Can all my critters live in one barn?

[patandchickens]

We stall our horses daily. Husband calls it "the laying on of the hands". Horses have to follow directions and not allowed free decisions at that time.

They do, yes. Note that this really has nothing whatsoever to do with whether you stall your horses overnight or they live outside at liberty.

I handle the horses daily too, when I am out there doing chores and so forth, and have never experienced any loss of manners or respect.

Our animals do NOT need 24 hours of daily grazing, which can create it's own problems.

Horses can't be left to grraze 24 hrs a day on unusually lush and well-manage pastures, or if they are founder-prone breeds/individuals. However most horses IME do really really WELL on 24 hours on typical pasture. Note that the horses are not grazing continually (they take long siestas or just stand there watching the world go by), and they do not normally get fat.

For the relatively few "goldfish" who do pig out, all you have to do is keep them on poorer pasture or in a drylot overnight, where they still get all the benefits of free movement.

Indeed this works fine even for laminitis patients... you just have to keep them drylotted and hay them, rather than have them subsist on grazing. So even previously-foundered horses can MOST CERTAINLY be kept outside, loose, 24 hrs a day, and in my observation generally benefit from it.

Free 24-hr-a-day movement is what horses' bodies evolved doing, it is what they are best designed for, it keeps them fitter, and it keeps them healthier. With hardly any exceptions. Horses are not designed well for forced inactivity for 8 or 12 hours a day, as when stalled overnight (and no, turning around in a 12x12 stall is not exersize )

Just sayin'. It's a very, very legitimate option to consider. Even many "athlete" horses are kept this way. Yer basic backyard horse certainly can be, and IMO usually should.

Stalling or penning for easier to controlled feeding of any grains, hay portions, makes sure they get what you serve them, not distracted away. You could lead them to stall, feed, let them out again in an hour. Minimal cleanup.

Very true, and a good arrangement if you have many or difficult animals. And HAVING a stall for each horse is pretty important.

Honestly though, for whatever it's worth, I have found that it is less time and work and instils better manners in the horses, to feed them whatever concentrate or supplements they're getting while they are outside. Mine know where their feedtubs go (I am not really "feeding" them per se, but they get some ration balancer about 8 months a year because I can't always get real top-grade hay), they wait their turn for their own tub to be put down and then they stand there and eat peacefully. While they're doing this, I can check their feet, give them whatever once-over or checkup they need, and then stay nearby doing poo pickup duty til they are done. (If I am not nearby, eventually the pony figures out that he can mooch other peoples' food, but if I am there to tell him not to, order is maintained )

Mind you I'm totally not arguing that feeding at liberty is necessarily superior to putting them in for a half hour or whatever; I don't see much of a difference overall; I'm just pointing out that feeding at liberty is another good option for the o.p. to consider.

Frost free hydrant needs the water line run from house deep in the ground and you have to put drainage so hydrant can drain after shutoff. This can mean a BIG hole for pea gravel fill as drainage, and deep, so you it is below the frost line to stay liquid for draining.

Oh yes! Very very very important!

Also, it is a good idea to put your barn water either on an outside wall (in a not very cold climate) or under only-GRAVEL surfaces, not concrete. Because if you lay concrete slab over top of the waterline, and around the frostfree hydrand, that is just the great big Kick Me sign for having something occur that requires you to dig it up. Which is even less fun when there need to be jackhammers involved

You want aisle to be big enough to drive thru with a truck.

For a 20x30 barn for just a couple horses or cows, this is really not so much of an issue IMO. You would lose a huge proportion of space having a 12' wide aisle going straight through; and if it doesn't go all the way thru, then you are only saving yourself maybe 10-15' of carrying stuff. Totally different for a bigger barn, of course.

Be careful of the Cherry Hill books, though -- they are aimed at keeping horses in one certain particular way, and may not be a good match for everyone's needs.

Oh, a very very very very important thing to plan into your new barn: excellent drainage around the barn, and excellent footing around the barn. Seriously. It needs to be on SIGNIFICANTLY high ground so there is no chance of flooding (especially from rain and melt when there are still snowbanks around), and the downspouts need to lead significantly away.

And it is very very very very worthwhile to spend the money to replace all the topsoil for at least 15' around the barn with roadbase or something like that, to be more mud resistant. In nearly all cases, the ground right around the barn will get badly thrashed by feet/tires/hooves and particularly if you are moving animals from barn to pasture and back every single day, the area will get badly churned up and horribly muddy. Amending the footing before you even PUT animals on it will do a lot to reduce your work to fix mud later on. Same goes for any run-in sheds (shelters) you may eventually build in paddocks, btw

GOod luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[patandchickens]

My hubby also planned to put a wall between the 2 stalls that would slide. He still says we're only getting one horse. (sshh. don't burst his bubble) So he says we'll slide the wall to make one side bigger for a horse and the other stall will be smaller to be used for something else.

The easiest way to do this is to make removable boards for the divider, that slot into a 'track' on each wall. Track needs to be adequately deep (so that slight bowing of boards when a horse sits against 'em does not spring them out) and/or boards should be screwed into the track when divider is in use, and track should be filled with a piece of 2x4 when empty (for its own protection). But it is really pretty easy and quick to convert, and a good arrangement overall IMO. And requires less space and less engineering than a "sliding" wall.

He is still set on the loft. I myself think it would be safer and easier to just make the barn bigger and store ground level. I pretty much gave up arguing about it with him since he's building it and will be doing most of the heavy lifting

Call your insurance company first, see if there is a significant difference in what they'll charge for your premiums. Sometimes there is!

I was thinking of setting up my barnyard so my critters could go from barn to yard to get some fresh air on the colder days.

Would they not be outdoors like usual, even in the winter?? There is not much you can keep that can't go outside in your winter, really really. Livestock do much better with as much possible fresh air and ability to move around at will.

The only time you may need to keep them in a sacrifice lot rather than loose in the pastures would be when the ground is real muddy. When that is the case, having largeish animals (cattle or especially horses) schmucking all around will ruin your soil and grass, badly, so if you have a well-drained good-footing drylot where they can spend their time, it is very much advantageous. For most of the winter, though, especially the cold parts, your ground will be FROZEN and then there is no reason why they shouldn't have free access to your pastures.

I was currently reading about instead of having one big open rectangle pasture that it would be better to have a 20-30foot wide path around the feild that would keep them moving along better. The auther of this theory stated that it would keep them more excercised and helps wear their hoofs down because they're not just being lazy in one area.

I know some people theorize this, but I have seen enough injuries from horses kept that way (when they get to running in that narrow, sharp-turn or dead-end style corridor) and the cost of fencing is so mcuh higher than for a more normal crossfencing system that I would not recommend it myself.

Since your advice is that I may not be able to keep a horse, goats, and a cow in the same big open pasture; I am thinking I could rotate them. I know this means more work as I'd busy myself having to change them around periodically throughout the day.

No, you'd rotate them over periods of like days or weeks. For instance the horse and cow (if they get along peacefully) might be in paddock A for a week while the goats are in paddock B, with paddocks C and D empty; then after a week maybe the goats have grazed their paddock down and are moved into paddock C, while the horse and cow are moved to paddock D when their grass runs low, and when you move them again in a few weeks, this time the horse and cow go into B while the goats go into A (to take advantage of several aspects of cross-species pasture rotation). Etc.

AND it means alot more fencing and gates to be able to section them off and give access from one section to the next. What's your opinion on this. Sound ridiculous??

Crossfencing can often be just electric fence, unless you have breeding animals (that are hard to confine safely and effectively that way). Gates in electric fencing can be very primitive, if you are not having to move animals through them twice daily. It needn't necessarily be terribly expensive. Then you can remove the electric crossfencing come wintertime, and reinstall in the spring. With step-in posts this is pretty easy.

I am looking into putting my kids into 4H, But wondered if at 8 and 6, maybe they are too young.

I thought 4H didn't start til like 3rd or 4th grade? Not sure, maybe I am wrong.

Pat

 

[Lupa Duende]

Sounds like great fun!
I am starting to have quite a full house myself.
Since moving to Quebec, I have taken in the odd bird, raccoon, turtle, dog, and cat but not until this June did I realise that what is needed around here is a refuge for farm animals. We have ten acres of disturbed woodland that we have made trails through. We have fenced off the front four acres, which constitutes the road frontage and circles round the property to include the house and back garden. By the time five goats were adopted, we knew that we needed to build a barn. This is now instead of a second bathroom, proper kitchen, and separate bedrooms for the children. We have already had our first frost up here and so the goats, odd chicken, guinew fowl, and pony (yes she came last week!) are all snoozing in the garage at night. Our garage is serving as their run-in until the barn is done.
My huband is building a 'second garage' immediately next to the current garage. It is 18 by 30 and the roof is still not on but he is mostly doing it on his own with a friend who stops in on Saturdays. The barn will not be insulated or heated aside from Deep Litter and radiant heat from the critters. Hay will be stored on the first floor and this area will also be mny workshop. (I sell paintings and sculptures to raise money for the animals.) I no want want a permanent stairway going up inside the barn because of birds wanting to roost on the stairs and then having a slippery mess to avoid. I need to divide the space between the pony, goats, ducks, chickens, turkey, and whatever else comes our way but still have a 3 or four foot foyer forming an L shape so I can store feed and have a tie down for the critters and a wee infirmary.
It is fun now but carrying buckets of water every morning and night will be my greatest complaint.
Does anyone know of a barn being pulled down in the Montreal/Plattsburgh/Burlington area? I would love to get some of my hardware (hinges, stall mats, feeders) as 'free' as possible.I am also looking for pony tack ever since sweet Maggie came to us last week.
Any suggestions on stall design and economising on building would be appreciated.
Thank you in advance.

 

[wishin4horses]

Glad to know that we weren't the only ones to get animals first, build barn second. :/ AND put renovations for our own living quarters on hold for renovations for the critter's living quarters! I am learning after only our first year, that there is never enough space. Everyone told us that we would want to build big enough for extras and now in our second year, we did indeed have to build an additional run in for the now 2 ponies who have been booted out of the barn as we needed all our stalls after the birth of our baby kids this spring and a new buckling and mini donkey. We are learning that our donkey doesn't not like it outside in the cold, and not in the heat; she likes it juuust right or else she wants to be inside! Oh, I'd also like to mention that the pens we built for our goats had to be altered to keep in the babies since they were so tiny they could fit through the smallest of spaces. But they were so adorable that we didn't mind; it was like a game to see who would outsmart who. Glad to say that we won that battle. I do wish that I had won the battle of a bigger space on the floor for hay instead of a loft. I hate going up and down the ladder for hay. and yes, chickens purch on everything. I am happy that we now have an addition built just for chickens and that's usually where they eat and sleep And poop but they still have to go through the barn to get outside. Next, we will make a trap door in their chicken house so they can get to their playpen without having to go through the barn. We are constantly making changes as our babies are growing and new animals arrive so I suggest to anyone who has a mixed family like ours who are looking for ideas of stall designs, don't make anything permanent (as was told to us) as your needs are always changing. I agree- Carrying buckets is not so fun. We have a water room in our barn with hot water. That is one thing I am most thankful for. I have found some 'deals' on kijiji for tack and barn supplies. All in all, the hobby farm life keeps us busy and happy and busy. Everyday, we learn something new!!

Cathy
CrazyAssAcres - complete with 2 ponies, mini donkey, goats and kids, a pig, chickens, a dog and cats, a great hubby who is constantly building me things and 2 children who help do chores -- Life is Good!!

 

[Lupa Duende]

My husband finished the barn just before the first snowfall on St Nikolaus Day. The ducks, goats, and pony share the same area, while the chickens have their own roosting area so that I can avoid slipping on poop as I climb into the loft. To date, keeping the ducks hapy with enough water while keeping the humidity down has been my greatest challenge. Luckily they all want a wander outside during the day so that I have a chance to muck out the barn before the girls come in for grain.
What kind of products could I mix in with the old hay and shavings to absorb more of the horse urine and duck splashes? The chickens have sawdust in their roosting area and I am using Deep Litter Method there. From what I understand, this does not work with pony poop so I muck that out each afternoon.
Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[EllieMay]

I sprinkle some PDZ in areas where needed.
I keep sheep, guineas, chickens and dogs in the barn.
They're not confined to the barn (they all free range) but at night they're asleep inside the barn.
The PDZ helps keep things dry especially during the winter when they spend more time inside.