Building a barn

[boyd5212]

We plan to build a barn next spring, and are trying to decide where to build it. Looking for some feedback on the pros and cons of building too close to the house (i.e. how far away does it need to be to keep down the houseflies).

We're on 100 acres, the house is on the front 30 cleared pasture...

[BellsBunnies]

A couple things to consider will be If you need electricity and water at the barn?

[wy_white_wolf]

What direction is the prevailing wind? You want to build it downwind of the house.

[pokyone42]

Yes! I know for us, the wind mostly blows from west to east...fortunately, our barn is east of the house, however, when we bought our place last year, the barn is located up on top of quite a steep hill...I am sure they built it up there for drainage, as most of our property is on a hill. We are both getting older, tho, and trudging up and down that hill can be tough, if not down right dangerous...(wet grass, snow, ice, etc) We joke about having electric chair-lifts put on the hill to help us get up there when we are old....lol...

Having bucks in rut at the moment tho, I am DEFINATELY glad they are downwind...those boys get downright RANK! lol....

One other thing the folks did who built the barn, was they built it facing east and west, which is wonderful! There is a large door at each end, so that even on the hottest days, there is a welcome breeze when the doors are open. On all but the coldest days, we leave the east barn door open for fresh air, and the wind does not whistle through.....spring summer and fall, we leave both doors open...we put a gate up across one, and the goats can all go out to pasture through the other....works very well for us. (Our barn also has electic and water...fortunately) good luck!

[DaleK]

Depends what you plan on doing with the barn. You always want it on high ground. How close are the neighbours?

[Freeholder]

Also, don't put it too close to your well (or a neighbor's well), as run-off from the barn can contaminate well-water.

Distance to keep flies down is probably at least a hundred feet. Best put screens on the windows and doors even then. Also get some muscovy ducks, and some fly traps.

Kathleen

[mtn_gin]

We are just finishing our barn! Our milk cow is due in Oct. so none to soon. We built ours about 100 feet from the house because I wanted electric to go to it. I think it will work out great. For us it needed to be pretty close because I milk twice a day and carrying about 2 gallons of milk each time would be hard if it was very far. Also the kids will use the barn alot, since my oldest decided she wanted a loft in it so she could have her own little space. But the Lord blessed us with this barn it has only cost us around $75 and its 32feet by 30feet. Its huge compared to what we had.

[FarmboyBill]

Which means at least 2 yrs lol. Anyway, when I was growing up our barn was around 150ft from the house, a bank barn facing N. I hated to carry 2 buckets of milk to the house at age 10. My dads 87, and he said he hadnt been in the barn in 2 yrs on the low side. I had a man in church say he built a barn 200ft from the house. When he was young, hed run to the barn, later he rode a horse to it, later he drove the pk to it, now, he says, if he looks at it he gets tired. I intend to have mine around 50/75ft from the house. The front part/main part will be all hay, so no bad smell there, and rather a filter for it. In behind that will be a lean to shed for milking, and raising calves and storing manure, and the manure spreader. Thats so, ill try to continue using it when im old. Ital be so close I wont be able to turn a blind guilty eye away from it, so I wont feel imbarrised and shamed cause I think im too old to walk 150ft when im 80. Well see. Ill let you know how it turned out when I get there lol

[6e]

mtn gin: How did you get a barn for $75? We need a barn in the worst way, but we just plain can't afford it. We wanted to build a garage/barn, but the cheapest metal building we've found was around $10,000. Ouch!

[boyd5212]

Yeah, $75 would be nice...in my dreams--how'd you manage that?!

Prevailing winds come from the N. Plan to put the barn SW of the house. The house is on higher ground than the barn, and our well is a fair piece away. Neighbors' wells are no worry--too far away.

We will want water and electricity and have a pipe buried under the driveway coming from the house for that purpose. The driveway runs between the house and pasture--house on left (East), pasture on right (West). The pasture is in a bit of a hollow, with not much breeze in the summer. To go to higher ground in the other pasture means crossing the brook and getting a fair distance from the house...

We're still debating dirt floor or pouring concrete. Aside from the financial drawback, any thoughts on that?

[mtn_gin]

Tyson is making the chicken growers in our area build these new automatic chicken houses so that means alot of the older houses are out dated. So with alot of work we got an entire chicken house given to us, we just had to tear it down. (lots & lots of tin) And the $75 was about what we spent for nails. So talk about a blessing. Now I have a really nice place to milk, calf stalls, a place for the goats, and my daughter finally has her loft. So we are just about set for the winter. Just got to wait on Fruit Loop to have her calf so I can start milking!!!!!!!!!

[jlo]

What do you need the barn for? We have a garage/shop up by the house for tools, equipment and repairs. We have carport near the fields for storing hay/straw under. And we have a "barn" building in the field, but it is movable and we move it once a year. It's got an enclosed feed room attached that we keep grain and supplies in and a 3-sided run-in area about 8' wide by 20' long. It's got tow hooks on each end.

We use it in the winter. We pick a spot in the field and put it there, start a deep bedding system, and stock the feed room with grain. The sheep have cozy shelter, we have food right there (we only grain in the winter), and there's room for four lambing jugs (or sick pens) as needed. We've put hooks in the roof rafters so that we can hang battery operated camping lanterns up when we need light. Once everyone has lambed safely in the spring, we haul the bedding to the compost pile and move the sheep to a new pasture section (with smaller portable shades/shelters). We pull the building to a new section to get ready for winter about the end of August so that if we need to use it for hurricane season it's ready.

We would love to have a traditional barn, but our property didn't come with one and the expense is not practicle for our purposes. I can understand though if you are milking or have really harsh winters and keep the animals inside. Our winters are fairly mild and our sheep seem more suseptible to colds/drafts if they are cooped up. Concrete would depend on what you're using it for too.

[Up North]

Originally Posted by boyd5212

Yeah, $75 would be nice...in my dreams--how'd you manage that?!

Prevailing winds come from the N. Plan to put the barn SW of the house. The house is on higher ground than the barn, and our well is a fair piece away. Neighbors' wells are no worry--too far away.

We will want water and electricity and have a pipe buried under the driveway coming from the house for that purpose. The driveway runs between the house and pasture--house on left (East), pasture on right (West). The pasture is in a bit of a hollow, with not much breeze in the summer. To go to higher ground in the other pasture means crossing the brook and getting a fair distance from the house...

We're still debating dirt floor or pouring concrete. Aside from the financial drawback, any thoughts on that?

Firstly, is Nova Scotia a seaboard climate where it stays above freezing? Or should you be giving some thought to snow removal difficulty and/or the normal snowdrifting patterns?
Unless you are planning a "warm barn" i.e. one that stays above 40F in winter from animal's heat, I would definately put in a heated waterer with electrical lines to it for heater. At a minimum, install a frostfree hydrant inside the barn perimeter before building the barn.
I would stay at least 100 feet from house. Sounds, smells, etc. Also, putting any 2 building too close means if one catches fire you lose both of them.
Leave plenty of clear open space around barn because your needs and the size of tractors, trucks, or machinery may change in time.
Even if you only have a few head of stock, if a livestock hauler comes with a 30 foot trailer behind a crewcab pickup, he will need room to manuever and turn around.
For areas where you will have livestock, concrete will give many years of service and be much more easily cleaned. If you are pouring a new floor, and know you want a stall space for cow or horse, the real neat application is to buy a rubber mat(4X6) for a cow, for example, and set it into the wet concrete so it is held in place, and the edges are flush with rest of floor.
This arrangement is ideal for cows or horses.
If part of barn is garage space for tractor, truck, or hay, sand or rock floor would suffice.
Just some thoughts for your consideration...cheers.

[FarmboyBill]

I can get electric poles used for free when they have them which is weekly. I have around300 3 X 4s X10/11ft so hard you have to drill for every nale. Im thinking to get a post hole augher (tractor), and go down as far as possible. Then raise the poles using a A frame roped to the tractor, and then to the top of the pole and bring it up with another rope attached to another tractor in the opposide direction to keep it from going over. Throw the dirt from the holes just inside where you can use it for fill if need be. Put the poles up to the edge of the holes with the tractor, and drive a stake on either side with a plank laid against them. When bringing up the pole this plank will keep the pole from sliding past the hole. Once up, remove the plank and stakes, and take a sledge and drive the pole over into the hole. The whole main barn would be for hay. Im wanting a 40sq. I would build a slanting shed for milking, and horses, baby calves, manure storage and the manure spreader. I would run them 10ft apart on the outsides except in the middle where they would be 15 or 20. I would run two rows 20ft apart from the outside poles longways, and at the appropriate highth. I would take 3 of the 3X4s, and 1/2 lap them , bolting them together to make a 20 or 22foot 3X4 for the roof rafters. Id use the 3X4s alone for the side boards going from one rafter to another that the tin would be fastened on. I would use them the same way for the side walls. By the time I get ready to do it, ill be too old to do it.

[Up North]

FarmBoy Bill - After you get upright poles in their hole, how about pour concrete around them? For the part of the barn that is hay shed, perhaps no sidewalls are needed.