# New Barn Layout



## jduwall (Aug 7, 2009)

Ok, if you had it to do over again,,what would your perfect goatie barn be??

...... I have about $3,000 to work with but that is for everything including new does, the insurance will not cover livestock....(but I am so thankful for what I have~~!!) it would be an 8' x 12' lounging area and 3 - 4' x 8' stalls for birthing, sick, etc...total barn size would be 12x16

does this layout make sense for 4-6 does?


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## GotmygoatMTJ (Apr 25, 2009)

I think its a good layout. I would put some benches in the lounge area. 
Do you plan on milking them? Do you already have an area to milk in, or to keep feed?
Our barn will have a hay room, a feed room, and a FEED room(where we keep the feed, lol) a 10x30 lounge area. 10x10 kid area. 2 5x5 kidding stallls. Wish I had room for more!


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## jduwall (Aug 7, 2009)

GotmygoatMTJ said:


> I think its a good layout. I would put some benches in the lounge area.
> Do you plan on milking them? Do you already have an area to milk in, or to keep feed?
> Our barn will have a hay room, a feed room, and a FEED room(where we keep the feed, lol) a 10x30 lounge area. 10x10 kid area. 2 5x5 kidding stallls. Wish I had room for more!


we are planning on having the new barn right next door to the "feed shed". so the new barn is just for goaties....Stephie has this great little "creeper" door that only the babies can fit thru, so I plan on incorporating that into the back stall..so the babies have a safe place to romp and play...the milking stand is already in the feed shed with the other supplies...hey etc...I totally love the idea of a bench in the lounge area...Great suggestion thanks  

and maybe in the pasture a slide and play ground setup....???


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## fcnubian (Oct 23, 2007)

You could save on space if you do away with the kidding stalls...I started out with kidding stalls. I thought it was a great idea...but then when I moved the girls to their stalls it just upset them and stressed them out. (this was when I had the pygmys) I got my Nubians in 2006. In 2007 I started letting does kid with the herd....and have ever since. Now I do have a few does that are nothing but a nuisance so I tie those to the fence when the doe is starting to push....For some reason....having my hand/arm inside of a doe with another doe looking over my should creeps me out. I just can't do it. lol

If you're set on kidding stalls make them out of something you can take down that way if you change your mind, you can...and it wont cost much to remove or be too much of a hassle....plus if it's removable, you can use the extra space when it's not kidding time. I still have my 4 kidding stalls...they are no longer kidding stalls, that's my Kid room. (I don't dam raise all the kids) SO the newborns go in there that way there's no air flow on them. And it keeps them away from the adults (I raise kids on prevention)

You know that's the one think I regret with my barn was making kidding stalls that weren't really all that removable....But I have made it work....so it's not a total waste!  Plus it's extra storage at the moment.....my horse stuff has poured over to the goat barn which I guess that's only fair since the goats have taken over all the horse stalls except one! 

But my perfect barn would be an area for the kids, an area for the more aggressive does, an area for the younger lower ones in the herd...plus a milk room....and and and, I think I'm over my $3000 limit....haha 

If you aren't in a rush to build, take some time to make some sketches...work out different ideas.  That helped me when I was designing my other part of the barn. Sure wish I would have wanted it bigger....shoulda known I'd be adding onto my herd eventually!!!! lol


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## jduwall (Aug 7, 2009)

thanks for the post..that is so funny and so true...my old barn was only 12 x 10 and now I am going into a 12x16...maybe even a 12x20...that seems so huge to me now...LOL..but goats are like chocolate..you just can't stop at one...


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Sounds great Jennifer!

I have 3 stalls for kiddings...the largest is 4x4 1/2...then 2 others that are at around 3x4...big enough for a mom and kids, moms with more than 2 have the larger stall. The main area for my 6 girls is 8x12 with a slatted gate separating it from the 10x10 stall/milking area, the gate has a creep door for kids to go in and out of during the day, the main area has a 8x2 bench against the far wall that is a hidey spot for the 2 does that are low in the pecking order...and the kids love to play on it too.
Those little kiddie PlaySchool and Fisher Price cube slides for kids make great mini goat play things, I have my nephews old one in with my does/kids and it's held up now for 8 years.


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## milk and honey (Oct 31, 2010)

Make it as big as you can... and I really like the idea of removable stall parts.. that just seems to make so much sense. I have a tiny barn/goat shed.. but it has a couple of 4x4s halfway so I use a pallet and a dog x-pen to divide it into kidding stall/ kid separation areas. It's nice to be able to change things around as it suits me!


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

make it as big as you possibly can - you will always fill it. Even if you dont fill it with more goats you will fill it with hay and with feed and just stuff. 

Mine is 12X20 basically and its just not big enough  

I actually wish for more storage space then space for the goats. Im crowded in my back room and I am using a stall for more storage use.


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## 4hmama (Jan 9, 2009)

You could always take 2 corners, and put up 1/2 of a fence panel to use as a temporary stall for kidding time or isolation. When you are done, unsnap it and put it away! We also have a shed roof on our building which is about 9 feet tall on one side, and 6 feet tall on the other - we built a loft to hold about 5 bales of hay on the tall side. It's a head-knocker for us, but is plenty tall enough for the goats not to bother it. Make your barn bigger than you need...you WILL get more goats...trust me.


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