New Barns and Coop Layout Ideas for Farm?

[Highland Meadows]

We are looking for ideas on a layout for our farm out buildings and need some help. The property total is 30 acres, the building with the gray roof is the 2,000 sq ft. house and the white roof is the pre-existing 32x60' workshop/barn for perspective. We are wanting to add a 12x24' duck coop, a 42x70' horse barn and a 36x36' hay barn. My husband wants to have the duck coop directly behind the current barn/workshop and the horse barn behind next to the duck coop, but off to the side of the workshop. The hay barn he was thinking on the other side of the horse barn. I am thinking maybe having everything lined up going down the road with that the house and workshop are on. Everything is very flat so there is not any ground that is higher than the the rest and it's all cleared fields currently. I added another picture of both ideas #1 being my husband's and #2 being mine. Any other suggestions or ideas are welcome!

Scribble translation:

Green Dot= Duck Coop
Purple Dot= Horse Barn
Blue Dot= Hay Barn
Red Square=Horse pasture area
White Lines= Driveway that connects and forms a square to make pulling trailers and wagons around.

 

[Baymule]

I'm guessing the blue line is the property line. #2 option seems to make more use of the property on the line with the horse pasture. If you are going to have other livestock, you might want to make a lane down the middle of the property with a turn around at the end. Our 8 acres is too narrow for that, but I would love a lane with pastures on both sides for rotation of grazing.

Whatever you decide, use plenty of gates! 16' gates with swing room for truck and trailer. I thought 12' would be enough and it's not. I have a few 16' gates, should have used ALL 16' gates. If you enclose your property with a gate to road access, DEEP SET your front gate for truck and trailer room. We did and we put in a 40' culvert and have plenty of swing room. That way, we are not in the middle of the road, fumbling with trying to open a gate, we can pull off the road, have plenty of room, open the gate and drive through.

 

[Alaskan]

We are wanting to add a 12x24' duck coop, a 42x70' horse barn and a 36x36' hay barn.

Is there a reason to have separate hay and horse barns?

Usually the cost in building is foundation and roof. So, a 2 storey building should cost less than 2 buildings next to each other.

The only issue with a hay loft is getting the hay UP. But... if the barn is made to drive the truck in, then you stand in the truck and toss up...not as high as tossing from the ground.

When we did huge round bales we had 2 long boards that were lowered from the loft as a ramp... and then a winch in the loft pulled the round bale up. You could also have the winch pull up a homemade elevator type thing made from a pallet... if you are handling small squares.

When we did small squares we just tossed.

But the awesome thing about a hay loft is you work ONCE a year to get everything up there... then you have a chute to toss hay out into the paddock, or straight down into the hay manger in the barn. NO hay is lost trucking it from one spot to another.

And PERSONALLY, I greatly prefer ONE animal building. Nothing more awesome then having to trudge through the rain or snow only ONCE. Then from the comfortable shelter of the barn you have one tack/feed/equipment room. And from that one building you can care for all animals.

With shared wall space they will be warmer in winter, and if set up correctly also cooler in summer, especially with the hay loft to help insulate from the heat of the sun... and that extra height gives the heat a place to rise...

 

[wolf]

Personally, I like the outbuildings and feeding structures around the back of the house - cause I'm older and cold/bad weather effects me more. If you're elder, ya wanna tend bedding, offspring, and feed quick to get out of the weather. I also need space between to keep an eye of things in the pasture from the back door, cause if someone's yelling I wanna know WHY immediately.

We are looking for ideas on a layout for our farm out buildings and need some help. The property total is 30 acres, the building with the gray roof is the 2,000 sq ft. house and the white roof is the pre-existing 32x60' workshop/barn for perspective. We are wanting to add a 12x24' duck coop, a 42x70' horse barn and a 36x36' hay barn. My husband wants to have the duck coop directly behind the current barn/workshop and the horse barn behind next to the duck coop, but off to the side of the workshop. The hay barn he was thinking on the other side of the horse barn. I am thinking maybe having everything lined up going down the road with that the house and workshop are on. Everything is very flat so there is not any ground that is higher than the the rest and it's all cleared fields currently. I added another picture of both ideas #1 being my husband's and #2 being mine. Any other suggestions or ideas are welcome!

Scribble translation:

Green Dot= Duck Coop
Purple Dot= Horse Barn
Blue Dot= Hay Barn
Red Square=Horse pasture area
White Lines= Driveway that connects and forms a square to make pulling trailers and wagons around.

 

[Highland Meadows]

Is there a reason to have separate hay and horse barns?

Usually the cost in building is foundation and roof. So, a 2 storey building should cost less than 2 buildings next to each other.

The only issue with a hay loft is getting the hay UP. But... if the barn is made to drive the truck in, then you stand in the truck and toss up...not as high as tossing from the ground.

When we did huge round bales we had 2 long boards that were lowered from the loft as a ramp... and then a winch in the loft pulled the round bale up. You could also have the winch pull up a homemade elevator type thing made from a pallet... if you are handling small squares.

When we did small squares we just tossed.

But the awesome thing about a hay loft is you work ONCE a year to get everything up there... then you have a chute to toss hay out into the paddock, or straight down into the hay manger in the barn. NO hay is lost trucking it from one spot to another.

And PERSONALLY, I greatly prefer ONE animal building. Nothing more awesome then having to trudge through the rain or snow only ONCE. Then from the comfortable shelter of the barn you have one tack/feed/equipment room. And from that one building you can care for all animals.

With shared wall space they will be warmer in winter, and if set up correctly also cooler in summer, especially with the hay loft to help insulate from the heat of the sun... and that extra height gives the heat a place to rise...

The reasoning behind it was that if there was a hay fire the animals would be safe. My husband and several of his family members have all worked as or been volunteer firefighters at different points in time and they all have commented that keeping the hay in a separate barn was safer. Also we know several people's who's barns have burnt down from hay fires.

Is there a reason to have separate hay and horse barns?

Usually the cost in building is foundation and roof. So, a 2 storey building should cost less than 2 buildings next to each other.

The only issue with a hay loft is getting the hay UP. But... if the barn is made to drive the truck in, then you stand in the truck and toss up...not as high as tossing from the ground.

When we did huge round bales we had 2 long boards that were lowered from the loft as a ramp... and then a winch in the loft pulled the round bale up. You could also have the winch pull up a homemade elevator type thing made from a pallet... if you are handling small squares.

When we did small squares we just tossed.

But the awesome thing about a hay loft is you work ONCE a year to get everything up there... then you have a chute to toss hay out into the paddock, or straight down into the hay manger in the barn. NO hay is lost trucking it from one spot to another.

And PERSONALLY, I greatly prefer ONE animal building. Nothing more awesome then having to trudge through the rain or snow only ONCE. Then from the comfortable shelter of the barn you have one tack/feed/equipment room. And from that one building you can care for all animals.

With shared wall space they will be warmer in winter, and if set up correctly also cooler in summer, especially with the hay loft to help insulate from the heat of the sun... and that extra height gives the heat a place to rise...

The separate hay barn was for a mix of different reasons. The main reason was for fire safety. We know several people who's barns have burnt down and they lost all of their animals because of spontaneous combustion in the hayloft (one being family and another a brand new barn no expense spared and they ended up losing $100,000+ worth in horses alone). It was also recommended by the fire chiefs in the family that if we could build a separate hay storage to do so. The second reason was that we wanted the cupolas exposed to the main floor with ceilings fans that could keep the air flowing from the stalls going up and out. The third was plainly aesthetic. We wanted the cathedral ceiling look with wood planks going all the way up. The barn will also be completely insulated and then the wood planks overtop of the insulation. I know it's not for everyone to do it separately, but we would like to build this barn as fire safe and as well ventilated for the horses as possible. I do think though that we are going to put the barns behind the existing pole barn so we can see it from inside of the house.

 

[Alaskan]

My husband and several of his family members have all worked as or been volunteer firefighters at different points in time and they all have commented that keeping the hay in a separate barn was safer. Also we know several people's who's barns have burnt down from hay fires.

Well yep, that would sour you on a building that holds all in one.

I don't know anyone who had the hay set itself on fire... I know it can happen though... doesn't it happen if there is moisture in the middle of the bale? Grew up in dry Texas.. never was moisture in any bale.. and all barns I saw were combo barns....

Up here.. we have had some bales get a bit hot (more moisture up here) ... but our loft is huge... so we had space to break all of the bales open and stack them with breathing space.. and that worked.

 

[Alaskan]

But, ok.... helpful comments...

You need the hay up off the floor... if it is getting stored on ground level... I guess there is no reason to be able to drive the truck into the building... but if you use a horse hauler to also haul your hay... might be nice to be able to park the horse hauler in the hay barn...

I greatly prefer #2 simply because the fence is more logical, and easier to add onto later. Bigger is always better.

As to how to space the buildings... eh... up to you.

 

[Highland Meadows]

Well yep, that would sour you on a building that holds all in one.

I don't know anyone who had the hay set itself on fire... I know it can happen though... doesn't it happen if there is moisture in the middle of the bale? Grew up in dry Texas.. never was moisture in any bale.. and all barns I saw were combo barns....

Up here.. we have had some bales get a bit hot (more moisture up here) ... but our loft is huge... so we had space to break all of the bales open and stack them with breathing space.. and that worked.

Yes the moisture and heat combo is what does it. I was told it gets pretty humid here which is what has me worried. Everyone I know who's had a barn fire also had summers with bad humidity. I know even when we were living in maryland we had a small compost pile that was straw start to smoke even with us turning it all of the time, but the humidity in Maryland was also at 90% most of the summer and stayed at 90-104 degrees.

 

[Highland Meadows]

But, ok.... helpful comments...

You need the hay up off the floor... if it is getting stored on ground level... I guess there is no reason to be able to drive the truck into the building... but if you use a horse hauler to also haul your hay... might be nice to be able to park the horse hauler in the hay barn...

I greatly prefer #2 simply because the fence is more logical, and easier to add onto later. Bigger is always better.

As to how to space the buildings... eh... up to you.

Yes thank you for all of the ideas and info it's very helpful! You have given me lots to think about!

 

[misfitmorgan]

I to would go a different route.

Firstly I would make sure the hay barn doors face the road and has a drive thru on the end or middle of the building, backing out/turning around hay racks sucks. Drive thru is very helpful for driving out round bales as well if you decide to use those at some point. You may also choose to put a feed manger right inside your hay barn for 24/7 hay access, the drive thru door front and back allow you to do many things and have many options with that building.

I would additionally change the fencing to be a long rectangle instead of a square so you can easily look out your windows and see the horses or whatever other livestock you want. I would also not insulate the entire barn, insulation is for humans not animals. A sealed up barn is a unhealthy barn. You need air flow and air movement to keep things dry, to move hay dust out or force it to settle faster, to dry urine and remove ammonia, to stop mold, etc. I know everyone see's all the fancy horse barns that are heated and insulated and top notch etc but they have done tests on horses living in those conditions and find they have raised levels of antibodies, not just one horse all of them. They are constantly fighting off infections of different types from living in a sealed up heated barn. The studies show horses who live in a cold shelter without drafts are completely fine down to around 0F and it is much prefered you blanket a horse then try to heat or insulate an entire space. Additionally you mentioned cupolas, most cupolas do not provide adequate air flow.

I'm linking an article from Equus that has a lot of info on insulated horse barns. What to insulate, how to do it properly, airflow needed size of cupolas needed, etc.

I would do something more like this

Everything moved over. It allows for a driveway using your existing road access, the abilty to drive to the horse barn with room to back up. Ability to drive to and not have to turn around from the hay barn. The ducks are within sight of the house to watch for predators, the horses are easier to see, you have plenty of room to add on more fencing later and a big open space on the south end to add other buildings some day if you want too. The barn is also closer to the house. I mean do you really want your horse barn 1/2 mile from your house and why?? Anyhow those are my thoughts on the setup, feel free to take or leave them.