[frustratedfarmer]

Hi all
Just wondered- is there a section or thread with lots of lovely photos of people's setups? Or would anyone like to post their barns, sheds, stables? here???
Thinking ahead (as usual!) I am looking at several sites and pricing sheds, stables you name it and I want to get bigger rather than smaller so I have plenty storage space.

Would love to see you pics  


Should add it's not mobile shelters but rather breeding set ups/fixed sheds-yards/pens- hay storage- etc etc etc  


Claire  

[Brucklay]

When I get a min will post a pic of our main she - think I did i the past but don't know what the topic was!

[frustratedfarmer]

Cool 
I CANNOT get enough photos of sheds etc etc etc etc- while others might drool over handbags and shoes I'm looking at stables and buckets 

[Brucklay]

sad - but me too - have a wish list a mile long but have to make and adapt!

[frustratedfarmer]

Nick is quite handy- he makes all the chicken coops/runs so he could turn his hand to something bigger I'm sure   Actually he tells me he'd like to- just need ideas- size requirements- rather build bigger for the future than have to keep adding on. I'm thinking it has to be big enough so that individual kidding pens can be made inside- do people make those with bales of straw or would that be a bit dangerous?

[wytsend]

The most versatile of all housing ....... because you never know what you might be doing in the future... are stables.

I always advocate 12 x12 because they will subdivide with the use of sheep hurdles for kidding, separate pens etc.    Can always be cleared out to use for horses, cows you name it.

If you build for something specific, you are stuck with it.  As smallholders, we have to be able to house most things in my opinion.  Apart from anything else, should you sell your property, stables are more appealing to most people rather than small goat sheds !

Veratility, versatility.  Also stables tend to be much stronger than smaller sheds, will withstand high winds better because the heavier roof holds them down.

I have got 40+ goats and always use stabling with hurdles doing the dividing as necessary.  I also have horses !!

[fifixx]

Goats and hurdles?  Do you have extra high ones - mine just hop over the sheep ones!

[wytsend]

In 35 years I have never had a problem with standard steel sheep hurdles.    I have got Anglo Nubians who don't like being confined at the best of times !!!!!

[Roxy]

Most of my goat houses are 8x8 - the stone barn divided into two is probably 10x10 each section.  Unfortunately with the planning issues here, we cannot have stables or anything without major problems and it is easier to have the moveable ones in the fields - saves alot of planning headache.  Ideally I would have a row of stables, or even scaled down ones for goats......we are only up the lane from a very reputable stable manufacturer (Clydesdale)  and they are happy to make me whatever I require.  They have just made a very nice new field shelter for our llama!!

My goats tend to live in "groups"  the castrated boys together, but they do tend to be outdoors if they can, so not too bothered about the size of their house.

I have the very tall British Alpine boys - very tall indeed with very long legs.  They have the ability to scale any stable door, and sheep hurdles they can move over with ease.  They are a nightmare to house, and the tops of the half doors have to have mesh on if left open.  In fact one of the pygmy goats managed to take a run and leap over the horse stable door!!!

[goosepimple]

Hi Claire, whatever you build make sure the roof is a very steep pitch - off the shelf trusses are easy to buy and not expensive but you want to make sure that snow comes off quickly, fix any guttering nice and tight and connect your downpipe to a waterbutt is always helpful.   Steep pitched roofs also give you plenty high level storage.  We went to a Tudor Farm last year in the Cotswolds and they animal housing was fantastic - so inspirational all in a cobbled together kind of way from various materials - really sculptural and beautiful.  Having it versitile inside is very useful so I would agree with non fixed partitions.  By the way if you haven't bought a site yet I can't recommend highly enough getting one with water - a burn even, it just opens up so many more opportunities down the line. 

[frustratedfarmer]

Goosepimple!- thank you- great info 

[frustratedfarmer]

Set my heart on stables....depends on whether it's cheaper for Nick to get the materials and build or just have it built- but yes my ideathe same to get probably bigger than what I need to begin with- anyway- I need space to store my millions of old pet cages, dog/cat bowl (fetish  ) hay, straw, feed.....

[Anke]

If you are buying stables check with Planning first, our goat house in a sectoin 75 category field, and we would not have been able to get anything "horse" in its name onto it! (Anything with "horse" needs full PP unless moveable, however if you have a CPH you can try and use "agricultural notification" for anything classified as for farm animals.)

I am in the Borders just off the the A68 at St Boswells, so if you are coming our way you could have a look at my goathouse - designed by us and we built it ourselves too. It is 10ft by 18ft, with a central door and entrance/milking area, and two 5 by 8 pens on either side. Hurdle type hay racks serve both, and we have double glazed windows (from a skip I have to add!) with a wire mesh to portect the glass/goats - but I wanted light in there. The house is quite high, as I want airspace/ventilation. The upper part is louvre-typed planks, so it is really well ventilated and quite cold in winter. Goats don't mind and I have so far not rugged mine. We have double-wide door, so we can get a trailer up close and load any deadstock if required. Our doors have an internal wire-mesh, with the outer wooden part can be opened for light and air in winter/rain. Our internal divisions are about 5ft high, which the goats have been known to jump across, but only if really spooked (and not the GG's, but the BT's). Everything is wooden (with concrete foundations), and screwed (rather than nailed) together, so can be replaced/changed if needed. My OH loves to work with wood! We have both water and electricity in the shed, really needed for winter milking, and the goats need to have BBC Radio2 on during the day... (their choice not mine!)

I have atm 3 adults in separate pens, with two BT goatlings sharing the fourth pen, and the adults pens have a corner divided off for the kids, as I am milking the girls.

I do have a whole lot of photos, but up-loading is difficult as we seem to have a problem with broadband/email etc with up-loading anything bigger than 200kB, don't know why, but it seems living rural comes with that sort of problem...

[frustratedfarmer]

Thanks Anke- we're in East Lothian- not tooo far away so yes will definitely look you up if we're down your way.

Claire 

[ballingall]

I agree with the versitality factor- we built our shed with that in mind, a big empty barn that could if we have to move be used as a garage/workshop/stables etc. We just divide it up with sheep hurdles- this has the advantage that if you move, you can take the hurdles wit you, thereby not losing out on your investment! We did request our sheep hurdles were made a foot higher than standard sheep hurdles though just to prevent any escape attempts.

I did start a thread about building our goat shed on here- I will have a look and see if I can find it.

We are in the Falkirk area, you are welcome to come along to have a look if you want.

Beth