Barn ideas

We are in the planning phase of building a new show barn. The dimensions I have in mind are 50'x100'x16'. Here is a drawing on how I'm planning on laying it out. The entire feed room, wash rack and storage area will be concrete. Of course the pens will open up to traps on the outside for nightly turnout. In the future, the storage area could be converted to a cooler. There will be a roll up door at each end of the center alley, and a couple of walk doors in the feed room. What are your thoughts on this layout? Anything I should consider adding or doing differently? Also, what is the best way to drain an interior wash rack? We are in heavy black clay, so it is very slow to soak up water on the surface. Thanks for any input you can provide.

Might want a door on your feed room big enough for a skid steer/loader to unload a pallet of feed, as opposed to handling individual bags.

Thanks for that idea. I mix all my feed in bulk and will have bulk bins on the left side of the feed room. There will be "porthole" doors just big enough to get my auger in to unload the feed. But a big door is still a good idea. You never know what the future holds.

If it was me, and we're remodeling our barn and doing this as well, you need to find some place in there to incorporate a head gate or squeeze chute. You never know what problem your going to run into with cattle. Could be a c-section, way nicer to do it on a -10 degree day inside then it is outside. Could be to doctor a calf, halter a nut job, anything!!! You might never use it, but the day you dont put it in, the next day something will happen and you wish you had of. Been there Had it happen!!!! Easiet place could be like the back stall.Besides that, love your layout, and the fact you have plenty of room for whatever you need to do!

Thanks sizzler. I have a full working facility in my pens that'll be right outside the barn. I will use it for the major things. I was thinking about putting a head gate in the working area for the show cattle related emergencies.

blackdirt cowboy said:

We are in the planning phase of building a new show barn. The dimensions I have in mind are 50'x100'x16'.  Can you drive a squeeze in there w a load of hay


what is the best way to drain an interior wash rack? A 4" grate w a clean out hooked up to 4" pipe going far to a tree. 


We are in heavy black clay, so it is very slow to soak up water on the surface. Thanks for any input you can provide.  Grading and utility tractor or skip loader access.

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Enough service electricity. Mud free access for vet.

Your building is similar to what we have but I have some questions and suggestions. First off why 16' high seems like a lot of wasted space. How do you plan on getting in the pens with a loader? If your dividing gates swing I would put doors at both ends of the side with the pens. If you have future plans on putting a cooler in plan on it being on the east end or in the center to cut down on heat from the sun. As far as electricity we put every outlet on the walls on separate 30 amp breakers for blowers and above each pen we have plugs to have hanging fans. Just some things to think about.

16' high for two reasons. I'm located in Texas so warmth in winter is not a concern. The higher we can build the roof, the cooler it will stay in summer. The second reason is when the show careers are over, I have the option of removing the pens and using it for equipment storage. The cooler room is in fact in the east corner of the barn. The end walls are also not going to be sheeted in tin on the side with the pens for better ventilation. Great idea on the separate circuits and plugs for the fans. Thanks for your reply.

A couple suggestions.

The fan outlets are great to have. I took an extra step and put them on a switch, so I can turn them on and off without using the rocker switches on the cords.

As far as the floor drain, it depends how many you plan to wash. I have an interior drain that I couldn't get tiled out, so I put in a drain shown in the picture. I dug a pit in the ground that was 24" wide, 48" long and 60" deep. The water flows into the first 25 Gallon tote. I bought a heavy duty square Rubbermaid. anything heavy sinks to the bottom and anything light floats. Only water (in theory) goes thru the PVC. The PVC going into the 55 gallon plastic drum (top cut out and turned upside down) has a 3" elbow in the 25 gallon tote connected to a 3"x2"x3" "T" with the 2" pointing up to vet air out of the 55 gallon drum (very important), connected to a 3" pipe into the drum. I also put another 25 gallon tote (upside down) under the top 25 gallon tote for added storage. I connected this to the 55 gallon with a piece of 3" pvc. I basically have 80 gallons of storage before it begins to back up. I back filled with sand and poured concrete over the 55 gallon drum. I had a welder make a grate out of 1" vertical bar to put over the top 25 gallon tote.

This is what we did on our back part of the barn. Made a few changes from this drawing, but not many. This ties into the front barn which will have the sale ring, offices, etc.

Critique this layout. Barn would be 12' tall and open on all four sides. The open area on the end would be used to put a 20' shipping container to be used and a feed and tack room.

Just a suggestion. Last barn we did when we wired the lights we wired in receptacles one for every two lights. Most fluorescent and led lights now come with a cord. Light goes bad unplug and replace. It is wonderful.