Start from Scratch

[FutureFarm]

I am in the process of planning my homestead. It is still going to be a few years until I can break ground, but I want to get as much of it planned as possible.
I intend to have a herd of Nigerian Dwarf goats for making soap, cheese, and yogurt. Eight seems like a good number. I also want to keep chickens for eggs, probably nine. Because my wife is opposed to raising livestock for meat, we will not be butchering any of our livestock. We will be purchasing all of meat from the grocer. Our fruit and vegetable needs will be raised on our homestead, hopefully enough to last all year. I currently have an office job, but being raised on a farm, I’m going crazy not having land of my own.
For me the most difficult part of the planning process has been trying to figure out what kind of barn/coop/milk room/storage I need. I think I’ve decided that the “half-monitor” style would be the best for me. From what I’ve read the roof lines allow for the best ventilation without being drafty.

Fig 1. Exterior

The short walls and enclosed pens are 6’ tall. The center wall is 12’ and the other wall is 8’ at the eaves. All roof sections are sloped 4/12. The transom windows at the top are centered on the knee wall. The windows in the pens are 2’x2’ and set 3’ off the ground. The doors under the windows in the goat pens are 2.5’ tall and 2’ wide. The nest box on the outside of the barn allows for easy egg collection and frees up room in the barn for the hens.


 
Figure 2. Floorplan
In the diagram of the barn, the north side is at the top of the page, east to the right, you can figure out the rest.
The goats occupy the east side of the barn. The kidding pens are 6’x6’ and are under the short side of the roof. The main section of the goat pen is 12’x12’. The kidding pens open to the outside, allowing the new mothers to take the new kids outside while keeping them sheltered.
As the kids mature, the kid pens can be used to separate the kids from the milking does at night, allowing us to milk once in the morning.
The chickens are kept in the southwest corner in a 6’x6’ stall. They have a fully enclosed run outdoors, 12’x12’. The rest of the space in the barn is reserved for milking and storage. Eventually cabinets would be built to store the necessary milking equipment and whatever other supplies I need to keep in the barn. The building will be wired for electricity and have a water hookup. The chickens will have a wood floor, nine inches above the ground lined with linoleum for easy cleaning.

Now is the part where I ask for your help. I have put a lot of time researching the type of farm I want to have. Hopefully in a few years I will be able to make my plans real. If you see anything that won’t work please let me know before I spend lots of time and money building something that won’t work.

[Alice In TX/MO]

If you aren't eating goat meat, get a larger breed. Eight Nigerian Dwarf goats are going to produce anywhere from sixteen to thirty kids each year. Do you want to deal with that?

Get a couple of good mini goats. I have a Mini-Alpine who produces a half gallon per day, even late in lactation.

Have to go out in the rain (again) to milk this morning. Will look at your pics in a bit.

[chewie]

one thing to consider is how you're going to clean out that barn. my barn is old, and was used for milk cows then pigs. its terrible difficult to clean out. if i were able to plan my barn, i would be certain it could be cleaned with a skid steer or the like. anything other than a pitchfork and shovel. its wet heavy and smelly. and if its hard to do, you won't do it much.

maybe its my age, but i am always looking for way to do things easier. i still wish to keep dairy goats and all the other things, but finding ways to make it less labor intensive. and time, wow, i dont' like the idea of spending hours sweating away when for a fraction of the time and barely any labor it can be done, and usually better.

[BlueRose]

FutureFarm: Nice barn. I am in the planning stages myself. Everyone on this forum and the other HT forum will give lots of advice and ideas. I enjoy reading the answers to questions, I am learning so much.

Good Luck and happy planning.

[dozedotz]

I, like Chewie, would wonder how easily you will be able to enter and exit for cleaning?
We use deep litter for the chickens and love it...we take out each spring only as much as we absolutely need to and the hens do a fabulous job of turning it over...the natural fly predators in the litter keep the fly problem to a minimum. We have not, however, had any luck with the deep litter system with the goats (type of urine is the culprit). This means that you really have to be on top of the cleaning all the time with regular clean up. Be sure you walk through it as if you are cleaning their area once a week or even once a day under certain conditions and see how easily it is to get your equipment (wheel barrow, etc.) in and out, turning, working with the animals underfoot. Where is your compost pile? Manure pile? It is a well organized and attractive set up; just be sure it will work for you or it will become a real drag...literally!

[FutureFarm]

If I changed the door on the goat end of the shed to a sliding door 6' wide, I would probably be able to get a garden tractor with a loader bucket through the door right? How much straw bedding should I expect to go through? I was under the impression that straw or other bedding was only necessary in the winter and in the kidding pens.

[Alice In TX/MO]

I keep straw in my goat barns year round.

[AuntKitty]

You don't say where your future homestead will be located. My suggestions are made keeping in mind that I am in north Florida. If it were me, I would situate the barn up against whereever my pasture fence was going to be and have access available from the pen on the back right corner to the pasture. Goats like to browse and you will have alot less feed expense if you let them browse. Goats are also unruly to transfer from a barn to an unattached pasture so life will be easier if all you have to do is open a gate to let them out to browse. The size of pens you are talking about are small for any number of goats to be essentially "dry lotted", ie not let out on pasture, and you would have to have straw down all the time and change it out alot in the goat pens and the chicken pen to keep the smell, flies, etc. to a breathable limit for you and the goats. Straw isn't just for comfort - it absorbs some liquids too. Nothing is worse than a dirt floored chicken run after a few days of summer rain. The smell would knock you over I would position my vegetable garden off the front left side of the barn and put my compost pile in the corner of the garden closest to the barn to make piling up the "barn cleanings" easy. I would also put a narrow fenced corridor (or chute) along the left side of the barn leading to a door for access to your milking area because ALL the goats will know there is grain served on the milkstand and the whole herd will mob you to "get milked". I would also store your feed cans in an enclosed area because if more than one goat gets into the milking parlor, those cans are going over and let the party begin! Even if they are metal and you never open them when a goat is anywhere near, they will know where the grain comes from. I know these things from experience and my life would have been a whole lot easier if I had thought things through more carefully before getting my goats.

Good luck and looks like you've made a good start on your planning!

Kitty

[d'vash]

I personally would put a door to the poultry pen, so you can access it from the outside if need be. If there was a fire, you could open the pen door and let everyone out rather than having to make them go out into the smoke-filled barn.

I am not a fan of small pens for goats. I would put a paddock around the entire barn or around half of the barn where the goat entrance is, so the goats still have the option of seeking shelter whilst having plenty of room and browse to feed on. It would also save the hassle of having to let them out of their pen every morning, and putting them back in again.

[delphinium]

Lovely set up. I would like to add my thoughts to the brilliant ideas others have offered. You don't say what state you are from, but if it is a snowy locale you may want to reconsider the north facing goat door, a good blizzard could make it inaccessible. Please remember chicken wire is NOT predator proof so you will want the pens fenced in something sturdier. The separation between goat pen & chicken pen should be VERY sturdy. Goats love chicken feed and will gorge to the point of bloat and possible death. Good luck in your endeavor. Hope it happens soon.

[Lizza]

Originally Posted by chewie

one thing to consider is how you're going to clean out that barn. my barn is old, and was used for milk cows then pigs. its terrible difficult to clean out. if i were able to plan my barn, i would be certain it could be cleaned with a skid steer or the like. anything other than a pitchfork and shovel. its wet heavy and smelly. and if its hard to do, you won't do it much.

maybe its my age, but i am always looking for way to do things easier. i still wish to keep dairy goats and all the other things, but finding ways to make it less labor intensive. and time, wow, i dont' like the idea of spending hours sweating away when for a fraction of the time and barely any labor it can be done, and usually better.

I am with Chewie on this!

After our first poorly planned, quickly built barn, the number one lesson I learned: All areas need access for equipment to clean out barns!

[motdaugrnds]

I think that is a nice set up and quite convenient for the most part.

Like others in here, I would change a few aspects, i.e. widen the door for cleaning ease and add some doors in the pens for the same purpose. I would also add a door at the end of that chicken house that exited to the outside.

The one thing I do not recall your mentioning is storage for your feed/hay. Is that leanto such that you can add a floor in the highest part to store some hay?

[LFRJ]

Why a "herd of" Nigerians? If you are not intending to butcher extras for meat, would not two or three standard size goats serve just as well, eat less AND give you less grief with fencing and fewer offspring to deal with? ..because, yes, you WILL have to contend with offspring one way or the other.

You can opt not to keep a buck, but for a lactating goat, there will eventually be one involved, and t that end, extra bucklings. Simultaneously, you may decide against a roo, but your hens will one day get old, quit laying and need to be replaced or dealt with. Keeping them on as pets is an option of course, but that gets expensive....so along with your future plans you may wish to find a market for the 'extras' - and yes they will probably end up as meat. Good homes for pet wethers is pretty tough to find.

As for the barn, my next one will have openings on either side to drive a push tractor through for easy cleaning. I tried deep litter ONCE - and that was back breaking. I clean monthly now and provide a thin layer of straw summer, slightly more in winter - (I can, it's not frigid cold here), and STILL barn cleaning is labor intensive.

Also, if you're serious - start collecting tools now if you see them at discount, garage sales, ale, craig's list, whatever. You'll need them, along with a lot of other things - and it will be nice having them already rather than the outlay of $$ just after you have purchased your homestead - because unless it comes as a furnished package - you'll need every spare dime to start up most likely. Also, learn food saving techniques in advance (canning, drying, etc). Vegetables/fruits are seasonal. If you want enough for all year, you'll need to know how to collect at harvest and put it by.

You didn't mention fencing by the way - a whole nother can of worms.

Good luck. What region?

[FutureFarm]

I'll try and get pictures on this later which show my plans for the pasture layout. Essentially the goat barn opens into a drylot with at least 150 sq ft of space per goat. Four pastures open off of the drylot allowing the goats to browse for food and excercise.

[aart]

That is a Clerestory style, great for ventilation. Half Monitor has roofs running at same angle rather than opposing angles.

Nice cad model, what program did you use?

Agrees with bigger doors.....can't wait to see your pasture plans!

[FutureFarm]

attached are my pasture plans. The central square is 60x60. The browse pastures are 90x120. I fixed the barn orientation so that the pens face south, the goats use the east door, and people use the west door. I also expanded the door to a split sliding door 6' wide. The property is in central Illinois, just north of Peoria.

[BlueRose]

I have been reading this thread with great interest. I am incorporating some of the advice and ideas into my plan.

FF thank you it is easy for me to understand with drawings and pics. I like the idea on having the pastures all opening from center. It will be easy to rotate grazing

[FutureFarm]

For those who have been reading this, I've made some modifications. In the picture North is to the right, which puts East at the bottom of the page, and you can figure out the rest. The big empty square is where I will put a house, garage, and summer kitchen, the dark green squares are the goat/sheep pastures. The square in the corner is a vineyard/berry patch In the far corner are the buck/ram pens, far away from the house. The garden is west of the house and features a 60x210 orchard, 3x sets of 16 garden rows 75' long and 4' wide, a strawberry patch.
If you have more questions just ask. Let me know if there's something I'm not seeing.

[FutureFarm]

Forgot to upload picture

[punchiepal]

We are in NE Iowa and have 2 hog lots near us. 1 is 1/10m south & 1.5m west and another 3m south & slightly west from us. On the days that the south wind blows guess what we smell? Not sure I would put a buck pen in the sw corner of our property, unless it is our last choice. If we quartered our land the house is in the NW corner, does in ne corner, buck se corner w/ the chickens. Smell isn't something I notice most days.

Was reading the back posts, make the windows higher than 3 feet. Ours are at least 4.5" and the standards can stand on their hinds and look out. I think our stall walls are 3.5" and the ND's stand on their hinds to see over them. Unless you have HUGE goats your door doesn't need to be that wide and maybe not that tall either. I think ours is 18" wide and maybe 2' tall? Smaller door: less wind, snow, rain, in the barn.