Have you any ideas and suggestions for making a quick, inexpensive, shelter for sheep

[Baymule]

Thank you for your lovely compliment on the barn. I am proud of it. The inside is unfinished, but we finally stumbled upon a deal on treated 2x6x20' We got 11 of them for $8 each. They were on the reject/cull rack at Lowes, nothing wrong with them, a builder had returned them for a refund. This Lowes didn't stock them, so knocked the price down to $15 each, but when they were run up, the price had dropped even further. So we will use these to frame up the floor boards, then cover with the 3/4" plywood we have, then go up with walls to build a feed and tack room.

When we finish fencing our property, there is a section that will be across a gulley. I won't be able to drag a shelter across the gulley, so will probably build a permanent hoop shelter in that section for the sheep.

 

[Bruce]

@soarwitheagles - @Baymule's design would be absolutely perfect for a sheep shelter. And you already have the panels and big timbers! Cost almost nothing out of pocket, now go find a good deal on the tarp to keep the weather out.

 

[soarwitheagles]

Bay,

Absolutely beautiful coop house too. Wow, people here make things so easy! I had already begun digging lots of holes for the 4"x6" posts to make a super time consuming structured shelter. Now I will fill those holes up! Having such a mild climate here I much prefer a simple hoop house that can easily be moved if ever needed.

I hope to complete the hoop house this weekend and will do my best to post pictures too.

Thanks again everyone for your incredible help!

This forum is the best place by far to visit when in need of good help and advice for backyard ranching.

We appreciate each and everyone of you!

Thanks again!

 

[Baymule]

@soarwitheagles you KNOW we want pictures! Do a tutorial as you build, someday you might be helping someone else with their building project!

 

[misfitmorgan]

Thank you for sharing great ideas again! I appreciate you and the help you give.



Great idea on using the steel studs Boss. Believe it or not, I have been looking and waiting 3 full years for a good deal on the steel roofing panels and have yet to find a good deal. I am still patiently waiting to find a good deal on some. A rancher about 2 miles away had his old large barn torn down last month and it had over 8,000 sq. ft of the metal roofing, but he threw it all in the garbage before I had a chance to ask him. I would have been set for life with that much metal roofing! That metal works well for walls too.



Thanks for sharing Bruce! I am limited on the 2x4's but recently found a great deal on 4"x6"s. I may use them simply because we have a lot of em' and they may make the shelter even a little bit more sturdier!

BTW, if anyone is in my area, I am selling the 4"x6"x16' pressure treated posts for $1 per foot!

I am also selling 6"x6"x16' for $1.50 per foot.

Oh no, I deviated from the main topic again! Ok, I will post the deal in the Buy, Sell, Trade area!

Have a great day everyone!

View attachment 25243 View attachment 25244

If you rip the 4X6 down the middle you can use them like really strong 2x4's we did that for making the uprights for our stalls walls in our barn in stead of buying 4x4's...so far no issues.

 

[soarwitheagles]

Well, I thought it best to complete this thread by adding the pics as requested...

BTW, it took me MUCH longer to build this than I originally thought...

Hope this helps someone!

Enjoy!

 

[Reindeermama]

I built a hoop coop using cow panels. Here's step by step instructions.

http://www.theeasygarden.com/threads/hoop-coop.18291/

I love your design! I am getting guineas, and that will be perfect to build.

 

[Baymule]

I love your design! I am getting guineas, and that will be perfect to build.

Or you could do this,

https://www.sufficientself.com/threads/building-a-chicken-tractor.15638/

 

[Ridgetop]

For a quick cheap shelter roof, call local garage door people. Many people replace their wooden garage doors with aluminum and the garage door people have to haul the old doors away. You can often get them for nothing if you go and pick them up. You will need help lifting the 8x16' double size doors, so take people to help. You can also use the doors as sides of shelters too for a 3 sided shelter, etc. If you find someone who really wants to get rid of them they might drop them at your place for the cost of gas. If they have to take them to the dump, there is a fee. You will want to check out the doors for damage though.

For a lighter weight shelter, you can get fiberglass panels and put them on a frame up on legs in the pasture. I don't really like tarps for livestock since they tend to get torn easily and where we are on top of a ridge the wind just rips them to pieces. I have seen stock panel hoop houses before, and always wanted to put one up with clear polyethylene sheeting for a greenhouse. They can also be used for hay storage as long as the livestock can't get to them.

We no longer use our row of 5 12 x24 corrals for our horses. My old TWH is 30+, mule is 14, they are happier just ambling around the pasture. We had to put down DH's 30 year old TWH on Saturday so sad that they don't live longer, but they tell you when they need to go. She was down and couldn't get up after being on arthritis meds for 18 months. Stopped eating, we released her and now she is galloping in the sky with our other old friends. My daughter-in-law has her daughter.

Enough of that! Back to business. We are going to wrap the 4 bar corrals with PVC horse mesh and lower the shelters onto several 5' high panels leaving it open at each end. We have enough panels and shelters to make several of these shelters 12 x 16. Then I want to arrange the rest of the corrals with gate panels so we can open the pens into a big one or separate into several smaller ones to segregate lambs, rams, and ewes, etc. We are currently using the old round pen for a breeding pen with ram wearing marking harness.

Sheep in wool don't really need much protection but we keep our lambing ewes inside the barn for first month with their lambs. You have hair sheep though so I don't know how much protection they need. My Dorsets wear wool and the new Dorpers do too in the winter. Our new Dorper ram is a complete shed! I'm so happy! They look so pretty and clean after shedding out.

 

[Baymule]

We no longer use our row of 5 12 x24 corrals for our horses. My old TWH is 30+, mule is 14, they are happier just ambling around the pasture. We had to put down DH's 30 year old TWH on Saturday so sad that they don't live longer, but they tell you when they need to go. She was down and couldn't get up after being on arthritis meds for 18 months. Stopped eating, we released her and now she is galloping in the sky with our other old friends. My daughter-in-law has her daughter.

Sheep in wool don't really need much protection but we keep our lambing ewes inside the barn for first month with their lambs. You have hair sheep though so I don't know how much protection they need. My Dorsets wear wool and the new Dorpers do too in the winter. Our new Dorper ram is a complete shed! I'm so happy! They look so pretty and clean after shedding out.

I have a 31 year old TWH that I no longer ride. She has lung/breathing issues, I sure miss riding her. I also have a 29 year old cremello QH (that's his eye in my avatar) I dread the day....... They sure wrap themselves around our hearts and become a part of our lives. Sorry about your DH's old mare, it's hard to let go, but harder to watch them suffer. Doing the right thing is a hard thing. Big hugs.