# New kidding stalls w/pics



## cyanne (Jan 7, 2009)

Back when I was planning out my Spring kidding season, we were in the midst of a long drought...did not want to build permanent kidding pens, so I put together some temporary pens made out of cattle panels and figured I would rotate the does as they kidded. Well, then we entered some weird Texas monsoon and it rained so much that my land looks like the Florida everglades. Had to scrap the temporary pens and build something more substantial that I could use to house the girls and their kids. Here is what we came up with:

http://www.suspendedlaunch.com/img/farm ... alls_1.jpg
http://www.suspendedlaunch.com/img/farm ... alls_2.jpg
http://www.suspendedlaunch.com/img/farm ... alls_3.jpg
http://www.suspendedlaunch.com/img/farm ... alls_4.jpg

The shed is 8ft wide by 24ft long...it has 3 separate sections that are each 8ft by 8ft. The last one on the end has a door that opens into the buck pen so that the boys can use it as their rain and shade shelter whenever there are no does that need that section for kidding. Each section is cozy for a doe and her kids or I can divide it down the middle with a section of cattle panel to put two does in at the same time. There are wood walls on 3 sides right now (the ends and the back, long side), but the back panels are actually bolted over top of wire so that the wood can be removed in the summer to let the cool breeze in. The wire on the front is a heavy-gauge utility panel with 4inch openings.

We spent two weekends...a total of about 5 days work between the hubby, myself, and a friend who came over to help on the first day when hubby had to be at work. Was exhausting to finish that fast but I LOVE my new pens. Very convenient and comfy for the goats, too!


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

SWEET! You wanta come build some of those for me?!? lol  Those are awesome!


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## cyanne (Jan 7, 2009)

I don't know, this project was a pretty miserable experience. It was an emergency situation where we had a bunch of does queued up waiting to kid at any moment and the weather kept alternating between torrential downpours and freezing cold...oh, and the only free time we had to work on it was the weekends because both the hubby and I work full-time. So for two straight weekends we worked from sun-up until well after sundown (last night it was until after 10pm).

I am very happy to have this building, but not sure I ever want to try to build another one! :ROFL:


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

:ROFL: Yeah...looks like a lot of work, I bet it was well worth it though! :hi5:


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## cyanne (Jan 7, 2009)

Oh, forgot to mention, the vertical supports are all 4in by 4in cedar posts and all of the boards touching the ground are also cedar to help prevent rot. 

The building is about 5 ft tall at the front and 4ft at the back. And, yes, I do bonk my head on the roof all the time even though I am just over 5 ft tall, but the low roof did provide two distinct advantages...first, the lower roof makes it a little cozier and warmer for the goats...second, and most important, it cut WAAAAY down on the expense of the building. In all, we spent about $600 on materials. Still not cheap but way better than paying to have something built by professionals, and I think it turned out pretty nice just the same!


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## citylights (Jul 3, 2009)

very nice! I'm a little jealous! ;]


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## 4hmama (Jan 9, 2009)

Great job! BTW - is that what the ground looks like? All I see here is white, white, and more white!


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## cyanne (Jan 7, 2009)

Yep, that's dirt alright...not much snow here in Central Texas. What you can't see is that it is mostly mud. The tarp on the ground in front of the building was laid down during the start of the project when we kept sinking into the mud nearly up to our ankles! 

At the start of the project I had to dig a 1ft wide, 35 ft long, 1 foot deep trench behind the shed so that all of the water draining from my neighbor's property would be routed away from the area. As I was digging, the ditch filled up with water and became a miniature river as the ground was so saturated!

By the end, when these pics were taken, we had a couple of days of sunshine that helped somewhat, and we've had about a week of sunny weather now to dry things out, but it is still pretty muddy out there and the ground is saturated with water so when the rain starts again the ground will turn back to mush. Hopefully the drainage ditch I dug will at least keep the kidding stalls dry, though!


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## jdgray716 (Aug 8, 2008)

Stunning, I love it. Great job!!


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## Seven Dwarfs (Jan 17, 2010)

Very nice set up :thumb:


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## goatshows (Oct 5, 2007)

wow very nice!!!


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## greatcashmeres (Jul 13, 2008)

Wow, wonderful job! Bravo for sticking with it given the conditions and being tired from working; in the end it's always so worth it. :clap:  :wahoo:


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## Idahodreamer (Sep 19, 2009)

You can come build me some (after we move)  I would seriously worship the person who would build me something like that . . . thanks for the plans/pics! You sparked an Idea! !


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

love those stalls.... very nice...... :greengrin:


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## GotmygoatMTJ (Apr 25, 2009)

That is quite amazing! Brilliant! I love it! Great job! Hmmmnnn we have an 8x16 here.....lol


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## CrossCreekTX (Aug 10, 2009)

Really nice! Tell me about the mud. Can't be any worse than here! LOL I ended up with the floor of the barn up 3ft off the ground because of all the water.


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