Building New Barn and Pens

Help Support Steer Planet:

AndersonCattle

Active member
Joined
Jun 22, 2012
Messages
25
Location
Perkins, Oklahoma
I bought a new place. Building a 30x50 with a 15ft lean-to on the 50 ft side. Anything I should be sure to do, or not do? Anything you have seen and think would be a must-have ? All the help is appreciated.
 

cowman 52

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 16, 2009
Messages
719
Location
San Angelo Texas
I worked In one years ago it was on 10 ft spacing,  every fence was a gate,  you had an alley going east and west or north and south and the alley could move from center to right to left,  just changing the gates,  every gate swung 360 degrees.  We worked sales, calves heifers, broke show cattle, best might have been vaccinating calves,  just fill a pen about half full, swing the gate behind them and get to it.  It was a dream to work in, wasn't a blind corner and if you had an idiot, there was always a gate that swung right. You are talking 10 ft of material per 10 ft space extra, but if you use it a lot, it's money well spent.
 

bim1986

Well-known member
Joined
May 19, 2014
Messages
84
Pole barn or steel?  Lots of things to do, the biggest for me is to put in drains (are you doing concrete), so you have place to rinse/wash. 
 

afhm

Well-known member
Joined
May 1, 2007
Messages
1,621
Location
parts unknown
cowman 52 said:
I worked In one years ago it was on 10 ft spacing,  every fence was a gate,  you had an alley going east and west or north and south and the alley could move from center to right to left,  just changing the gates,  every gate swung 360 degrees.  We worked sales, calves heifers, broke show cattle, best might have been vaccinating calves,  just fill a pen about half full, swing the gate behind them and get to it.  It was a dream to work in, wasn't a blind corner and if you had an idiot, there was always a gate that swung right. You are talking 10 ft of material per 10 ft space extra, but if you use it a lot, it's money well spent.
Any chance you have some pictures of that facility that you could post?  Thanks.
 

Mainevent

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 27, 2010
Messages
893
Location
Decatur Texas
Brandon horn I'm not sure if you have been out to his place but that is my favorite show cattle facility with addition of cow operation. Only concrete is under his working  chutes and runs and his wash rack it's a low rise pole barn with mostly open sides it's difficult to describe but it's super for both cows and show cattle.
 

BogartBlondes

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 10, 2013
Messages
130
After working in many different dairy, beef and sale operations I will say that pens should never be square. Always be (even slightly) rectangular. If you have one or two cows in a pen trying to corner them for whatever reason, they wil always  circles in a square pen no matter the size. This gives them a sense of control. In a rectangular pen its harder for them to run circles without meeting up with you.

We built a new 30x60 pole barn 3 years ago and we put 12x18 pens in it. Leaving an alley at one end that a tractor and TMR mixer can come through. This is the best facility that I have ever worked in, the cows love it and the pens divide in three places making yet smaller rectangular areas to work with the cattle. 
 
Top