building a new barn

[BCCC]

What did you do for your floor?

 

[mashowcattle]

i guess this has to do with a barn. but we are wanting to buy a cooler but at the moment i cant afford a whole entire cool calf unit. but i have a man that will sell me a cool box. its the box on a big box truck but it is refrigerated and we were wondering if that would work just as good but we can just put it on a slope and make a drain system and put vents in it. just need some opinions on if that will work just as good!

thanks,

 

[Cardinal_Crest_Shorthorns]

I noticed a few people have mentioned feed storage, we use old, out of order deep freezes. they are great for keeping out the rodents.
We buy them from a friend who sales appliances for about 25 or 30 dollars, so its a pretty cheap method

 

[BCCC]

i guess this has to do with a barn. but we are wanting to buy a cooler but at the moment i cant afford a whole entire cool calf unit. but i have a man that will sell me a cool box. its the box on a big box truck but it is refrigerated and we were wondering if that would work just as good but we can just put it on a slope and make a drain system and put vents in it. just need some opinions on if that will work just as good!

thanks,

There is a guy in town that made a cooler room and put the reefer unit in the wall, worked real well.

 

[mashowcattle]

i guess this has to do with a barn. but we are wanting to buy a cooler but at the moment i cant afford a whole entire cool calf unit. but i have a man that will sell me a cool box. its the box on a big box truck but it is refrigerated and we were wondering if that would work just as good but we can just put it on a slope and make a drain system and put vents in it. just need some opinions on if that will work just as good!

thanks,

There is a guy in town that made a cooler room and put the reefer unit in the wall, worked real well.

my concern is the cattle getting sick because of the ammonia because there is not enough ventilation.. would there be enough ventilation in something like that verses a whole cool calf room?..

 

[Jill]

If I remember correctly the refer unit is what Gleue's have used for years.  It doesn't make any difference which way you go, the bedding has to be kept clean, that is the only way to keep the amonia smell out, doesn't matter what type of unit you are using. 

 

[bruiser]

I helped build two coolers last winter. One was a large Morton type building ( working great). The other a lean- to type w/ actual cool calf unit (bad design). The big building uses two 3-ton a\c units with air handlers mounted on ceiling (ducts move air to pens)

 

[Steer Boy 101]

The morton style you are talking about is what i have. It seams to get the job done real well and from other people i talk to in my area my bill is cheaper than theirs. They have actual refridgeation uints. I have a 2 ton home unint with a home furance air handler wtih a 12 inch duct coming for the return out of the opposite corners which ihave anther 12inch duct dumping cold air in. i keep it 50 no problems. cheap too. My cousin got it for free form his bosss. the unit is newer than in my house.

 

[sholm]

Were putting in a indoor wash room and going to put holes in the floor so that we can put pipes sticking up to keep the calves from moving around. How far apart would you put the pipes and how far from the front gate that we tie them to? Would you put extra holes so that you can move the pipes for different size cattle?

Also what type of a drain system do most of you have? We were thinking about putting in a ejector pit instead of just a drain to the outside. Live in northern Illinois where it freezes - this winter for 4 months.

thanks
S

 

[Steer Boy 101]

if you check out Brad hooks Vids online they show one like you talkin about at tracy goretskas place. it says about 3 feed from the wall and 3 feet apart

 

[Gators Rule]

We also have a squeeze chute so we can work w/ the calves if needed.

Notice the blue Heeler has to be in all pictures!

Red (dog)

gotta love that Priefert blue!!

 

[Jeferin]

Any new show barn pics out there?

 

[ransom14]

My family has recently built a show/calving barn.  We are still working on getting it done.  Here are a few pics of the pen system that we have installed.

 

[ransom14]

Continuation of previous post with Pen Pictures.

When we built the barn we wanted to create as much airflow as possible.  The barn is 88'x 30' with a 20'x20' bump-out for a heated washrack and grooming area.  We placed 4 - 4'x8' sliding windows on the West side of the barn.  The main door is a 10'x12' overhead door on the South side.  Sliding door that is 12'x12' on the North side.  There are 8 10'x14' pens with Ritchie automatic waterers splitting the pens.  4' walkthrough gates on each pen with a 10' swing gate that opens to the outside releasing the calves into the runs.  All the pens are on the East side of barn leaving the West side of barn as an isle to feed, clean, drive machinery through etc...  I posted a few pics of the barn.  Let me know what you think.

 

[Jeferin]

Nice barn. Do you have any finished photos?

 

[ransom14]

I have not completed the washrack yet.  The pens are done and are in use.  I will try to take a few pics and post in the next few days.

 

[dentalshowman]

Good idea i asked show times magazine to write an article about this in one of their issues.  I'd like to see examples of show barns and what works and doesn't work.  I'm in the planning stage of building one for our program and spending a lot of time researching for designs and ideas.  Frustrating cuz not a hole lot out there.

 

[sonander]

building a new barn, your first barn or an addition to your barn, there are several factors that you should consider.