Adapting a Metal shed?

Wags · #1 03/30/08, 11:28 AM

I am trying to come up with a relatively quick and easy solution for housing my Nigerian dwarf goats. The have adequate shelter at present, but we are expecting our first kidding the beginning of May and I'd like to be able to get in and assist if necessary.

I'd love to have the money to have someone build us a nice barn (and I don't have the time to do it myself) but we don't, so the quickest solution seems to be a metal shed. I can get a new Arrow 10x14 metal shed for about $500.

The problem as I see it is that it only has one door and I want to divide the interior into a stall for the goats, and a separate area to store feed. So I would like a second doorway (doesn't have to have an actual door). Has anyone created a second door in one of those types of sheds? And if so, what did you do, and how hard was it?

fantasymaker · #2 03/30/08, 11:33 AM

Hum how about finding three pallets the height of your shed bracing 2 to the outside of the shed and wireing the third to one of those in a way that it can swing and then useing wire to hold it closed?
Baleing wire the homesteaders friend!

Nevada · #3 03/30/08, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wags

I can get a new Arrow 10x14 metal shed for about $500.

I have a 10x14 barn-style Arrow shed that I use for a storage shed. I don't think it's what I would do for a goat barn. I bought my shed because I needed to build a shed fast, ahead of a 600 mile move.

While I got the shed up in two days, if I had more time I think I could have done better with a wooden stud structure covered with 1/2" OSB. That would also have left open the possibility of insulating it in the future.

Scrounger · #4 03/30/08, 12:56 PM

It would only take a short time to put together a really nice shed using pallets. Plus, the cost is next to NOTHING. Even if you have to BUY the tin, it would be less then $500.
My first goat barn was 13'x26'. I scrounged the materials and it cost me less then $20 TOTAL (had to buy nails and screws....). The zoning permit cost me $25....go figure.

At that size, I was about to have a room large enough to store 90+ bales of hay, and two 8'x10' rooms.
It took me - a disabled guy with a cane - about two weeks of 4 hour a day piddling. A "normal" guy should be able to do it in less then half that time, even part time.

Wags · #5 03/30/08, 03:42 PM

Any construction that gets done around here gets done by myself, hubby is not handy, and has zero interest in anything related to the homestead. He will watch the kids for me sometimes if he doesn't have his own projects to work on. So my construction time is pretty limited. I'm still trying to finish up the pump house/garden shed that I started on in January! (needs shingles and a door) It is 8x12 and was my test building - and given that it isn't finished yet I know I won't have time to get something even bigger up before the first week in May.

strawhousefarm · #6 03/30/08, 06:22 PM

I don't know about the metal shed. They are'nt very sturdy I've had one before. I did have to get up a temporary building up one time and did'nt have the time to dedicate to it so I bought one of the one car garages from Harbor Freight it cost around $170 and measured roughly 8x16 it comes with a heavy duty grey tarp to cover it with and has ends. The tarp lasted over two years in the middle of the sun before it started leaking. I still use the frame for a greenhouse but it could be covered with corrugated tin for a permanent skin. If there is not a Harbor Freight in you area you can find them at harborfrieght.com

rambler · #7 03/30/08, 11:07 PM

That brand/ type seem very flimsy to me, then if you cut another door out of it & make the skin weaker yet.... I donno that is an acceptable thing. I'd think the goats could kick right through the side.

--->Paul

Freeholder · #8 03/31/08, 02:12 AM

I agree that the metal sheds are probably too flimsy for goats, even little Nigies. However, I do keep my goats in tarp-covered portable carport shelters. What I did was build their pens out of cattle panels. They still chew on tarps sometimes, but haven't yet put a hoof through one.

The other issue I have with the metal sheds is that they can get VERY hot inside. We have one for storage, and I've been inside it in the summer sun -- not good for animals. Do you have a shady spot to put it? Or, maybe plant some fast-growing vines to grow up over it for shade?

I don't think you need a second door, though. Just build a partition for the back half of the shed, and put a gate in it. The back half would be your goat pen; the front half would be your storage and work area. Take the goats in and out through there.

If you want them to have access to an outside pen without you having to take them in and out, bolt two by fours to the shed wall where you want the door to go, in the shape of the door. Then cut the metal siding out inside the two by four frame. Cut close, because they'll get cut on it if you leave any metal sticking out. In fact, you might want to screw one inch boards around the inside of the opening to cover the metal edges.

Kathleen

the mama · #9 03/31/08, 08:43 AM

I have a freecycled chainlink dog pen with a few large dog carriers in it. It is a good fit for nd goats but larger goats can break the plastic dog carriers by jumping on them. This 'goat pen' is inside a fenced acre. I secure them at night. Also I can secure the babies away from dames when I begin milking.

Wags · #10 03/31/08, 08:49 AM

Thanks for the info - my plan was to bolt some of the scrap OSB we have along the bottom of the shed so that there would be no danger of them putting a hoof through. And yes it would go in a shady spot, that gets a nice breeze in the summer.

agmantoo · #11 03/31/08, 08:56 AM

Do you not have the two car garages made from metal and sell for $595 installed in your area? These things are around 20 ft by 20ft. You could later enclose the 3 sides if desired, leaving the 4th side open and place to the south for warmth in the winter. You would get good air circulation which is a must for healthy animals. The building would also provide an area for hay storage and you would have a dirt floor to absorb urine.

Wags · #12 03/31/08, 08:59 AM

I've not seen one of those shelters that cheap around here - but I think it would be tough to find anywhere remotely level to set it up around here, since we live on a ridge. But a single car version might work - although I would need to enclose the sides right away due to the amount of wind/rain we get.

jassytoo · #13 03/31/08, 05:25 PM

We did use a metal shed for our young goats once. I lined the inside with straw bales. It worked well until we had some wind. Sent that shed bowling over the ground like a beach ball. We had it held down tight too. ( we thought

)

frazzlehead · #14 03/31/08, 08:19 PM

My sheep shelter is four fence posts pounded in the ground, back ones in deeper than teh front ones, then cross braces put on and a metal roof attached. It's open on one side, but we'll be using a similar strategy for our chicken coop and it'll get fully framed plus a door.

The fence posts hold nice & still, and we 'sided' ours with scrap lumber from construction, so it is actually a series of 2x4, 2x6 and 2x8 boards cut to the right height and nailed to the cross braces. Screws would hold better.

Something like that might work for you (and not blow away), and it is really good on uneven ground.

sammyd · #15 03/31/08, 08:45 PM

For around 500 bucks I put up a 10x12 on 4x6 treated skids. I even lazed out and bought the premade trusses. 2x4 @ 24"OC covered in 1/2 inch plywood, roofed with tin, painted barn red.
Do some double checking, lumber prices seem to be on the decline.

fantasymaker · #16 04/01/08, 08:26 AM

I dont think you want to use that OSB on the ground. Around here just close to the ground where it can draw moisture will have it delaminating in no time.

Wags · #17 04/01/08, 09:51 AM

I know better than to use OSB on the ground - anything touching the ground is always pressure treated.

Sammy - yes I could get the materials for around $500 but what I'm lacking is time to build it. I could work on it one day a week, but that won't get it built very fast, and definitely not by the beginning of May. I'm hoping to finish off the 8x12 pump house tomorrow - need to build the doors and get the roof on it.

YoungOne · #18 04/01/08, 10:06 AM

Helped my mom put in a second door on an "OLD" metal shed in her backyard. We used lumber on inside and out (2X6) and bolted through. Hope that makes sence. It worked for awhile (2yrs) but eventualy ripped apart in a wind storm.

I wouldn't recomend modifying integrity of metal shed.

**GREENCOUNTYPETE** · #19 04/01/08, 10:11 AM

i helped my father in law build a 6x8 arrow shed the words i have to explain it would have me removed by the moderators very quickly i could do better with wood in less time honestly i could do better with just about anything.

yes stacked sod walls would be far better than that p.o.s

as amater of fact a few poles and a tin roof with 50 bucks in hay stacker around it would make a better barn