Ideas for new barn ammenities ???

[melissa508]

We are planning to have a 30 x 50 new barn built. The old barn has water , power, lighting & windows..but we are trying to come up with ideas now..so that we wont say "why didnt we think of that" ..once its too late. They have already been surveying it out.

Has anyone built a barn & either realized they wished they didnt forget something important &..any ideas of things that would come in handy ??

Im not sure what type of animals we may have in the future, for now its poultry & waterfowl . We have no interested in horses or goats.

So far the only things ive come up with are:

Bathroom
built in nesting boxes
cabinets & shelves
critter proof feed storage
water
power

 

[Omran]

inclosed office place out of the smell, with phone and internet lines.
area to wash horses, so septic system requiared.

 

[annek]

Don't know if you would want this in a barn but we put up a metal building and I wish we would have included a drain in the floor.

 

[saddina]

Outdoor shower, you know like the ones at the beach to hose the sand off. That way if you get just too plain dirty to walk in the house, you can hose off to a respectable level

Storage at ground level! it costs about the same to add 3-5 feet in length to a building as it does to make a storage attic, except one requires lifting.

 

[minikeeper1143]

One thing that is not too costly during original construction is overhangs. It only adds few posts and roofing and it is invaluable as covered outside runs, extra stall area etc, etc,etc. It gives you twice the barn.

Also we left one end of the barn open like a small arena. We have put temporary stalls, now chicken cubicles to raise young chickens, with an enclosed turnout area with a dirt floor. We put a concrete hallway down half of barn and in office area but dirt floor everywhere else and have never been sorry. Lot of doors to get in and out that you can open from both sides. We have the dutch doors with one half opening from the outside and the other half from the inside you can always get in, saves countess steps and time. Gable fan for ventilation. You can see the outside of our barns on my website. We closed the ends of the overhangs and it really was like extra barn space but they can be left open. The overhangs are the best feature because it really makes bad weather manageable.

Good luck with your barn. I

barns.

Carolyn