should have rounded corners to 
facilitate cleaning.  
 8.2.1.3 The dimension of th e feed trough should be 400 mm depth, 450 mm – 700 mm bottom width 
and 700 mm – 900 mm top width   
8.2.1.4 The inside floor  bed of the trough should be 150 mm above the level of the apron to facilitate 
natural feeding stance.  
8.2.1.5 Feeding trough shall b e provided with horizontal rail to restrain the animals from stepping into 
the trough. The height from the pen floor should be 1 .1 m - 1.2 m.  
8.2.1.6 The pen side of th e feeding troughs shall be provided with concrete or gravel packing aprons 
to provide st rong footing floor while the animals are feeding, and improve sanitation, if the pen has an 
earth floor. The minimum length of the concrete aprons shall be 2 m. 
  
8.2.2 Watering facility  
8.2.2.1  Water troughs should be made of concrete or galvanized metal tanks. Float activated valve 
should be provided to regulate the water level.  
8.2.2.2 The water troughs shall be provided with concrete or gravel pack ing aprons to provide strong 
footing and improve sanitation and keep the water clean, if the pen has an ear th floor. The m inimum 
length of concrete aprons shall be 2 m. 
The water trough should have a stop -cork drainage pipe at the bottom for purposes of cleaning it out . 
One meter length of water trough space should be provided for every thirty cattle   
 
© EAC 202 2 – All rights reserved               4 
 8.2.2.3   The open water tank  of 250mm shall be provided for 8 -10 head.  
8.2.2.4  If automatic waterer is used, one automatic waterer should be provided for 15 animals and it 
should be placed at a height of 1m . 
8.2.3   Lighting  
8.2.3.1 The housing shall be provided with  lighting intensity of 200 lux   
8.2.3.2 All electrical installations shall be inaccessible to all animals   
  
8.3 Loading chute  
8.3.1 The Loading chute should be provided , and should be oriented so as to minimize   bright 
sunlight. The width shall be 700 mm – 800 mm. 
 
8.3.2 A catwalk on one side of the chute should be provided to allow the handler to direct the catle to 
the desired loading/offloading direction  
 
8.3.3 Loading chute should be provided with telescoping side panels and a self -aligning dock bu mper.  
 
8.3.4 The chute should be provided with loading ramp with a level -loading surface of about 1.5 m 
wide to walk on or off the truck. The height of loading ramp for different types of vehicle is shown in 
Table 2.  
8.4 Loading ramp  
8.4.1 Loading ramp flo or shall have cross battens every 200 mm to prevent slipping.  
 
8.4.2 Ramp should have a slope of 30%.  
Table 2 – Ramp height for different vehicles  
S/N Vehicle  Height  
m 
i Gooseneck trailer  0.4 
ii Pick-up van 0.7 
iii Van-type truck  (7 ton - 20 ton 
truck)  1.0 
iv Tractor trailer  1.2 
v Double deck  2.5 
 
 
8.4.3   The slope of the permanently installed ramp shall not exceed 36%. For portable or 
adjustable loading chute, slope shall not exceed 47%.  
  
8.4.4   If stair -stepped concrete ramps are provided, each ste p should have 90 mm – 100 mm rise 
and 300 mm tread width. The step surface shall be roughened.  
  
© EAC 202 2 – All rights reserved               5 
 8.5 Passage (if necessary)  
The central alley or the driveway should be elevated and shall have a minimum width of 3 m if 
vehicles are allowed to enter within t he building and it shall have a solid base.  
8.6 Weighing scale  
Platform weighing scale should be provided.  
 
8.7 Drainage  
The gutter shall have a minimum width of 460 mm and a minimum depth of 200 mm. The roof above 
should have a water collection gutter  and the pen should slope away from the feed trough for further 
rain water drainage . 
8.8 Feed storage  
Storage sheds for all feedstuffs ; hay, grain, mineral salt  shall be provided to keep feed safe from rain, 
direct sunshine, moisture and rodents , and be i naccessible to animals. Feed stuff shall be placed on 
top of pallets, protecting  them from direct contact with the floor.  
9  Waste disposal  
Feedlot waste disposal should comply with existing regulations on waste management of the 
respective Partner State.  DEAS 1097    
  
© EAC 202 2 — All rights reserved