Barn, loafing shed, lean-to?

[hobbyfarmdave]

My sensible side and I both agree that we are not ready for cattle yet, so I'm trying to work out some long term plans/goals to be able to start my herd. The thing that we are most lacking is a suitable shelter for animals. The barn we have is being used for equipment, and most likely will never be able to be used for livestock once I'm done with the work I want to do to it. That means that I will need another barn of some sort for cattle. What does everyone have for a shelter for their animals, and how large is it? Do you store hay in the same building or separately? I know what I would like to build for a barn, but reality tells me that I won't be able to build that for quite some time. Is there a minimum that you would consider adequate. I'm currently leaning toward a 30x40 or 24x30 size. My goal is to only have 3-6 dexters total. What are your thoughts? Thank you for your inputs.

Dave

[zephyrhillsusan]

I would never store hay where I was keeping my animals. Hay has been known to spontaneously combust and cause a fire, and you would never want your animals shut in there.

A lot of what they need depends on where you are. Here in NW GA a three-sided run-in shelter or a carport-type roof is enough shelter. Most of the time our Dexters don't even seek shelter in the winter, although in the summer they look for shade. We find that a grove of trees makes better shade than a man-made shelter because it's cooler.

If you get a lot of rain, you might want to consider a covered feeder. We tried for a while to use a feeder we built under a carport, but the animals loafed there and made too much of a mess. So now we use a covered feeder away from that area so the mess is easier to clean up.

It also depends on when you want to calve and what kind of temperatures you get then. We calve in April and only need a stall when there are thunderstorms or rain predicted. Once a cow is close to calving, if the weather is going to be bad, I put her in the stall. Otherwise we let her calve in the pasture, and then bring her and the calf into the stall if there's going to be really bad weather. Some breeders always have their cows calve in the field.

I hope this helps.

[kansasdexters]

Dave,

Here is a photo of our most versatile (and very well used) stone shed. It is our favorite place for calving, for weaning, and for providing shelter from all kinds of weather. The long dimension is North-South, the narrow dimension is East-West. We have installed a couple of livestock panels and a gate to divide it in half and create two separate "stalls" inside - one enters from the East, the other from the West, and since there is a gate inside, we can easily go from one side to the other. Each side has access to a separate outside paddock area. We have a corral and squeeze chute adjacent to these, to create a working area on the south side. The stone walls help to moderate temperature in the summer (providing deep shade) and to provide protection from wind, rain, ice, and snow. It is about 12 feet wide inside and 40 feet long (so it divides into two 12' x 20' stalls inside). It was built in the early 1900's, by hand, using stone from the property. The walls are about 3 feet thick at the base and then narrower as they go up. It has a dirt floor.

[zephyrhillsusan]

What a treasure you inherited, kansasdexters! I bet the farmer who built it would be proud to know it's still in use.

[cathylee]

Wow! Very picturesque!

We have a hay barn with a car and tractor parked in it.

Our three west side paddocks each have an areas with Ponderosa pines. I open the freshest of these paddocks when calving is imminent.

We have a shed and sometimes attach livestock panels to hold a cow for a vet visit or prior to loading on a trailer. The shed gets lots of straw added as needed for cold windy nights.

There is a workshop which has two car bays with overhead door and have thought I could put a cow there if weather was awful and she required close observation.

[Dahdo]

We have a barn with a shop and storage and it has a 12x48 lean to on the south side. The lean to is divided into three areas. One 12x12 bay can be used for a short term confinement, nursery area, or overflow shelter, another 12x12 bay is where I have a feed bunk and storage for bedding straw, grain, etc, and the third area is a 12x24 loafing area where 6-10 Dexters can squeeze in to get out of bad weather. This whole lean to faces out onto a 60x40 heavy use area that I constructed using 8-10 inches of gravel. This is where they get fed in the winter to keep them off our wet pastures and the gravel keeps them out of the mud.

And by the way, it's really good to have a sensible side, or so she tells me.

Cheers,
Dave
Hifalutindextercattle.com

[cddexter]

Hi another Dave: my barn was purpose built, 40 x 76. I kept around 60+ head in this. A central portion 40 x 36, 20' high for up to 40 tons of hay, and two side portions 10' high dividable into four pens each, 20' deep by 10' wide, using portable 10' panels. That gave me options of a combination of 10 to 40' wide, depending on what I was doing. I had slant bar feeder panels between the lower section and the higher hay storage central section, so all I had to do was knock down the required bales, open them up, and feed right there. Unless something was sick, or incarcerated in preparation for being hauled away by the new owner, the 'stalls' were open to outside. I didn't have any walls on the outside lower stock portions, just panels. I live in the pacific northwest.

In the Fall, I'd wean, keep the cows and bull on one side, the full 20 x 40, as a loafing shed, and separate the heifers and bull calves into two 20 x 20 pens on the other side. The mature herd had free access to the farm fields from their side, the calves had free access to small ~ two acre fields each on the other side.

You only get spontaneous combustion if the hay has too much moisture. My hay was always property dried, I never had a problem in 30 years.

For just a few cattle, they'll need a windbreak, somewhere to get out of cold driving rain, somewhere to be fed that's easy to clean out, and shade in the summer. If you decide to keep your hay in a separate building in case of fire, it has to be far enough away, but at the same time, it's the pits to be moving bales in the rain from one bldg. to another. Something to consider. If this is a problem, You might feed round bales instead, and have the feeder in a big loafing shed, or outside with a pole 'carport' style roof. If you are in a colder climate, snow isn't really an issue. It's the rain that causes the damage.

The configuration is pretty much up to what works for you. Will you be milking? You'll need somewhere to secure the cow. Do you plan to have a chute and squeeze? (it will save you hours and lots of headaches if you do). That can double as a milking stanchion, too. A stall or pen is great because you'll need somewhere to put an animal you want to keep an eye on, where you can control the movement. Otherwise, good ventilation, shelter from wind and nasty rain (if it's just ordinary precipitation, the odds are the cows will elect to stay outside in it!) and summer shade are they they'll need. You'll need ease of access, a gate and chute system that allows you to move them around and handle them by yourself, and somewhere to keep halters, feed bags, and a few medicines safely out of the way.

cheers, carol d.

[midhilldexters]

Hi Dave, I'm west of you close to Ellicottville NY, I would think you are dealing with huge amounts of snow like myself. If you are not calving in the winter then one run in large stall would work for you, or one that could be split into two. Build as big as you can, room is always needed for something. You are more than welcome to come visit here, we also have some nice cows for sale!!

Regards
Carol K

[hobbyfarmdave]

Thank you everyone for the replies. I still have quite awhile before I'm ready, but the planning is a lot of the fun. I'm sure a lot of you, like me, have probably gone through dozens of plans just to find what works best and then find something that makes your plan not work. Carol, I would love to come down and check out your farm. I may take you up on your offer later this summer if I ever get caught up with the projects I have going now.

Dave

[karenp]

Lower Delaware

Are you planning on milking? If so you'll want somewhere inside.