How close/far to the barn?

[ArmyDoc]

Thinking about our property, where were planning to build the house, and where we'd put the barn. So, just out of curiosity, how far is it from your house to your barn, and how far would you like it to be if you had it to over again?

[Sanza]

I would say how much land you have and the topography have a lot to do with the placement.
First of all don't put it close to your well and don't build it upwind from the house if you can help it.
For me at least 100 yards from the house would be good.

[Yvonne's hubby]

That all depends on what you plan to use the barn for. hay and equipment storage, housing large animals in the winter? how much snow do you get? how far do you want to carry milk to the house if your running a dairy? can you drive a pickup to the barn..... Many factors to weigh in on this one. One thing is for sure.... if you are planning on large critters, manure becomes a factor and downwind from the house is a good thing.

[Two Cents Worth]

Without answering---one must consider if you will be owning 5 head of livestock or 500 head of livestock.

What is the makeup of the head count? Hogs----about 5 miles away from the house if many and your area has a lot of rainfall meaning the pens will stink to high heavens.

Lots of things go in to the decision of where to locate the barn intelligently, not just what others have done with it having worked well for them.

[chewie]

i agree that amt of animals does come into play before a decision can be made here. we have 6 dairy goats, plus their 12 kids (only for a few months for the kids), a dozen laying hens, some broilers, a hog pen (no hog this year tho., corn prices too high) a buck pen, and the horses are around the back of the barn, 6 of those.

our barnyard is about 40 yards from the front of the house, which is nice. BUT, the ppl who put the barn in its spot 50 years ago either didn't have the drainage issue we do now, are weren't real bright, as all the water runs right to the barn, and snow piles feet deep in front of the barn doors, due to the way it's sitting.

our house is on the uphill slant of the barn, and getting to and from the barn (a few times daily) is a real pain as when it rains/melts, snows, etc., its a slippery walk down, and a sludgy climb back to the house. so watch your drainage!!

the 40 yards is a nice distance tho., i can watch the goats and chickens (in a coop another 10 yards down) but seldom smell it.

i fashioned our barnyard in a situation like a spoke of a wheel--it all centers in the yard, in front of the house, so during summer, one hose reaches all the pens, one hay bale can be sat in the 'hub' and used for all pens, etc. the pens are square/retangle, but all gates, watering troughs, hay bins, etc. are all in the front at the hub. makes chores much easier.

[springvalley]

If it`s cattle or horses, a breezeway in between the house and barn would do it for me. I have a neighbor that just built a new draft horse barn, garage is the only thing that seperates the house from the barn area. > Thanks Marc

[jwal10]

Right across the driveway, closer the better but I only have had sheep, goats, rabbits and chickens. When I had a lot of cattle their barns were scattered all over the 1000 acres to make smaller barns and herds. It rains a lot in western Oregon and a large herd makes a big mess, 25 head each worked well for me....James

[Windy in Kansas]

Wherever it is put try to place it so prevailing winds carry odor away from the house. Locate it far enough away that flies won't be much of a problem at the dwelling.

[Micheal]

The smaller of the 2 barns is roughly 100 feet from the house. In it is the tractor (a TN60A) and an area for firewood (use to be hay) storage. This one is also wired for electric as I do some work out there.
The larger barn is roughly 100 yards behind the house. This is where the larger animals and their feed were kept, but now with no animals I do store most of my firewood there.

Things considered in barn placement - water run-off, water availablity, possible odors, number of and type of animals, acess to via tractor, truck, wheelbarrow, etc, necessary storage, wind and weather....... these are not listed in any neccessary order.

[motdaugrnds]

Armydock, all these posters are right on with their information, i.e. where you place your barn is all dependant on your terrain, your well, your area's prevailing winds, how your run-off water travels and what you are going to do with your barn.

To give you an example of what one land-owner did:
We raise only a small herd of dairy goats with 2 bucks. We have only 6 acres; so we placed our house on top of the highest knoll, the barn on the next highest and the chicken shed on the next highest knoll; then put the buck house on the next knoll toward the back of the property (away from does). We ran our drive along the highest parts of each knoll from the state road, through the front gate (about 100 ft from paved road) down and up to the house (where it turned into a "Y"). One part of that "Y" ended at the house; whereas the other went between the house and the barn, around past the back yard to the chicken house and on down to the buck house.

Our terrain obviously worked well for us, the run-off water does not travel into any of the structures, the prevailing winds have not caused us any smelly problems (actually our goats don't smell and the chicken house is far enough away not to bother us ... both barn and chicken house next to the garden). Our well is on the opposite side of all animal housing and at a higher elevation as well since our entire acreage has a 5% slope from well to the bordering creek (spring-fed and ever-flowing).

Since I do most of the milking and it is hard for me to walk, placing all these structures where we have with the driveway as we did is working beautifully.

Hope this example helps you.

[geo in mi]

Don't forget placement of house/barn for fire possibilities and firefighting apparatus. You never know.

geo

[Ramblin Wreck]

Originally Posted by Sanza

I would say how much land you have and the topography have a lot to do with the placement.
First of all don't put it close to your well and don't build it upwind from the house if you can help it.
For me at least 100 yards from the house would be good.

Sounds like good advice, but I built the main barn about 200 feet from the house, mainly due to topographical issues. Flies and smell have not been an issue, mainly because we rarely get a SE wind here, almost never.

[Minelson]

If I could do it over again I would have the house attached to the garage and the garage attached to the barn. But I live in some pretty brutal weather here. That would be my dream come true. I could go visit my horses and goats in my jammies during a blizzard!

[painterswife]

Originally Posted by Minelson

If I could do it over again I would have the house attached to the garage and the garage attached to the barn. But I live in some pretty brutal weather here. That would be my dream come true. I could go visit my horses and goats in my jammies during a blizzard!

I agree! The time I spent battling the wind and cold to get to the chicken house or horses. I could be using to clean up the manure and reduce the smell.

If everything is sited properly and with proper drainage away from the buildings, the smell and flies should be kept to a minimum. No roofs draining onto paddocks or manure storage.

[Michael W. Smith]

Originally Posted by springvalley

. . . . a breezeway in between the house and barn would do it for me. I have a neighbor that just built a new draft horse barn, garage is the only thing that seperates the house from the barn area. >

Just remember with animals, you have to go to the barn at the minimum once a day - and depending on what animals you have - sometimes more. Also take into consideration the weather in your area.

The above setup Marc mentions would sure come in handy during cold, snowy, muddy, or wet weather! Leave your house, put on your barn boots, travel through the garage / breezeway and into the barn. No traveling outside, no sliding on ice, no sinking to your knees in mud, or going out in a blizzard. However, one downside is if something catches fire - everything will probably go.

I've heard of living quarters being directly above the barn, or attached as in the case above. You would just want to put the "stinkiest" animals in the far end of the barn.

Also, some people do't mind the smell of horses or cows.

Ideally, if the house was on one end, the garage attached to it, the machine shed attached to it, and then the barn attached to it would probably elimate any odors.

[Callieslamb]

My barn is about 300 feet away- it's just about right for us. I wouldn't want it any further. I think it's important to lay out your corral areas, etc - they might affect where you place the barn so you have access by vehicle to deliver animals/feed, etc.

[ArmyDoc]

Thanks everyone! Let me try to give some more information...

I'm in Georgia, so no snow (well except the last two years for a day or two, but most years none) In terms of how much land/space available, distance is not really an issue it would be easy to put it too far away. It's mostly forest right now, but we plan to clear about 3 to 6 acres for the homestead intially. That area is pretty flat, with a gentle slope away from the house. I need to check the prevailing winds, but when I've been out there it generally comes out of the east, going west. (By the way, do they describe wind by where its coming from, or where its going on the weather sites?)

I was planning on clearing 3 acres to start with (~210ft wide x 630ft long) (Do you think I should double this - it wouldn't cost any more now, but would cost more if we did it later) the house would be in the center of the first acre. There would be some trees between the first acre and the second two, and I was thinking about putting the barn between the second and third acres - so that there would be an acre on either side of it. Sort of like this: (H is house, B is barn)

________________
|.......|.......|.......|
|...H..|.......B.......|
|.......|.......|.......|
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If we did 6 acres, it would look something like this:
________________
|.......|.......|.......|
|.......|.......|.......|
|.......|.......|.......|
___H______B______
|.......|.......|.......|
|.......|.......|.......|
|.......|.......|.......|
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We are going to have some chickens (but those would be in a sepparte coop closer in) and a few goats, and possibly some horses. (I want them, she doesn't) We plan to raise cattle, but they will be beef cattle and kept in the pasture out further, not in the barn. Do you think this is too far away? I could put it towards the front of the second two acres, rather than the middle.