# Shelters made with cattle panel/tarp



## HoosierShadow

I know once in a while I've seen them mentioned on here.

Does anyone have one? I'm starting to think my husband will never finish the barn addition, and we need additional shelter within the next month.
Really, I could use it now lol

Our goats have horns, so I'd be worried about them puncturing a tarp.
So if I were to even consider this, it would have to be something like this:










It's just an idea anyway, but I want something that will last, but something in the summer I could open up and allow air flow.
Tarps get worn and can be replaced. We have always used the cheap ones and had really good luck with those, so I know getting a decent tarp should be even better..

I'm just in 'rainy day dreaming' land right now haha...

This is the front of our goat barn









We're planning to extend the right side where that doorway is, forward about 8-10ftLx7 1/2ftW.

So I wonder if we instead made something from cattle panels, we could just tear down what we'd started, and put a cattle panel shelter up against the barn/doorway.
I have some ideas for that too but too hard to explain. However in my mind I'm seeing at least 4 panels wide, putting in a small divider wall w/gate and using the front side to store some hay/bedding....

Again it's a rainy day, and knowing we need to get this done before kidding season. It's bad enough our goats all think they need their 'own' space, it's ridiculous at times how mean they are to each other.


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## clearwtrbeach

I like your barn so far as it is. You could certainly do a cattle panel like the one you have pictured for over flow or the ones who don't quite want to be in their barn. I put a new feeder out w/ my ND girls and now they've taken to sleeping under it! unless it's really nasty out. Of course once kidding comes they'll be locked up.


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## HoosierShadow

clearwtrbeach said:


> I like your barn so far as it is. You could certainly do a cattle panel like the one you have pictured for over flow or the ones who don't quite want to be in their barn. I put a new feeder out w/ my ND girls and now they've taken to sleeping under it! unless it's really nasty out. Of course once kidding comes they'll be locked up.


Thanks! It's a work always in progress, haha  The main barn is 12'x16', and the right side sleeping area is 7'x16'.
We have the main barn divided into an aisleway and 3 stalls - the back stall is filled with hay as is the back part of the aisleway in front of that stall.

We have 7 does, 4 are pregnant and due in January. Problem is, once they start kidding it won't be big enough at all. Once the first 2 does kid, I'll have to move them over to the sleeping area <which is divided into two stalls>. Then the other 2 kidding does will have to go into the stalls. So...where does that leave the other 3 does.

Either with the barn addition or making a shelter w/cattle panels, should give us plenty of room.

As long as I can keep the cattle panel shelter from leaking, then it would be ideal to build, and a lot less costly to make. We're looking at over $200-300 easily with the add on <2x4's for roof frame, nails, OSB for siding & roof frame, then sheet metal roofing>

With the pallets we have, all we'd need is Cattle Panels & whatever we'd use to secure them, OSB for sides and tarp. We'd probably put something in the middle and across the inside on the middle to help support the cattle panels if a small tree branch were to fall. I bet we could make it wider as well. 
We're most likely going to have to trade my SUV in and get a different vehicle, and right now any kind of $$ we can save, would help a great deal. Even if this would only last a few years...


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## J.O.Y. Farm

We have friends that use cattle panel/tarps as shelter for their pigs, cows, sheep, chickens, and goats when they had them  Work great for them!


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## Texas.girl

When Lawn Mower walked into my life I had only a fenced vegetable garden for her to hang out in. She arrived in Nov. and of course a winter storm was forecasted a month later. The previous owner had left long Mountain Cedar poles lying around and we used them and the corner of the fence to form a support system for a shelter. We draped a cheap tarp over the cedar poles and tied them to the fence. It is windy here and the wind played havoc with the tarps but they did last through the winter and into the warm spring weather. By that time we had the new goat enclosure and shelter finished. A tarp shelter can work in a pinch.


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## HoosierShadow

Texas Girl - haha, we have made those before too! Except we used pallets for the sides and top. In fact the shelter in our buck's pen is pallets, some scrap plywood on the top and an old tarp. It was only going to be a temporary shelter, but we decided to hold off building a permanent one because we were planning to sell our buck <he just hasn't sold  >.
So I may end up having to retarp it for him for the winter...

I haven't had a chance to run the cattle panel shelter idea by my husband yet, so we'll talk about it this afternoon and see what we come up with.

I know I am starting to get nervous and somewhat impatient, getting too close to the girls due dates, and don't have enough room for everyone once everyone kids. We kept 2 more does than we had originally planned, we never planned to keep more than 5 does. I just wish things wouldn't keep coming up so we can get this done. 
He has vacation around Christmas, so the plan is, whatever we decide to do, it needs to be done then, and needs to be a 2 maybe 3 day job at most.

I wish there was a way to put metal roofing on one of those things, we'd just do that instead of a tarp.

I'll have to get a photo of what he's done so far, it looks terrible right now since he ran out of nails and hasn't had time to work on it anymore lol


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## Texas.girl

HoosierShadow said:


> I just wish things wouldn't keep coming up so we can get this done.


Tell me about it. I have 2 does (may or may not be bred) and 1 buck in the only goat enclosure built so far. A 5 month old special needs wether (bigger goats beat up on him) and 3 month old twin bucks in my vegetable garden. There is a huge dog igloo in there but the boys just won't go in it. My wether use to sleep in the igloo but for some reason stopped. Guess I should be glad we are in a droubt (hasn't rained in months) and no hard freeze yet, but close. Putting up fencing here is a pain and time consuming activity--must drill into solid rock as soil is rare and shallow around here. My poor ranch partner needs to install fencing to temporarly house a buck (future plants are to put chickens in that area), another goat enclosure (possibly 2 more goat enclosures if our wether can never be assimulated into the pack). He also needs to build some hay feeders for the goats. On top of that he needs to build himself a work shed where he can store huge power tools and work during cold wet days, some cabins, goat shelters...... His to do list is a mile long. So what is he doing right now--got sick the day after Thanksgiving, foot swelled up 2 Sunday's ago for no apparent reason (spent last Friday at ER who gave him antibiotic but foot not getting better), then his ex-wife's sister- who has been living in his house in San Antonio- died last week. So he has been there for a week now. needless to say, He has not got anything done here since before Thanksgiving. He is suppose to be coming home Friday morning so maybe I will have a hay feeder before the week is out. I sure hope so.


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## rockytg

I have made a few of the shelters with cattle panel that you were showing, however with a couple modifications. Instead of using the pony walls that make the shelter be immobile, I mounted the cattle panel onto a rectangular frame with some metal conduit bent underneath the cattle panel as additional support. As to the worry about the goats having horns, that wasn't a problem with our crew. The bucklings did climb on top of it regularly, which is why I had to add the metal conduit since they had made the previous version collapse under their weight. This version is also mobile, I can place a dolly under one end of the frame and then pull it myself or with a small tractor or our truck. I found this to be a good summer/fall/spring shelter for rotational grazing but needed something more permanent for our winters up here in Pennsylvania. I hope that you can visualize it ok but it would probably be more understandable with a picture. I'll have to see what I can do along that lines.


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## Jessica84

Ohhh I like that A LOT!!! If you do end up making one, yes I would do it like that because of the horns. I just got one of those tarp car port things from tractor supply for the kidding area. I was very worried about the horns and about it flying away. with some t post and cheap osb boards that thing is awsome, so awsome I bought another one lol. But I think I might copy that idea for the main herd, that looks very strong if they get to fighting.


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## mmiller

I just made one a few weeks back. My cattle panels go bent over but they go all the way to the ground an have it tied to t-post. The angle of it keeps the goats from being able to even try in climb on it. The trap i bought was too big so I have some over lap which worked out find. I used 2 panels but now know that I need to add another. I plan on closing in one end of it to keep more of the wind out but adding another panel help too. Im at work but will take some pics after work to show you how we did it.


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## HoosierShadow

Thanks everyone! The more I think about it, the more we may end up doing this. But we'll price and see which way fits our budget the best.

Okay...so... if we were to do this, I know we most likely can't get the 'best' tarp out there, probably medium quality. I was thinking maybe we can put some roofing felt under the tarp?

The cattle panels will be mounted to pallets, I still want pallet sides - our goats love to rub, and I don't want them rubbing on the panels/tarp - plus I want it to be sturdy/strong and tall enough that nobody has to bend down to be inside.

I think this would be perfect for storing our hay. That would empty out the back stall, and aisleway and I can open the barn up to the goats.
Plus part of the cattle panel shelter could be for sleeping area too.
So that would work great. 

I'm going to call the feed store tomorrow and see how much the panels are. They used to be around $16, so I am praying they haven't gone up. If we got the panels, then we could start on it sooner rather than later.

Fingers crossed!

Forgot to mention, the only thing I am not sure about is how wide it would make it. I guess that is something we'd find out after we get the panels. I know they are 16 ft wide, and need to be bent a certain degree in order to be most effective.


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## jbreithaupt

I am planning on making a few of these this weekend for temporary shelters to move around as I rotate pastures and also for individual kidding areas inside by larger barn area. I plan on laying four pallets down to make a solid floor and then the cattle panel over it. So that would set your width. I will not attach the cattle panel to the pallets though so they will be easier for me to move. I think a link of chain with some quick links across the bottom in the front and back would help it keep its shape. Gonna try anyway and see how they turn out.


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## rockytg

HoosierShadow said:


> Forgot to mention, the only thing I am not sure about is how wide it would make it. I guess that is something we'd find out after we get the panels. I know they are 16 ft wide, and need to be bent a certain degree in order to be most effective.


This will all depend on how much height you are going to have from your pallets, since the higher up the pony walls are, the less chance there is of your goats trying to climb it. Since I had a frame that started out on 2x4s on the ground the width was only around 7-8 ft. With that width, it makes the height be enough so that I can walk under it without stooping (I'm 6'2). Anyhow, you will need to try it out once you get the panels but I would guess that you can get a width of at least 10ft.


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## HoosierShadow

jbreithaupt - You'll have to get pictures and show us when you get finished! It could help out others who are looking for similar ideas for their goaties 



rockytg said:


> This will all depend on how much height you are going to have from your pallets, since the higher up the pony walls are, the less chance there is of your goats trying to climb it. Since I had a frame that started out on 2x4s on the ground the width was only around 7-8 ft. With that width, it makes the height be enough so that I can walk under it without stooping (I'm 6'2). Anyhow, you will need to try it out once you get the panels but I would guess that you can get a width of at least 10ft.


Thanks! 10ft would be totally awesome, esp if they are 4ft tall, two of those would make it around 8'x10'

Because I have nothing better to do LOL <house work is doing itself right? ha!>, here is an idea of our current set up, this is by no means a great drawing...lol

Crayon is fenceline black boxes are doors/stall doors









This is my idea whether we do a regular shelter or cattle panel shelter...









I hope this makes sense. 
I wanted to get a picture of what my husband had started but it's been raining so I haven't been out with the camera.

Basically the pallets he's put up are about 6ft tall <he was going to make a roof frame over it originally so it would be taller>. 
Now, I'd REALLY like to have a doorway in the corner where the shelter meets the barn <I put a box there>, so we'd have to figure out how to do that, as I need it for the goats to get in/out of the sleeping area.
We can build a pallet wall to divide as much room as we need for hay, and the rest could be a sleeping area.

We have the 4 does kidding, that would open up the back stall as a kidding stall again <would be great!!>, and I could use the back part of the sleeping area as a temp kidding stall for meannie herd queen lol I won't put her in a regular stall and have her break down the door.

We like to keep our young mama/kids stalled seperately at night for as long as they are happy, that away we know they are getting their hay and they just seem much happier to have their own space. 
Eventually when everyone is together, the temp stall would be gone and that entire area would be open so they can use the front and back doorways <I hope that makes sense>.

So that would be my ideal plan right now. The way my husband was going to build the addition I would have to keep the hay in the back stall of the barn, the addition wouldn't be big enough I don't think...

Sorry to ramble on and on. I just really REALLY hope this idea works out, it would be great to have a little more room, and with such a tight budget for this project and the fact I'm running out of time to get it done too....


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## HoosierShadow

Well, I think we may just build a permanent setup. I'm going to price supplies to build something like this:









Except it will be about 12' long, and 7 1/2' wide. Pallets up the sides, and then OSB siding. We'll probably do the posts and roof frame like in the photo most likely. 
We may even make an additional shelter just like the one above next to the fully enclosed one that we build. We'll see what happens!


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## Tera

I know this is an bit of an older post, but I thought I'd share the cattke panel milk shed/kidding area with you. It was mostly myself and my 11 yo son building this. First time to build doors! We are extremely proud of it and so far it is working marvelously. I do want to put in some kind of floor, just haven't decide on wooden with linoleum or 12x12 patio stones. The top tarp is a canvas tarp that is treated to be waterproof and the back tarp is just a cheap one that I rigged up similar to a roman shade so that I can close it down in bad weather or raise it in the summer for good airflow. Hope you enjoy!


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## Tera

Not sure why some of the pics are sideways! Sorry about that!


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## happybleats

very nice Tera : )


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## imthegrt1

Great job cool looking setup and not real expensive


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## Tera

Thanks! And no, not too expensive at all! Most expensive was the canvas tarp at $125, but I have less than $200 in it total!


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## CountryCrazy

Tera, How did you attach the tarp to the panels?


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## russellp

Looks awesome Tera. I love seeing kids working on the farm. I work both my boys, building fences, making goat houses and chicken coops. They are 16 and 12. They take great pride in something that they helped build.


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## Tera

Country crazy, I nailed it with fence staple on the sides and then screwed boards over it. If it tears up I can unscrew the boards and replace, but it had better last a bit, lol! Then on the open ends I tucked it under and attached it to the cattle panels with clotheline wire.

Russellp, I am the same way! We only have the one boy, but he helps me with everything we do and it's going to make him a great man I hope. He has quite a bit more responsibility than the other kids he goes to school with and it shows. Nothing makes me more proud than a comment on how well mannered and willing to help he is!


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## katie

That's really nice.


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## HoosierShadow

Tera you and your son outdid yourself, it looks FANTASTIC! I'd love to build something like that, and will definitely have to come back to this for an idea when we need to add some room!


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## Tera

Thanks Katie and Hoosier! I think we're going to build a smaller one to the side of the fence area as shelter so I can block off the milking area. It only took us 3 days to do this and really the hardest part was putting on the cattle panels since the roof of it is about 7.5' tall and I am only 5'2"! That was definitely an experience! Mostly for wood we used rough cut 2x6's, 1x6's, and 2x4's for the frame of the door.


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## Jewls819

Tera said:


> I know this is an bit of an older post, but I thought I'd share the cattke panel milk shed/kidding area with you. It was mostly myself and my 11 yo son building this. First time to build doors! We are extremely proud of it and so far it is working marvelously. I do want to put in some kind of floor, just haven't decide on wooden with linoleum or 12x12 patio stones. The top tarp is a canvas tarp that is treated to be waterproof and the back tarp is just a cheap one that I rigged up similar to a roman shade so that I can close it down in bad weather or raise it in the summer for good airflow. Hope you enjoy!
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I love this!


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## Tera

Thanks Jewls! We are working on a pallet fence to set it off...I love the whole rustic look to it! Plus it's CHEAP! LOL Cheap = more goats


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