New Barns and Coop Layout Ideas for Farm?

[Highland Meadows]

I to would go a different route.

Firstly I Would put 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
View attachment 82705
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.

Great info! I also really like your layout idea thank you!

 

[misfitmorgan]

You're welcome