Building a Horse barn??

[landis1659]

I only have a one Saanen goat and some chickens right now, in a 10x10 barn. But I can't keep the goat from eating the chicken feed and I heard it can be bad for her. So were looking into building a barn for the goats (she's gonna have kids soon). But thinking ahead a couple years we want to get a horse or 2. So we want to build a barn that would house the goats and horses. Possiably 3 12x12 stalls. What should we use for the floors, walls, etc. How tall should we go? Thinking about ceiling fans?? And storage overhead for hay? *Can we even keep goats & horses together?? How strong do the stalls need to be? Is it better for inclosed, we live in Central AL but it does get really cold hear sometimes. Most important we only have 2 acres fenced in right now with some trails outside of that for riding. What do you think of our situation. Is it possiable to have a couple horses and maybe 4-5 Dairy goats living together (Don't forget the 15 or so free range chickens. Am I going over board??

 

[fadetopurple]

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[ducks4you]

Get online and check out Universities websites that have AG Departments. Many have online plans for barns. I can offer a few pieces of advice:
1) separate room for grain that can be shut with an animal-proof closure
2) allow access to your grain room for cats--either design it for their access, or create a cat-door
3) store grain in METAL containers--galvanized steel trash cans (BUT NEW) with lids keep out mice
4) plan on big stalls, 10 x 10--no smaller than 8 x 10 (I have one of those)--so that you can consider a large horse in the future, or house a large horse NOW
5) Hay lofts above the stalls get a bad wrap BUT, if your hay has been cured right, it NEVER gets wet in a loft--WATCH out for weight capacity if you do this--think: build for 2x the weight you intend to hold (This is the rule used in the building/road construction industry.)
6) JUST like on BYC, have as many windows as possible for air circulation
7) Separate Tack Room with a door--tack can be REALLY expensive--don't let your horse's break it! You can start with a room and some tack stands, if necessary. You can also store turnout sheets/coolers, polo wraps/shipping boots, trailer ties, extra halters/leads, etc. in your tack room.
8) Build with as much WOOD as possible--LOTS cooler in the summer, LOTS warmer in the winter EVERYWHERE (not just in the North)
9) **Most important: Visit barns in your area and ask what they like and dislike

 

[lupinfarm]

www.dencosheds.ca

I think from what you've told us, this sort of thing would be best for you! They're great for small acreages and there are plenty of companies that make them in the US for much cheaper than Denco does here. Actually, they're pretty simple to make. It's basically a run-in shelter with 4 sides instead of 3 and some doors and windows

http://www.dencosheds.ca/dencosheds/proofsheet/IMG_0289.jpg

Many of the ones in the US will build in an 8x10 tack room/feed room too! Very cool IMO. And since they're skid barns and technically not fixed you may not need a permit depending on where you live.

 

[lupinfarm]

Often you see them with an A roof and on one side there is a hatch/window for the horse and on the other the dutch doors. With most American companies you can request an overhang too and use it as an area to tack up.

 

[ducks4you]

Try NOT to store your "leather" tack in the same place as your grain. If you GET mice, they'll chew on the leather saddles, too!!
**ducks4you hugs her sweet kitty, "Favorite" who owns the barn and eats all of the nasty mice there!!!**

 

[lupinfarm]

Yes! I don't like to store my tack in the barn anyway. With us, our little tack area down at the barn is mearly to store brushes, halters, and some training bridles and saddle pads. My saddle will always be kept at the house unless by some freakish happening I end up with a lovely barn LOL but its unlikely hahaha.

 

[freemotion]

You said ceiling fans....hmmm...if you do, make your ceilings REALLY high. Think rearing horse. 10 feet is good for a ceiling, I'd go much higher for a ceiling fan. I'd prefer ventilation fans over ceiling fans.

Cold? Horses laugh at the cold! Here in MA, much colder than AL, my older mare lived in a run-in for several years. It was actually a double stall with a removable partition that I kept stored in the rafters. I only closed the door twice....once when we had a blizzard that came in from the south and right into her door, and once when she got an infection in her foot and was on stall rest for a few days.

Go with the biggest stalls you can afford to build. You will never regret big stalls, but you will likely regret small stalls one day.

 

[lupinfarm]

I agree. Generally I like 11x12 stalls, 12x12s aren't always plausible despite only being a 1ft difference. My run in shed in Mylie's paddock is 10x10 and while I'd love for it to have been bigger, it wasn't in the budget at the time. However, I am lucky in that it is a) floating and can be moved if need be and b) there is enough space on one side to add another 10x10 section and make it work.

 

[currycomb]

i had a 36x100x8 stall barn attached to a 50x50x12 barn that was used as a round pen. still didn't have enough room for all the tack(30 yrs accumulation)so...tack went in a portable bldg. with loft, 12x14, and the feed room was another portable bldg 10x20x7. the horses never got accidental access to feed, mice were kept under control with poision inside tack room(cats could only access barn and feed room) when i got married and moved to hubbie's place 27 acres, no barns, the portable bldgs went too and are doing their respective jobs. finally have a garage and barn, hubby built a leanto on the barn for critters. it is working. what i don't like about tack in the barn is the dust. when you clean stalls, rake hallways, you make dust, and it gets in everywhere. by keeping tack in seperate building, saves on the cleaning. you also have a nice wooden floor to sweep. my barn only had dirt and limestone floors. didn't want concrete, slick if horse was to run down it. used rubber mats in aisle for grooming and farrier. would have loved a wash bay, but that just never happened.stalls were 10x12, i like that size for cleaning. the horses seemed to trash the larger stalls, guess they walked around more in the bigger stalls.i boarded horses, there was alot of stall cleaning!!!