What happened to the barn you use to go to? Before you start, you may want to check with your county for building codes, setbacks, etc. They may be able to give you some advice as to where to look for help. I've been known to do "stick drawings" to get rough ideas of how much material I needed. Even to the point of drawing pieces of plywood and the cuts I would need! Worked for me! Good luck, and just by doing one little step at a time will snowball before you know it and your farm will be back.

Thanks presmudjo. As far as code and inspectors go, we have a tendency not to welcome those folks onto our properties around here. We try not to even tip them off as to what we're doing. (They are a lot like those damned CRD dog catchers that come out to the country and harass farmers for dog license money!) Next thing you know, I'll have to pay $500 for a permit to sneeze...lol So asking them is not really an option.

The old barn had a lot of flaws. Too small and narrow, no windows, doors in the wrong places, etc. I didn't have much say in the construction and was never very pleased with the end result.

Although the old barn is a bit run down, it was worth a closer look. The hurricane last December did some external damage but structurally it seems to be fine. So I can definitely recycle a lot of the framing.

I figured if I was going to start over, I might as well do it right this time. My way...lol

You're right about the snowball effect! One thing lead to another and things are definitely starting to happen around here.

I decided to not "go it alone" this time so I wouldn't wear myself out and get frustrated so easily. Today, I hired a young guy to help me with a general clean up and brush clearing.

With the farm looking a little cleaner, I feel motivated to tackle that barn. I still wouldn't mind following some sort of layout though because I believe it will cut back on time and waste. So I'm still looking for some sort of blue prints or something like that.

By the way, I"m really open to any ideas folks might have about "easy yield projects" such as mushroom crops etc.

Thanks and take care.

Kat

Kat,

The US Dept. of Ag has a variety of free downloadable barn plans,....

http://www.ebackroad.com/0mwpsorg-freefarmplans.html

That said, you will probably find that they are commercially oriented, but by pouring over them, you can figure out things like minimum space allotments for stalls and coops based on animal type.

You need to figure out some things before you "guess out" your barn.

Who and what you are going to keep there, how you will clean it, and finally once you have the size, how you will build it.

The "cheapest" way to build a barn depends on local traditions and local materials. Around here, it is ether a pole barn constructed from standing timber like a log home, or a driven post and beam barn, (18" posts consiting of local timber, bottom treated with wood preservative, buried 5 feet in post holes, sheathed with 2' wide locally sawn planks lag bolted to the posts.

For example, I have two barns, one for horses, one for "livestock", (really just peoples former pets and assorted characters living out their retirement in comfort). The horse barn in on the edge of a 1 acre corral, the livestock barn on the edge of a 10 acre fenced cross section.

Both barns have concrete foundations and concrete floors. Entrance, Passage, stall gates and stall size are set up so that I can clean out the waste and soiled bedding with the Skidsteer. There is a central channel leading to a 3" drain and slurry pond, and a 2" water line, so that the walls and concrete floor can be hosed down clean and sterilised.

For bedding, from the local Horse shop, I have gotten one inch thick 4 x 8 compressed rubber mats which line the stalls, overtop wood chips and straw are spread.

As a result, cleaning all the stalls in both barns, washing the walls and sterilising the barns are a one person, one day chore, ( including loading the waste in the compost bins). The barns get cleaned out quite regularly, every couple of weeks in summer, every week in winter.

You could use rammed earth or a floor instead of concrete, ( a 1:3 or 1:4 ratio of cement, rototilled into the dirt, dampened, leveled and compressed with a vibratory plate compactor).

The horse barn is 24 x 24 x 12 high, with a 16 foot loft for hay and feed storage. The walls are 2 x 6 studded on 24" centers, R22 insulated, (gets cold here), sheathed on the exterior with patterned OSB panels, primed and stained, sheathed on the inside with unpatterned OSB stained white. Stalls measure 8 x 8 with 4 x 4 picket sides and a 8' galvansied economy gate. There are 4 stalls on each side with a 8 foot central isle. The hay loft has an 8 x 8 trapdoor in the center providing access from inside the barn, and at the rear, a 6 x 6 door providing access from outside. Also in the hay lofts are a 6" x 8" Barn Owl entrance.

Entrance to the barn is through a 12 x 12 tack room, dressing room, where the horses can be groomed, examined, bridled and saddled and the gear can be stored on the walls leaving the floor space open. Each stall has one double pane 4 x 5 foot sash window, and the east wall of the tack room has the door, and two 2 x 4 windows. The south wall has 3 4 x 5 windows. Inside the barn, at the other end, is another sliding door providing rear access to the barn.

We currently have one colt, two riding horses and three dog food horses living with us.

The livestock barn is similar, except the stall sizes are different. 4 8 x8 stalls line one side, 8 4 x8 stalls line the other.

The cow gets an 8 x 8 stall, the two pigs share a 8 x 8 stall, 3 goats share one 8 x 8 stall, 2 other goats have individual stalls, 2 sheep share a 4 x 8 stall, with 4 sheep total in the barn, and the lamma has the last 8 x 8 stall.

Unless ill, injured or nasty weather, everybody spends the day outside in the fresh air, and gets called to the barn at sundown.

Pretty sad actually, clearing out beetle killed pine in a manly man way, chainsaw, axes and everything, followed around by a mangy pack of animals looking for affection, treats or just to hang around with me and the dogs. Sad thing is, the Belgan Shepard is nuts about fetch, and so is one of the pigs. I am working hard on getting them to take turns, as open competition is not fair to the pig, but then, I have been doing that for three years now to little success.

jaybc

It was once said, "Ask and ye shall receive". No truer words were ever spoken!

How many ways can I say THANK YOU jaybc! The site you recommended is perfect. I checked out http://www.ebackroad.com/0mwpsorg-freefarmplans.html and found the answers to all my questions.

I downloaded 4 blueprints. The plans for the 16 X 20Â milk house are actually the barn I have always dreamed of having because I'm a dairy goat farmer.

However, your barn plans that you so thoughtfully posted in detail are pretty darned tempting too. Now I have some wonderful choices to make!

Thanks for sharing a bit about yourself. I got a chuckle when you described your day because it sounds a lot like mine. I was reminded of a funny situation that happened to me one day.

I finished my chores early one beautiful spring morning when I decided to take a stroll to our little country store, a mile or so down the road. I set off down my long wooded driveway and got caught up with listening to the birds, enjoying the sun, etc., without a care in the world.

One of my neighbours was out in his yard so I waved hello. The fellow gave me an odd look and hesitantly waved back.

I made no mind of his strange response and continued on my way. As I went down the road, I got pretty much the same response from all of the folks I greeted.

By the time I reached the store, I was beginning to think that perhaps someone had been gossiping about me. It really bothered me so I decided there was no way I was going to be neighbourly to any of them on my way back home.

Then the lady in the store came outside as I approached and started to laugh in hysterics...AT ME! Now I was really put off by her rudeness and I let her know in no uncertain terms that I did not appreciate how people were treating me that morning.

She continued to laugh and simply told me to turn around. I did.

There was my 16 nanny goats, 29 kids, 14 sheep, 1/2 dozen chickens, the old goose and 50 lb male turkey (that became a pet instead of dinner) along with my very embarrassed looking herding dog; all casually strolling down the road right behind me!

At that moment, I realised that I had forgotten to close the farm gate!

I'm still laughing!!!! Your animals sure do love you, don't they! Maybe they thought you were going to buy them a treat at the store.