Questions about milk & cream

[dairydreams]

"I’ll take the hits, I’ll take the hurt, so I can have the joys. The joys far outweigh the hurts."
I love this; isn't it so applicable to life in general? And so true.

Construction on the goat barn starts as soon as I come up with a plan.

So here I am with more questions....

What are some essential things I should have in the barn?
What I'm envisioning is a 3 sided structure with a roof that overhangs to try and keep out rain. Maybe actually have the roof overhang significantly on either side so there are covered areas to put feeders, and a place to hang mineral feeders against the exterior walls that can still be covered.

I want to have at least a couple of stalls inside as well, I'm thinking 4...is that enough?
I have a different area across the property to use as quarantine if needed so the barn would be basically to separate out mommas/babies.

I'm trying to figure out hay storage, not sure if it should be on a high caged in shelf or somewhere else on the property entirely.

"Milk parlor" will be a space in the garage so not needed to be part of the barn.

Idea or photos of your set ups are appreciated!

 

[Mini Horses]

I'm trying to figure out hay storage, not sure if it should be on a high caged in shelf or somewhere else on the property entirely.

"Milk parlor" will be a space in the garage

Hay in garage? I mean, mine's never had a vehicle in it

 

[dairydreams]

alas, the garage will mostly have tools and our wood storage. Although we still have a whole shed converted into a coop that we could either put some tools in or the hay...our problem is we currently have straw in our shed (with the birds) on a shelf but mice and rats have been getting into it, using it as bedding, and eating it :/ I'm afraid of attracting rodents wherever I store hay

 

[Baymule]

I have plans for a 3 sided shelter with small feed room in the middle. Those plans are rolling around in my head, much like a BB rolling down a 12 lane freeway.

This is what I got so far…..

 

[Baymule]

Glad you like my “take the hits” philosophy. Yes, it does apply to life in general.

Another Baymule-ism….

Play it safe and it can be boring.
Take the risk and you can have a delightful time picking yourself up from falling flat on your face and a moose stomping your butt.

 

[SageHill]

I'm in So Cal - so what works for me may not for you.
Hay - a safe place to keep it. I keep mine in a stall. I can fit 50 or so bales in the stall
Room - a place for grain, tools, etc that the sheep, goats, whatever can't get in
You never have enough stalls - add at least 2 to what you think you need
I have a "6 stall" barn -- (6 if they are 12x12s) I have 3 12x12s, 1 24x12, and "tack room" 12x12. Wish I had 2 more!
Make sure you have enough clearance to get a big stacked with hay truck in - the front door is I think 16ft high.

 

[Alaskan]

My barn is about like this:

Maybe, guessing... it is a little over 20x30... or something like that.

W = water trough for horses. For the goats we covered the water trough with plywood, and they jumped up on it and played there. For the goats we just used a bucket for water.

The F, is the mineral feeder.

The hay feeder, I sketched hay in.

The M is the milk stanchion.

The barn is a 2 story, with a drive through in the middle to make it easy to get the hay up. The entire second story is for hay storage. We have LOTS of rodents here at my place, but they do not get up into the loft.

The doors are barn doors, with a man door inside the front side barn door.

With horses we just had it all open, tack was stored in the hay loft. With the goats we added that wall, just an easy pallet wall. We did have a way to close the wall, to keep them in. We never had more than 1 kidding at a time. So the one that had just kidded would be locked up with the kids for a few days while the rest stayed in the other part of the barn.



My younger sister uses gates and wall parts to make little, about 8x8 stalls, for when her goats are kidding.


But ... the important things in my opinion:

1. I really like the hay loft. It holds a bunch of hay, and keeps it clean and dry, so that the hay holds its nutritional value. Our hay loft is big enough that we could also use it to dry hand harvested feed. Do make sure you have electric up there, and a STURDY anchor point, so if you want to store big round bales in the loft, a machine will do the work for you.
2. Feeders and waterers out of the weather, and out of the wind.
3. Make it so that it can all be closed up tight if there is a predator issue
4. I like it as open as possible, so that you are a. Highly flexible in how to set up stuff, but much more important b. Less chance for an animal to get pinned, if it is being bullied.
5. No such thing as too big
6. In a hot climate, I would add a huge carport/roofed area.
7. In all climates, extend all roof edges so that the walls of the building are protected.


There are lots of different ways to set up a barn. A couple I have seen, are set up so that you can feed and water without entering the livestock area. That would be Important if you might travel, and the person taking care for your livestock isn't an animal person.

This one barn I know, has a huge multi story hay storage area, and then a raised walkway on the side of the hay storage. So, you can grab the hay and toss it down into the feed troughs. That barn has a very large covered area for the stock.

 

[Alaskan]

Oh..
Since you have so many rodent issues... I think you need a barn cat.

 

[dairydreams]

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Baymule does that philosophy come with a story??

thanks for giving me some things to consider! I'm going to have to make some sketches and get y'alls opinions.

Ha hah Alaskan...there's a story there...
We had a barn cat. His name was Hyzer. He was super friendly and sweet, and he did his job well. One winter, he disappeared. It was early 2020...My Dad died and our family dog died within three months...and in between, the cat disappeared. I assumed a predator got him. I looked around for him but we never saw any evidence he had been killed, but we never saw him either. We thought maybe a neighbor took him in, assuming he was a stray. I put out a notice on the local lost pet page, but never heard anything. Over three months later, he shows up, just hanging out on our retaining wall. I nearly cried, and said "Hyzer! I thought you were dead!" He was very much alive, albeit skinnier and with many healing wounds on his face. He let me pet him then darted into the woods. It was another week or so before I saw him, but he slowly started coming back more and more until he stayed around again. A few months later he vanished again, this time for much longer. So long in fact that we were sure he wasn't coming back, and we got a dog. A few months after that, he comes back into our lives. This time he appeared under my car. We renamed him Hyzer the ghost cat and we saw him every few days...until one day he was under the van and the dog was out. She hadn't met him yet...and she saw him before we did and chased him into the woods. That was the last time he made regular visits. The kids say they see him every now and again but I haven't seen him since the dog did.

That was a couple of years ago, maybe a little less. Now, in the past month, we've had an orange cat visiting our back garden (or what's left of it for the year). He's been spotted back there several times...so I'm thinking...how do I get him to stay? :-k I've checked the local lost pet page and haven't seen anything about this cat missing. Not sure if he's a woods cat or a neighbor's...but if he hunts the mice he's more than welcome to stick around!

 

[Baymule]

Never been stomped by a moose, but it sounds like an epic failure! Been stomped by a horse. Also bit, kicked and thrown off. Face plant in dirt, yup. It would be a trip of a lifetime to go moose hunting!