# Poor man's goat shelter ;) Cattle Panel shelter in progress



## HoosierShadow

So, we are finally getting to work on a new cattle panel shelter. It is nothing fancy at all, but hopefully will be spacious and get the goats through the winter. If it works out well, then we'll keep it, otherwise next year we'll build a regular barn to match the barn we have now.

This is the old one taken early spring, yeah it's an eye sore, but it worked great. We kept a round bale inside in the middle wrapped with a cattle panel, and the goats preferred sleeping in there vs. the barn because it was really warm & those blue tarps, cheap as they are kept the wind out, and didn't fall apart until the end of spring! Mostly because of naughty goats who were bored and wanted to terrorize!
The blue tarps on the front end we rolled up to allow sun to shine in on nice days.










Because of all the rain we've had, the space between the barn/shelter just isn't big enough & rain seeps into the hay shelter keeping the floor wet/very damp.

We tore it down 2 days ago, and are building it next to where the old one was.
It was about 7 1/2'W x 15'L.

The new one will be 10'Wx about 18 1/2'L.

We are going to mount OSB & paint it on the outside of the pallets, use the same white canvas cover & put a new tarp over the top of that to help with any small leaks.

Because the ground is lower & rain water pools there, we are also raising the dirt floor. I don't have much of a budget for this project, so instead of having dirt brought in, I am digging about 8-12 inches down, and filling the hole with a LOT of brush wood/logs/pallets/etc. covering it with a thin layer of clean bedding hay, and then putting dirt on top/packing it down. So far 1/2 of the floor is done. I did this years ago when we built the pallet barn & the floor works great, very solid now, and no leaks/pooling water!

Tearing down the old temporary shelter









You can see where water was leaking in on the side, bleh. Funny that we had NO issues whatsoever with that until the monsoon rains of July/August! We had record rainfall.









Hubby measuring, and trying to level his stumps to set the pallets on, that's how we did it when we built the barn back in 2010. 









Hubby putting in support posts on the east side of the shelter & my floor raising job! We need to buy 1 more cattle panel for the top & set 2 more pallets to attach it to. 









Right now the panels are secured with twine, we'll replace those with wire once we can get to TSC or Lowe's this weekend.
You can sort of see how high I am raising the floor. 


















We are using old pallets as well as a few others I was able to pick up, sadly the store I get them from just didn't have any decent ones. These pallets may look ugly, but they are still very strong 









Luna wants to help!









She doesn't know if she wants the garden spade or the rake lol  









We plan to put some kind of support up to help the cattle panels especially for when we do get some snow - just not sure yet how we will do it. We plan on pricing PVC, or we may use a wood from across the top.

On the opening, I want to block one side of the doorway off to help keep wind out. 
I do NOT want the goats to have access to the front of the barn, so we still have to figure out how to make a door across the front of it that will be good for winter months, yet something we can get a roll bale through! I'm not sure how we should do it yet. I know I don't want to use the blue tarps on the front if I can help it.

So that's where we are for now. Nothing fancy at all, but we need extra space for kidding season early next year, and with the goats preferring to sleep in there, I want it big enough for them to be comfortable.


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## ArborGoats

Looks great!


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## billiejw89

Love it


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## ksalvagno

Looks good!


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## HoosierShadow

Thanks! It's a much bigger job than the original temporary one, but hopefully it works out  The does need hay, but I can't get them a roll bale until we are done.

Our herd queen is quite mean to them at times, so I wanted a bigger shelter so they can go all the way around the roll bale to get away from her. I also want my husband to cut a small hole in one pallet on the side facing the barn towards the front of the shelter just big enough for goats to go in/out as an escape door. Our weather typically comes from the north, west or south.

We need to price supplies so we know which way we want to go as far as making a support for the top. Probably 2"x4" door frames. 
Still thinking double doors that open out on the front <like shed doors>, I think that would be the simplest way to do it.


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## toth boer goats

Awesome work there.

I love the doe thinking "Which one, LOL.


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## HoosierShadow

Well we're slowly getting it done.
We put the old cover on it in case it rained today. Obviously it's a bit small now lol

We had scrap OSB/plywood in the barn, and amazingly, they fit in place on the east side of the shelter without needing to be cut! We made a small door for goats to go in/out <I call it escape from bully door lol>. Just need a small piece of OSB above the door.
Not overly beautiful, but later on it will be painted to match. Also, the top length isn't a big issue <siding not being the same size> as the new tarp will be pulled down and tied to hook eyes that we'll mount on the siding. So.. the top of the siding won't be visible.

Hubby put a couple of posts and we strung fence from the barn to the shelter, just need 2 more posts in the middle.

We did a few other things, but nothing I got pics of.










We just have a few places on the front sides to finish filling in with dirt










'Escape from bully door' lol







+










So that's where we are for now. A little each day. Thankfully no rain in the immediate forecast so hopefully we can get it done.

Edited to add: don't mind all the hideous twine, we used it to help secure things as it was really windy earlier today. Once we get some wire we'll wire everything in place and use some ties/little bit of twine.
BUT... even as hideous as hay bale twine is to look at, that stuff can be strong and can last. It lasted on the top cover and cattle panels from Nov until we took it down last week!


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## ksalvagno

Looks good!


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## RPC

Looks awesome great job


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## happybleats

nice work!! I bet it keep them warm and dry!!


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## HoosierShadow

Thanks! The one we made last year, as eye sore as it was, worked great! So hopefully this one will too 

I'm kind of at a stand still getting some of the supplies as someone was supposed to buy a young doe that I held for 2 weeks/a few different changes in pick up plans, and I'd planned to use that $$ to finish. Never had someone make plans and then just keep changing them, so frustrating  So, my husband might have to fork out the $$, but I'd rather he didn't have to - part of the goal of doing this kind of stuff is having the goats pay for it.

I need to get the new tarp, OSB, some 2x4's, 1x4's, and a new gate. Then we'll really be getting it done


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