# Storing hay without a barn



## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

Is there any way to do it? I'd like to get a whole winter's supply of hay, but we have no barn!


----------



## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

Just get a good quality tarp and something to keep it tied down. I don't have a hay shed for the hay at my goat pen so we just tarp it before winter. Works great. :thumb: You just want to find a quality tarp.


----------



## donbusbin (Aug 30, 2009)

Buy rolled hay, with or without plastic wrapper. I am using rolled hay that is several years old and has been stored outside in the open. Best yet, my cousin gives it to me.


----------



## Steve (Mar 12, 2011)

if storing under a tarp use pallets or some kind of skidpoles on the ground to keep the hay from touching the damp ground 2x4s spaced out some will work


----------



## freedomstarfarm (Mar 25, 2011)

Steve said:


> if storing under a tarp use pallets or some kind of skidpoles on the ground to keep the hay from touching the damp ground 2x4s spaced out some will work


I agree use pallets under it to keep it off the damp ground. I also would use pallets on top of it to keep some air between the tarp and the hay. I find that tarps work great but can also create moisture that can wick into the hay.


----------



## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

You can also take straw bales or just regular 2-4 tie bales and put them length wise along the top in a row so it gives it a peak...so the rain/snow runs off and doesn't sit and soak through the tarp. :thumb:


----------



## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

Thanks all for your great suggestions!


----------



## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

No problem. :thumb:


----------



## Itchysmom (Apr 3, 2010)

I have never had a barn so I alwyas store my hay on pallets covered with a tarp. You will get some water dammage, but not enough to worry about. The thing you have to remember is that you still need air flow. What I do is stake out the corners of the tarp a bit away from the hay. This way wind/air can get underneath and you have your air flow! Here we can get high winds so I usually put something heavy on top also...pallet, rounds of our firewood,eyc.


----------



## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

Thanks! I do have another question: how do you adjust the tarp so it doesn't get loose as hay is used up? Do you stack/arrange the hay a special way or what?


----------



## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Before I got my "Landowners Garage" from Shelter Logic I used a tarp and pallets...as the hay was used, I just rolled the loose edge of the tarp til it was snug again over the remaining hay and layed planks or another couple pallets on the rolled edge.


----------



## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

Just pull out a few bales at a time and then pull the straps or tie downs on real good after you pull bales out that way the wind won't tear the tarp up and you'll keep it tight as you go so water won't settle and puddle on top. 

I can get a picture of my hay stack if you want. It's in big bales, but we just tarped it a couple days ago. It's really easy. How much hay are you planning on storing under tarp?


----------



## Rev144 (Jan 22, 2011)

We put down the pallets... Tie strings around the pallets. Set the hay on the pallets, put on a heavy duty tarp. Then Tie the strings from the pallets up to the tarp eyelets. We have strong winds here and found it best to tie a string from one side of the pallet up and over the tarp to the other side of the pallet. This help from wind getting between the hay and tarp and ripping the tarp. We have tried laying stuff on top of the tarp, but usually the hay gets moldy where something heavy sat on it. Or it gets blown off.


----------



## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

Thanks for all the advice!


> How much hay are you planning on storing under tarp?


Maybe 20 square bales.


----------



## GoldenSeal (Sep 14, 2010)

Do you use regular tarps or insulated tarps? I found a bunch of good quality insulated tarps for around 25 a piece.


----------



## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

I just use the heavy duty waterproof tarps made for hay tarping specifically. Not sure if insulated would be the same thing. :shrug: You want there to be air flow through the stack, but if it's just going to be on the top and not wrapped around the whole stack tightly...insulated and waterproof would probably be fine.


----------



## mytarps (Jan 26, 2012)

Use good quality hay tarps to store hay. This hay tarps or hay covers are very robust and made up of water-proof material to protect the hay and crops in the rainy seasons and protected hay from the outside environment.


----------



## J.O.Y. Farm (Jan 10, 2012)

I'm not sure what you keep your goats in but we put some planks over the stalls that we built in our garage.... we fit 20 sq bales up there!


----------



## MAW (Oct 13, 2011)

We have always used the carport type shelters that Costco sells. I think they were under $200 each. The hubby anchored these to railroad ties so that even when we have heavy winds they don't go anywhere. Then we purchased a hay tarp and tied down on top. We have used these for five years and haven't had to replace the frames yet. We are in a heavy snow area, so we have to knock snow off from time to time if we are warming up so it doesn't build up with ice. The pallet with the blue tarp is extra hay I couldn't fit under the shelter. We have three of these sitting end to end. We can hold at least 15 ton under this arrangment. We stack our hay on pallets to keep the bottom row dry as well. The hay shelter is in the back with the grey hay tarp on it.


----------



## MAW (Oct 13, 2011)

Here's a better picture.


----------



## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

Great ideas! What I ended up doing was stacking the bales on top of sections of wooden privacy fence (given us for free after the tornadoes) and covering with black plastic tied down with ropes. It works pretty well. I do my best to arrange everything so moisture doesn't seep in, but it does mold a little on top and underneath. Not a huge problem.


----------



## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

This is what I am hoping to do this year....I've been trying to map it out, heh...

We currently have our hay stored in the back stall of our barn. Well, it's fine, but I need that stall for kidding. We have 3 does due in 3,4 and 5 weeks, and I have 2 empty stalls! So now I have to make a temporary stall for the other doe in the sleeping area.

What I want to do is build a small hay building, nothing fancy. We built our barn out of pallets, it's very strong/sturdy and works great! 
For the hay shelter I just want it big enough to store about 60-75 bales of good hay.

Here's the pallet barn frame :









What did we pay to build that? Just the 2x4's for the roof frame, and nails! Oh and gas to get the pallets because pallets are FREE. Make sure the frame is not sitting on the ground, set it on something sturdy and strong <my husband buried tree trunks he cut up to support the frame and keep it from rotting on the bottom>.

We haven't put doors on it or roofing over the sleeping area yet <every time we try something happens!!! it's crazy - either weather or now a big vet bill  >.









Anyway, OSB is what we used for siding. I think it sells for about $5-8 a sheet and think it's 4'x8'. 
if you put your mind to it you could build a very inexpensive place to keep your hay. 
This barn is 12'x16' and then we added a 16'x7' sleeping area.

It's nothing fancy, but it works, and using pallets - your recycling and well if you do it right you'll save a LOT of $$ too!
The only expensive thing was the roofing, we used Ondura roofing we bought at Lowes, I think it's about $17 a sheet 4'x6'. Seriously you could probably build a hay barn like this with what it would cost to buy 2 of the hay tarps, or a carport. Just have to put the imagination to work! Plus look for anyone giving away used materials, roofing, etc. and you could save even more. 
I'm a stay at home mom, so I try to do what I can with what I have to work with.


----------



## Crowbar032 (Dec 6, 2011)

The company I work for told me I can have all the pallets I want, just not climb in the dumpster to get them. I brought a bunch of them home. I stacked them end to end, each bale getting its own pallet. I then convered the bales with 6 mil black plastic I had left over from tobacco growing. I tied the plastic down with left over hay string and leaned more pallets against the sides. So far it appears to be working great, and we've had some pretty stiff winds. Of course it's not alfalfa, just grass/clover.


----------



## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

To go with the pictures I posted above, here's the link to the topic I had started about building our pallet barn:
viewtopic.php?f=23&t=14545

BTW, we were able to fit 40 bales just in the back stall <we have 3 stalls and a walkway>.


----------

