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Junior Member
 
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Last Login: 2 days ago @ 8:30:50 PM
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| Light A water source close by
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Junior Member
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Last Login: 2 days ago @ 7:36:46 PM
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| I bought this book used on Amazon, although you could probably go to the local book store and look at it. It gave us some great information and considerations. It includes basic plans, but you might want to look at it to see if it suits your needs. How to Build Animal Housing: 60 Plans for Coops, Hutches, Barns, Sheds, Pens, Nestboxes, Feeders, Stanchions, and Much More by Carol Ekarius (Paperback - May 1, 2004) We got the sky light panels from Lowe's and we use gutters that dump their downspouts into a ~350 gallon tanks for water retention. We bought the tanks off Craig's list. They are the basic white square tanks in a metal cage (~$80 apiece). I think ours were once used for non-toxic tanning oil for leather, but after pressure washing and a few rains the water is fine. My husband plumbed the ends so they attach to a hose. If I had it to do over again, the only thing I would change is to raise the elevation of the water tanks. We have them sitting on concrete blocks, but I think the water pressure would be better and carry over a longer distance if they were set up higher and gravity could help out a little more! We've never used solar panels so I can't help you there! Best wishes,
M. and D.
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Advanced Member
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Last Login: 9/23/2010 4:13:39 PM
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This is sort of sad, but here in Maine anyway, we could never catch the rain run off from roofs, that is because the acid rain is so bad now that the sheep refuse to drink the water. (though granted sheep must have very clean water or they won't drink it).
One other concern with this method is using a steel roof to catch the rain. Most metal roofs are galvanized and galvanization is 99% zinc which could lead to heavy metal poisoning of the animals. Only a manure test will show whether the animals are getting zinc poisoning.
******
Tell a welfare recipient they must work and they call their congressman. Tell a farmer he can no longer work and he commits suicide. No wonder 1/2% of the population feeds the other 99-1/2%!!
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Starting Member
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Last Login: 8/26/2010 10:24:58 PM
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| Your barn sounds more like a really nice shop :)
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Junior Member
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Last Login: 12/8/2010 5:25:50 AM
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| I read all of the comments and theres a bunch of good ideals to use and think of. But it sounds like it will get pretty expensive building ur dream barn. Your hobby farm will have to turn money in to pay for the constrution of it. I know mine isnt putting tomuch money in my pocket and on the other hand to me i am just getting started with it. spend and spend to get it looking nice and useing the barns I do have. I got 3 different barns. one is a more of a lean shed I see it as, the north side is the wall a door on east and west side that goes in to a stall then rest is open to the south side. its probly around a 25x50 or so I need to get eletric to it and would like to close a cpl spots off to give me a cpl more stalls in it. another one is a horse barn 2 15x15 stalls and one triple stalls with bout a double stall with out doors has concreat slab on it which is nice can put stuff on it with out getting nastey on the bottum and a single size stall without doors I put my rabbits at built them along the wall. I just got some eletric ran and hooked up to that barn but I need more light theres only light down the center be nice to have light over each stall. Then my third one I consider as my grage right now. Its a 40x50 machine shed i think. its a catch all right now. I been cleaning it up to use it more better. not gonna put animales in it but like to put a small office in there to keep better records of my farm so I have a place away from the kids so my papers wront turn into coloring paper for my daughter lol. thats all concreat with a big door on the west side and a walk in door on the north side. then i got a little metal shed a 10x10 with a hole cut in to it on the east side going into a fence area and the doors on the west side faceing the house I use that to house baby chicks till they get old enough to join the flock. I will like to get it all done over night but wat it cost and not taken a loan out for it it will take a cpl more years to do. but with some of the advice I seen other people is giveing on here I like it gives me somethings to look at when I go to fix it up sum.
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Average Member
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Last Login: 2/9/2012 7:38:24 PM
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| Our Hobby farm was a full fledge farm many years ago, so for us.... Our barn is for animals, no stalls etc. It is kind of divided into three long narrow areas. one is completely open, the middle is divided into two areas, 1/2 is closed off (with big doors) and is the nursery (where we would put cows having problems, or calves with health issues) the second part of that is open where we can put the cattle if need be or housed the oliver tractor during the winter. The third section is 3/4 open with the last 4th used for feed rooms ( where bulk feed is to be stored, one right now is my tack room and the other was where the chickens went from brooder to waiting for the coop to be built, the other was used for beef cake during the winter) the 3/4 and 1/4 used to be where some 70 odd years ago they milked cows. It also has a hay maul (to store hay in the attic) We have a small building (which has been moved many times) and is the oil house, where the gas pump is, and all the oil and filters are housed. We have a shop where the welders, and parts etc are. Then we also have a quonset which we put the farm equipment in during the winter (combine, balers, camper, swathers etc <all used equipment and recently acquired>) Since they are all so old, there are things that would be nice to make them more modern, but so far, we just use them as they are and make due with them. My husbands parents farmed just fine with the way they are so figure we can too. Not saying we won't add some moderizations but for now they work.
Livin to learn
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Junior Member
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Last Login: 12/8/2010 5:25:50 AM
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| I like looking at the old farms Seems like the barns are welconstructed and They didnt have as many options as we do today. They just had the basic and did find. I would like to be able to go back in time and see what they used in certain area if it would be the same thang that we would use it for or if they had different ways of useing somethangs that we would use it today. I have seen some old barns look basic from the outside but inside is different.
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