New Barn Questions

[boondocks]

JBowen, I have seen black bears very close up and personal where you're at! Closer than hiking in Glacier Natl Park and the Canadian Rockies for 2 decades. We get one through here once in a blue moon.
I am fairly new to cows but also second the idea of not babying them "too" much with barn. We raise Angus and got our starter mamas from a guy that raised them in a humane but Darwinian way (outside with pine tree windbreaks). As a result, we have an extremely weather-hardy herd.

 

[wbvs58]

I don't have much experience with barns for housing cattle but have had a fair bit of experience with stables for housing race horses and my daughters eventing horses. I have always preferred the floor to be bricks, concrete or clay bricks laid without any morter on top of crusher dust laid over some good draining substrate like cinders with ag pipe laid out. With bedding over that surface the urine and moisture drains down through the bricks and leaves much drier bedding yet if properly laid will stand up to hosing out with a pressure washer when required. The bricks or pavers when laid inside concrete walls lock in very tight and are very durable.

Ken

 

[Rafter S]

You asked about adding texture to concrete at a later date. Yes, that's certainly possible. There are machines that will cut shallow grooves in it.

 

[muleskinner]

JBowen Go see your County Extension agent if I remember right it is Brad Smith he is a long time sheep and cattle farmer.
He can offer some good advice.

 

[ChrisB]

For health reasons for the cattle and I suspect goats and the adult hogs, have you considered more of a monoslope type building that is open on the south with a concrete pen outside? You could still have a heated area for milking the goats for your own comfort and for the birds if they need it. I still don't really understand how you are going to handle manure - bobcat or something? Barns have their uses, but for beef cows I think they just create more work and health problems than any added benefits you might get in return.

As for the fodder, it is feed mostly to improve health I believe. I don't think it would make sense for beef cattle, but maybe you could bump up the milk production for the goats if you were looking to do that.

Cattle and goats can eat pretty much anything you are growing in your garden. Not sure if there is anything consumed by humans that is harmful to them.

 

[Son of Butch]

Groove the concrete floor when pouring cement, slope the floor to the direction you want for flushing.
Leave the roof cap off for ventilation, chicken wire to help control birds, you could offset roof if you don't like
seeing the sky, but not needed. Surprisingly little rain or snow enters with an open roof cap.

Cattle throw a lot of heat.
Use top 1/2 crank up wall curtains on both sidewalls for cross ventilation, chicken wire so they are still fully confined.
Curtains lowered all the way down in the summer to catch the breeze and fresh air, while you still have full wall
containment because the top 1/2 in front of the curtain is permanent chicken wire as containment, prevents cattle
from chewing on the curtains and prevents birds from flying in.
Crank the curtains 1/2 way up in pleasant winter weather (3/4 closed sidewall with top 1/4 of the wall still open)
and all the way up on bitter nights or stormy weather for a full wall.
A curtain system allows you to have control over the ventilation and temperature in the building as needed.
Curtain systems come with either automated controls or manual crank.

 

[pricefarm]

Sure would like to see pics of this barn when you get it built. It does seem alittle over kill with heated floors.

 

[haase]

jBowen, I have a picture of the type building that son of butch is talking about on my website, there called a freestall barn, we have built them for goats and cows, you will want to grove the concrete, not sure I would heat it, in these type of buildings you would be surprised how warm they are in the winter, the picture of the one in the website also has an open ridge, we put a 2' piece of cap on top to only cover the trusses, go to Haase Builders .com and check it out, hope this helps.

 

[redcowsrule33]

Ventilation is key here. To me heated floors spell a breeding ground for bacteria. If you are really set on your plans spend the money on a qualified ventilation specialist to look over your plans and make sure you don't end up with a hothouse sauna that will cause pneumonia. Make sure they take into account the BTU's that the animals will generate; it sounds like a given but I know of one high-dollar outfit that built a new enclosed facility where the engineers overlooked it. If this is improperly ventilated it will be a disaster. :2cents:

 

[farmerjan]

It seems you are getting alot of good information and help. Yes they do groove the concrete after it is done, most dairies have have a "groover" come in to do walkways and such in barns where it gets slick. I am sure that you can do it when it is being poured also but I am no expert on that.
Fans are better up high, animals can use air flow but not to be in the direct air in the winter. In the summer, it will exhaust any heat out and draw in the cooler air from the ground temps.
I am going to look at the building that the previous posted listed but think it is like many I have seen on the dairies that I milk test for. They are more and more common now and are used for sacrifice lots if the pastures are muddy also. One thing, there is alot of problems with the moisture in the bedding, even with the curtains that open. These are made to use a rototiller to frequently turn the bedding to keep it drier. Mastitis tends to be a problem in them also if they are not kept dry and most have someone that goes through and "picks the pack" so to speak; physically removing the manure patties so that the bedding is not as soiled. Cattle produce alot of manure and urine. I am not sure that you realize just how much wet waste you will be dealing with.

You are going to have to have a good number of windows/openings as the animals will be overcome with the damp air and the ammonia smells from the damp bedding. Using heated dry air from a furnace area will not help the animals to be adapted to the cold weather when they do go out. The older poultry houses that were closed in would nearly knock you out with the smell when you first went in even with the big fans running to exhaust the stale air.

The cow cushions or mattresses are good, but they still need bedding on top of them; and if the barn is a freestall type they won't work because their hooves will puncture or break the mattresses. They are designed more for individual free stalls where the cows do not do so much walking on them except to enter and then back out of the stall. It cushions their bodies from the hard concrete as they are laying down.

I think that heating the floor only in a nursery area and where you might be milking would be the way to go. Have a friend that has heat in his shop floor and it is a joy to go in there on a cold day to work. It's not hot in there but the heat from the floor does make the air comfortable.

 

[JBowen]

I really appreciate all the information you have all provided me with.

I am going to hire someone to find out how I can provide the ventilation I need. I am also going groove the floor of the alleys in the direction of the flow when I flush (Don't want anything slowing down the flow during the flush) and then still use my rubberized coating on the whole floor and make it thicker in the pens and in the stalls. I have also found I can put a thermometer in the floor to just heat enough to prevent Ice from sticking and building up. I intend to be able to heat floors in certain places better. I also intend to flush all alley ways twice a day and intend to "pick the pack" and clean the stalls that are being used before each flush. I also want to slope everything so all wet waste will drain. and less bedding will hold less moisture (At least that was the plan, still trying to see if I can make it work). I also know most of the old chicken houses I was in did not drain and left waste until it was cleaned when the chickens were gone.

I really appreciate all the help you are all giving me. It is giving me a lot of things to think about and work out.

 

[talltimber]

Some of you pricks sure are judgemental of someone you don't know.

Thank you for you and your wife's service, J.

 

[wbvs58]

Some of you pricks sure are judgemental of someone you don't know.

Thank you for you and your wife's service, J.

They just have "Foot in the mouth disease"

Ken

 

[Franke]

Best of luck! Please take pictures once everything is completed. I would love to see them.