# Goat barn updates



## HoosierShadow

My other topic on our barn got really long, and I can't change the title to update the topic, so I thought it was time for a new one.
For reference, here's a link to the first one 
http://www.thegoatspot.net/forum/f203/building-goat-mini-barn-updated-3-17-12-a-114937/

We started to add on in Oct and then my husband stopped, then we had so much come up we werent' able to do anymore on it.
My husband took a vacation the week before Christmas so we started working on it again. It's almost done 

I took these New Years Eve



























Took these today


















Don't mind the mess I hadn't had a chance to finish cleaning up.

We still have some stuff to do, finish some places on the roof w/metal sheeting, and put on a door. I told my husband it would be best to have the double dutch doors, because this is facing west, and our weather comes from the west/northwest/south/southwest, so we can close the top to help block rain but so the goats can go in/out or close both doors depending on weather.

The new addition is 12'x8' and has a big stall for kidding. Right now Madison and Ithma are in there. Madison is due Sunday, so after she kids we'll move her into the front stall in the main part of the barn, then her mama can have the stall for when she is due in a couple of weeks.

You can't see it in the picture, but in the barn addition there is a doorway leading into the sleeping area. I have a temporary stall set up there, and a pallet door blocking that doorway, and that is where Snow White will kid & stay with her kids.
Then the 3 young does can sleep in the back section of that area, but right now they like to sleep in the barn additon - since the twins mama is in the stall.

I love using the pallets, because when kids are a few weeks old and we no longer stall them then we can take down the temporary stalls, and just have a creep feeder in the new barn addition. The only thing I want permanent is inside the main barn - 3 stalls. 
The back stall is filled with alfalfa hay for nursing moms, and we store a clover/mix in the aisleway in front of it for everyone. Since we buy from a farmer down the road, we buy 15 bales at a time to put there, and it works out great 

Eventually, my next goal will be to make some kind of shelter for an outside hay feeder. I think I'll most likely do a cattle panel shelter for that as I mentioned in another post <originally if my husband hadn't finished this, I'd have made a cattle panel shelter there>.

Hopefully it will get finished this weekend, then wait for a couple of dry days so we can get it painted to help protect the wood. Next summer I told my husband I am planning to paint it more of a barn red to match the house lol He wanted a blue/gray to match the sheds, but uh...it looks bad with goats rubbing all over it, I want a dark color


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## freedomstarfarm

Love the addition!!
I am sure your goats are happy with it!


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## sweetgoats

That looks great, but what is that green stuff in the last picture? I believe I have seen it before, is it called GRASS????


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## liz

Looking good Candace!

I hope that the weather you're getting thats showing the grass comes this way soon! We still have at least 5 inches of snow on the ground!


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## ksalvagno

Your moving right along. Great job!


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## HoosierShadow

Thanks everyone! I'm hoping my husband will get the stuff for the door so we can get it on, we're planning to do a double dutch door like on the front of the barn.
Might even try to get it painted this week too! We still have a gallon of grey paint, can't prime it but at least it'll be painted 

Amazing that we have any of that 'green' stuff lol It's actually been pretty cold here the last couple of weeks, and we had snow on the ground for a few days this past week, but the grass is trying to hold it's own.
I was just telling my husband the other day how green the grass has managed to stay. Usually it's brown and crunchy by now, and doesn't start turning green and growing again until about March. 
Last year was a weird winter, so very mild, we only had one measureable snow...in March! 
We usually see around 16" of snow in a season, and the kids typically have about a weeks worth of make up days because of snow. Last year I think they had 1 make up day and then a make up day for that one measurable snow lol


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## Jodi_berg

A warm dry goat = a happy goat!


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## HoosierShadow

Thanks Jodi, my thoughts exactly  Animals don't care about how fancy their digs are, as long as they are comfortable, dry and warm 

I'll get some pics of the addition and show what my husband did yesterday, that away if it ever helps anyone else... 

My husband fixed up a hay feeder in the barn addition, filled in around the bottom so hopefully no rain water seeps in and to help keep the drafts out. 
We still need to put on the barn door which is making me nervous since Snow White is on that side and is due Friday.


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## HoosierShadow

I thought I'd post some more...

Here is what the sleeping area looked like in late 2011 <we didn't have our metal roofing, still had a tarp over the OSB lol>









My husband recently tore the outside wall out and redid it using scrap pallets and 2x4's. Not all that attractive but so much better than before. Because it gets so hot in the summer time we decided to go ahead and keep the top part open. It's facing east, and we never have weather come from that direction.









Hay feeder in that back section <it's on the right in the pic above>
We used a pallet that had good spacing, some scrap OSB/wood pieces...the bottom is also supported by some small seasoned tree trunks.









Hard to get everything in with my camera, but this is from the front, showing the wall.
It's 16'x7' but I have it temporarily divided with the front part about 5'x7' as a temporary kidding stall. When the doe gets ready to kid we'll put up a piece of OSB to block the draft from the back doorway.
When she no longer needs the stall I can move those pallets to divide it equally in half, or do whatever I want...lol









Barn addition...
Don't ask why my husband made the roof like that! We still have some work to do to it, we need finish the roof, put on a double dutch door and get it painted, but it's pretty much done. He did fix the small pieces on the top today,but not sure what he did to them...lol









Hay feeder in the barn addition









Temporary stall, haha. I ran out of pallets so that was the best I could do lol It works though! Our doe who is due on 1/20 sleeps in there, and will eventually kid in there. Later on I may use this area for a creep feeder 
That's the thing I love about temporary stuff like this.









Not fancy at all, but it does the job, and saved a ton of $$.


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## Trickyroo

Looking good !!! I love how creative you are with pallets !!!
You practically had a barn built with them , lolol. 
But its such a good idea and like you said , when your done with them , you just remove them ! That is really a great idea !
I just might have to do that one day , lolol.
Hopefully it looks as good and stable as yours does


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## fd123

I like it Candice! Ive gotta get off my butt and build one myself! I know your happy its almost finished..>> You were worried to death for a while about it!..lololol....


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## HoosierShadow

Thanks! and yep worried indeed! I'm still worried LOL We have a doe due on Friday and still dont' have the door on! It's supposed to be warm thankfully, but still...
If he doesn't get that small section of roof finished before it rains I'm afraid rain water will drain into the barn addition then that kind of defeats the purpose of having it.

He has to cut the ends off of the metal roofing over the sleeping area in order to fix the front of the roof on the barn addition. There is at least a foot of extra overhang on that metal roofing he can use from each sheet! 

Of course you know...as soon as this is done I"ll be plotting to add on more...LOL Neverending really lol


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## clearwtrbeach

ok so question. How when stacking the pallets 2 high other than nailing them to the pallet below them did you keep them from buckling or bowing and tipping over?


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## HoosierShadow

clearwtrbeach said:


> ok so question. How when stacking the pallets 2 high other than nailing them to the pallet below them did you keep them from buckling or bowing and tipping over?


Actually I think all he did was nail them. When he'd get them up and side by side, after nailing them, he would wedge another piece of wood between the pallets like this:









He's used 2x4 pieces to wedge inbetween them, then nail the piece to the pallets so nothing moves. That makes it really sturdy.

When we built the barn, we used long, thin tree trunks my husband had cut when we were clearing some of the woods, and they helped support everything a little more. The roof frame is what makes a huge difference









This is how we did the roof on the barn, and the barn additions are built the same way


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## mrgoat

cool stuff! u the pallet lady! LOL!


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## goatgirlzCA

So do you have posts in the ground, and then the pallets are nailed to the posts? I am interested in building a shelter out of pallets, and have been looking at yours trying to figure everything out! You guys did a great job.


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## HoosierShadow

goatgirlzCA said:


> So do you have posts in the ground, and then the pallets are nailed to the posts? I am interested in building a shelter out of pallets, and have been looking at yours trying to figure everything out! You guys did a great job.


Tell ya what, I will try to write about it and explain everything, my kids goat site has a blog and I wrote about goat birthing on there, so I'll write a blog tonight or in the morning and post a link, I'll go step by step with pictures as much as I can, and I'll definitely try to get pictures of inside the new barn addition.

We didn't use posts though, just seasoned tree trunks buried in the ground & made sure it was level.
I think if you live in a very windy area, it would probably be a good idea to have some posts to help support it but if it's not always windy, then you wouldn't need posts on the ends for support.


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## goateeman

HoosierShadow how creative can you get? Love the the use of the pallets. My head is busy already because there's a pallet maker 2 miles from my house. Please post some more pix for all of us to enjoy. 
Remeber what Benjamin said "A penny saved is a penny earned"
GOATEEMAN ( a new goater)


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## clearwtrbeach

This is how we did the roof on the barn, and the barn additions are built the same way







[/QUOTE]
Thanks for reposting the pics at this stage, this is the link I was looking for!


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## HoosierShadow

Your welcome!  I meant to work on the blog, sorry I didn't get to yet! Been watching our herd queen, Snow White all day trying to comfort the pregnancy woes. I sure hope she kids before tomorrow night, I might pull my hair out if she doesn't lol


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## Marty1876

Barn looks good!


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## Trickyroo

Sheesh , you and me both Candice , I cant take the suspense !!
And seeing poor Snow White so miserable , this is crazy already , lol
This is where I would be like , " ok , forget about , I dont want you to be pregnant , change of plans here " baby bump go away now ,lol
I was like this when my BC Sally had her pups. I was crying and saying how sorry I was she got pregnant ,lolol All while she was having her pups , lolol I couldnt take her being in pain and delivering them , lol.
My husband thought I cracked up , lol. I always get sympathy pains 
too.....never fails ,lol.


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## HoosierShadow

Don't worry I wanted to cry for Snow White too, poor girl! And she is such a drama queen during delivery anyway! of course she had reason last time and again this time with trying to get out those large doe kids! 
The reward is well worth it though  She seems very content with her babies 

We still havent' been able to work on the barn anymore, not with the weather, then me and my daughter catching the flu or some lousy coldbug 
But it all works out well. 
If we don't get the barn door on the addition before the weekend or before Ithma kids, then I am going to block off the back doorway in the sleeping area with OSB & a pallet to keep out drafts, and put Madison and her twins back there. The 3 young does can sleep in the barn addition. 
I like the idea of having the youngest babies in the main part of the barn anyway


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