Building a barn ~ advice and thoughts...
Jan 19, 2020 21:54:11 GMT -5
rosalind, mommasquilts, and 1 more like this
Post by Applelonia on Jan 19, 2020 21:54:11 GMT -5
The plan is to build a new barn this spring - fall...only problem is I have no plans!! My husband keeps asking me to decide what I want the barn to be like, but it all seems rather overwhelming, as I don't want to make so many mistakes like we did with our original barn.
I think it's going to be a bank barn ~ one corner/part of side will be a "bank" this is only to allow driving access to the loft/hay storage. So the majority of the lower level will not be banked. The lower level will be poured concrete walls part way up and then metal siding. Roof will be shingled. I had wanted block but my dad said because of the weight that poured concrete are best. The cows have ripped up the wooden siding on the current barn with their horns...I'm assuming horned cattle will dent up metal with their horns?
My father has been building for close to 60 years...he built our current barn and our coops. He is in his 70's and is going to retire soon, but said he would help with this project. A number of the people who worked on the first barn are either retired, will be retiring soon, or have passed away. So this will be the last project I will probably get to work on with my father ...bittersweet feeling.
The size is roughly 40x60 and that is as far as I've gotten. All I can see in my mind is an empty rectangular building! Lots of windows, doors, overhead doors, and fans - want it ventilated! My dad wants to work on the plans but I don't know how things should be laid out inside. Right now in the current barn there are three box stalls 10x12 and the cows like the box stalls, but I was thinking a free stall area might be nice and also some box stalls. Should free stalls be all in a row or some on both sides of the alley - or doesn't it matter?
What is a good sized stall for individual calf pens?
Right now the current barn has a dutch door that opens to the outside from each stall...in the new barn I don't think this will be possible for each stall. I know that dairy cows can learn to come in and go to their proper stanchion for milking. So would cows quickly learn to walk in together and go to their proper stall or would there apt to be bickering between them?
What size alley-way - width - is needed for cows? In our current barn France has a hard time turning around in a 14 foot wide space. The Randalls can move in tight narrow spots but the Guernseys seem rather clumsy.
What is the best flooring for free stalls - we have gravel, then packed clay and then pads on top for the stalls in the current barn - is this a good base for free stalls?
The milk room area will be a separate room within the barn or a side extension from the barn - not sure which - that will be heated - 40ish in the winters, hand milking in our cold Minnesota winters is getting too hard for my hands. Any things that are essential for a milk area? I'm thinking concrete floors with a drain. A rough brushed concrete to help the cows with traction. The Randalls run and play on ice for fun but the Guernseys slip so easily just walking. Even on the current concrete floor in the barn, the few times the Guernseys have walked on it they slip so easily. Randalls have no issues. Do dairies put anything down in walkways for traction or do cows get used to walking on concrete in time?
Thinking a few milking stanchions...how much room is best between stanchions? Are gutters best or are they just harder to clean?
Any advice and thoughts would be greatly appreciated ...things to do or not to...
I think it's going to be a bank barn ~ one corner/part of side will be a "bank" this is only to allow driving access to the loft/hay storage. So the majority of the lower level will not be banked. The lower level will be poured concrete walls part way up and then metal siding. Roof will be shingled. I had wanted block but my dad said because of the weight that poured concrete are best. The cows have ripped up the wooden siding on the current barn with their horns...I'm assuming horned cattle will dent up metal with their horns?
My father has been building for close to 60 years...he built our current barn and our coops. He is in his 70's and is going to retire soon, but said he would help with this project. A number of the people who worked on the first barn are either retired, will be retiring soon, or have passed away. So this will be the last project I will probably get to work on with my father ...bittersweet feeling.
The size is roughly 40x60 and that is as far as I've gotten. All I can see in my mind is an empty rectangular building! Lots of windows, doors, overhead doors, and fans - want it ventilated! My dad wants to work on the plans but I don't know how things should be laid out inside. Right now in the current barn there are three box stalls 10x12 and the cows like the box stalls, but I was thinking a free stall area might be nice and also some box stalls. Should free stalls be all in a row or some on both sides of the alley - or doesn't it matter?
What is a good sized stall for individual calf pens?
Right now the current barn has a dutch door that opens to the outside from each stall...in the new barn I don't think this will be possible for each stall. I know that dairy cows can learn to come in and go to their proper stanchion for milking. So would cows quickly learn to walk in together and go to their proper stall or would there apt to be bickering between them?
What size alley-way - width - is needed for cows? In our current barn France has a hard time turning around in a 14 foot wide space. The Randalls can move in tight narrow spots but the Guernseys seem rather clumsy.
What is the best flooring for free stalls - we have gravel, then packed clay and then pads on top for the stalls in the current barn - is this a good base for free stalls?
The milk room area will be a separate room within the barn or a side extension from the barn - not sure which - that will be heated - 40ish in the winters, hand milking in our cold Minnesota winters is getting too hard for my hands. Any things that are essential for a milk area? I'm thinking concrete floors with a drain. A rough brushed concrete to help the cows with traction. The Randalls run and play on ice for fun but the Guernseys slip so easily just walking. Even on the current concrete floor in the barn, the few times the Guernseys have walked on it they slip so easily. Randalls have no issues. Do dairies put anything down in walkways for traction or do cows get used to walking on concrete in time?
Thinking a few milking stanchions...how much room is best between stanchions? Are gutters best or are they just harder to clean?
Any advice and thoughts would be greatly appreciated ...things to do or not to...