getting a barn--need some ideas!

[6littlechickies]

DH has finally agreed that yes, we do in fact NEED a barn! So YAY now we get to actually build the barn I suggested we build a year ago! we are in the planning stages right now so I can adjust if other ideas come up.

Animals this barn will house now:
30 chickens
4 peachicks (not sure on gender yet)
10-15 quail
eventually we'd like to add
4-6 pheasants
2 horses - we would love room for a horse stall or two as the kiddos are already begging for a horse. I've been able to hold them off for now but I'd better come through within the next couple years or I'm toast--and there are three of them so I'm no match! LOL

As far as size we are looking at either 24' x 30' or 24' x 40'. we were thinking 4 large pens with cut out's to four outdoor runs, two of the pens would be 6 feet (for chickens) that would have a loft/storage area above, the other two pens would go to the ceiling and be fenced in for the peas so they can have the higher roost they will need. We would also like another one or two smaller pens for the quail and pheasants. the rest of the area could be allocated for storage and eventually a horse stall.

I'm horrible at imagining the space without it being there (same problem when we built our house) so are my expectations for the space too high? am i trying to cram too much in too little space?

I'm looking for some suggestions from others who've 'been there, done that' what do you have? what works or didn't work for you? This is pretty much my one shot at this so I'm looking for any and all suggestions or ideas!

 

[NMbirds]

I don't think I have ever heard anyone say, I built my barn too large! My barn that I built two years ago is 36 x 50 and now I am about to build a chicken coop that will be only 10 x 16 with materials left over from building the barn. And my friends say that coop will not be large enough either but honestly, I think it will. We do not have horses, just lots of other stuff!

If you have any questions, let me know.

 

[ducks4you]

I don't know if you're looking for economical suggestions, but, unless you prep the floor, your DIRT floor can get really boggy. The CHEAPEST solution is to lay down cement, then put rubber mats over it. Otherwise, you'll be looking at a more expensive, I've been told, minimum 13 inches of gravel and sand, and other materials---materials which keep the floor drainable but not prone to flood. This is what they will tell you if you're planning an indoor riding arena, which I have been investigating in the case that my big ship comes in.

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

Built it as large as you can afford it. It will NEVER be too big.


I have problems imagining "what will be" sizewize. What I do is get a long tape and some stakes. Walk out the size, staking the corners so I can get a better idea. I will even run string or twine so I can "look" at the area better. Then I can stand in the middle looking and "laying" out the design, and on all ends. It also gives me an idea if I even LIKE the area for the building.

I am so excited for you!

 

[6littlechickies]

Ya'll are too funny on the size, i told DH the SAME THING! I said if i had my way we'd build it as big as we can afford and figure out how to fill it later!

thanks for the quick replies!

NMbirds, your barn is gorgeous! LOVE IT!
ducks4you - we've been thinking about that, i wasn't planning on the expense of a cement floor but also worried about dirt...hmm, what we have now is dirt with a 2-3 inch layer of sand, then straw. that seems to work well. sand keeps it from getting all muddy and the straw over top is easy to use a pitch fork to shovel out. I'm not worried about indoor riding, although it would be on my 'wish list' I'll have to think more on flooring...

horsefeatherz NV - I agree, bigger the better! good idea on imagining! I actually took out our house plans last night to see what area we have that would be about that size....go figure, out current attached garage is just about the size i mentioned (24x32) so I guess I could use that as my 'canvas' to imagine.

I'm attaching a couple pics of my back yard. Unless everyone promises not to laugh, I will not embarrass myself and post a pic of my current coop setup!

the first pic is of the how it looked as we were building our house a few years ago, the land with higher weeds is ours, the nicely manicured lawn is my neighbor's yard.

the second one is how it looks currently. i'm standing on the deck looking back. we own from the high weeds on the far left to the small tree line on the right and it goes all the way back to the treeline. we have a total of 3 acres, this is about 2 of them.

i just realized, i need some better pic of my backyard! LOL

 

[ducks4you]

Didn't mean to sound like a negative-Nancy!

Sorry about that.
Looking forward to seeing pics when you're done. I'm sure that you'll figure the floor out.

I just know that my barn is somewhere between 50-100 years old, WAS well-maintained, so it's still solid BUT, we've been getting rain every week since the beginning of May. I'm very glad that my floor is cement, or we'd have an indoor swamp!

 

[patandchickens]

The most important thing is to make absolutely totally certain the barn is located somewhere 110% high and dry in all sorts of weather including the spring thaw. Really. Do not underestimate the importance of this. Ideally you would also build the ground up with a foot or so of 3/4-minus gravel so the inside of the barn is higher than the surrounding land.

If you are going to run water to the barn -- and I very highly recommend it -- don't cheat on burial depth or on an *excellent* drainage bed for the frostfree hydrant, and put the water somewhere it won't be too difficult to dig up when it needs repair, as it surely will some day. For instance do not put it in the center of a poured slab

Honestly that sounds kind of small to me if you are planning on horses -- I am a big, big advocate of horses living outside (with a good shed) 24/7/365 but you still ought to have stalls available for when they're in for the farrier or there's a horrible ice storm or one of them gets sick or hurt. So that's two stalls, at least 10x12 (12x12 is better) PLUS HAY STORAGE for them.

A loft is possible but frankly it is usually a lot better to build ground level hay storage, for a variety of reasons:

- a lot of municipalities will tax you just as much on a loft as on a larger one-story barn,

- it is usually about as cheap to build the one way as the other (cuz you need so much more supporting structure and lumber for a loft)

- a loft is a fire hazard to animals living below, and tends to collect raccoons and other undesirables that can be hard to remove and keep out;

- it is a great big pain in the patootie to get hay up into a loft, even if you buy a hay elevator; and then you have to get YOURSELF up into the loft every time you want to throw down hay, which may sound trivial but what if you get pregnant or hurt your back or that sort of thing?

-and a loft can never really be used for any other purpose, whereas additional ground-level storage space is totally flexible. If you don't need it for horse hay at the moment, it can be storage space, workshop space, goats, a big chicken pen, whatever

I would recommend allowing about a stall's size worth of space per horse, for hay -- if they live outdoors and have enough decent pasture to be able to live off pasture for the growing season, a 10x12x6-8' space will hold a year's supply of hay for a single horse; if they are stalled at night then you will have to buy hay probably twice during the year.

If you are planning on stalling the horses regularly -- which really isn't the healthiest or easiest way to keep them, but certainly lots of people *do* it, out of habit as much as anything -- then make sure the barn is designed so the chicken area can be easily partitioned off from the horses with a mostly solid wall. Breathing chicken dust 12 hrs a day is not good for horse lungs. And if you want to have chickens loose (free ranging) make sure the hay storage area is partitioned off so that the chickens can't get in and make an ungodly (and unhealthy and inconvenient) mess there.

Also make sure you are factoring in enough storage area for tools, rakes, wheelbarrow, hose, that sort of thing -- you would not want less than a 5x10ish area and bigger is always way better.

Good luck, have fun

Pat

 

[cmom]

We just finished building our barn. A chicken coop will be built on the back side, but the barn itself is for the tractors and implements.

 

[6littlechickies]

Quote:
oh no I wasn't thinking that at all, you actually got me thinking of ways to be sure it stays dry as we did have that problem until we went with the sand. I'm jealous, the only thing I couldn't get when built our house was an old barn! I've always wanted one, they just remind me of being at my grandparents as a kid. our land was a cornfield before we built.

patandchickens - GREAT info on horse keeping, that won't be for problem 3 years but we are trying to factor it in and you bring up some really good points! ESP the info about carrying hay and a loft--I'm about 95 pounds soaking wet so that would pose an issue! Lol. when we get horses they will be able to have a pasture and be outside as much as possible.

cmom- yours looks similiar to what I've been picturing, what size is it and is that a sage green color? would match our house perfectly! oh and how are you building out your coop?


any creative ideas for spacing on the inside?

really excited about this, thanks again for eveyone's suggestions and pics-- keep em coming!!!

I'm a pic NUT so once we do get started I'll be sure to post pics!

 

[BirdBrain]

Quote:
Beautiful barn but instead of Sage Green I see Galvalum Grey.

Pat, as always, has given you some sage advice.