# advice on barn plans



## adams86 (Jul 29, 2018)

Hi - I have a deposit down on 2 whethers to be born in January and I am in the process of building my barn but wanted some advice before I proceed any further. It will be 24 x 16 and will have 8 foot tall walls. I will have an 8 foot opening in the front center and the right 6 feet of the inside will be partitioned off for storage for hay and other storage (6 x 16) with a door leading to the outside from there. I will have a pen area of about 30 x30 which will have access to about an acre of fenced area for them to run around on. My concern is that I hear a lot about goats needing ventilation in the barn and I plan on putting in 4 3x2 sliding windows- one on each side. and then with the front opening will that be enough ventilation? What about the cold? I live in the CA sierra foothills and get a dusting of snow a few times each winter and temps can get down into the 20's sometimes- will I need to put doors on the 8 foot opening so that I can lock them in if needed? (for the cold or other reasons?) Here is a pic of what I have started- please let me know your thoughts- I thought I had it all figured out and now am worried since I started the construction....





  








2018-10-17 15.29.03




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adams86


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Oct 18, 2018
















Thanks,

Don


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## Deborah Haney (Jul 11, 2017)

Your barn sounds a lot like mine! We used scrap lumber for the frame, corrugated aluminum for the roof, and vertical sheets of plywood as the walls and doors. Ours is 16'×32' with two doors on one long side (2' in and 4' apart) leading to two 8'×8' stalls with a half wall separating them. We made Dutch doors for ventilation. I'll post pictures later.
Under strict guidelines, goats only need a 3 sided shelter but I would also add a door for extra draft reduction. This would be particularly important if the open side gets a lot of wind. I would line the inside face of an 8'×4' sheet of plywood with 2"×2"s and use standard hinges and latches. We also put a piece of 2"×2" at the foot of the door opening inside the barn and a tiny piece of plywood across the inside, upper corner. Both of those are to prevent the door from bending to the goats pushing.


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

Sounds like you will have enough ventilation. With that mild weather description I don't think a door is critical unless its facing the wind as noted above. If you ever need to keep them in the shelter (for a vet visit or if the fence is damaged etc.) you could just use a gate of some sort.


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## adams86 (Jul 29, 2018)

Thanks- that is very helpful!


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

I agree with what has been said.


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## LazyCreekGoats (Aug 31, 2018)

adams86 said:


> I plan on putting in 4 3x2 sliding windows


How are you going to install your windows? I am working on a new building and I plan to use some old wood sash windows. They are double-hung, but I am going to install each sash as a separate window. I want them to slide upwards to open, but don't want to buy jamb liners.


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