Which to Build: Small Shed or Pole Barn? - FHC Q & A

[@michaelsilva7176]

How to build a smoke house is a series I would watch!

[@olddawgdreaming5715]

Good morning Pa Mac, great video as usual, fantastic coverage of the pole barn build for the goats also. Really enjoyed it and love the book on pole barn building. I believe there would be a lot of folks interested in processing a hog your way. I watch lot of the OLD ways they process their own meat just to see the different way folks do it. Stay safe and put together your way. Fred and family

[@jvin248]

Design a small goat milking shed on skids. Then you can hook the tractor to it and move it to wherever the pasture takes you. Make it short/squat to resist winds and/or use temporary earth anchors (you'll sit down while milking goats anyway, don't need a tall building). I used free pallets to build the kids a "waiting for the bus" or "toll booth" out at the road (long driveway problem). Built it at the garage workshop one pallet square and two pallets tall plus a ridged roof, used left over shingles and siding, and dragged it up to the road with the antique tractor. Been there ten years (neighbor kids use it now as the bus driver knows the stop). Eventually I'll drag it back and have a small garden tool shed (though the bottom pallet will need replacing by then) or put chickens in it until another need comes along. If I had pallet forks I could move it that way instead of dragging. Make your goat milking shed movable and you have flexibility for any future plans.

[@MarkWYoung-ky4uc]

Great video Pa. I'd like to see a video on building a smoke house.

[@lindawisner3525]

Always need more space.

[@Ham68229]

Honestly, it all depends upon what your needs are. Large pole barn is usually the correct answer however, "locale" is key and what your needs are. My grand dad taught me that, when deciding to build a building, keep close to house but not too close, (odor purposes). Also, having just a "milking" station in one building, livestock housing in another may work but, it's better to keep it as one. Something that many rarely ever think of, keeping a building close by allows you to bring in your livestock, (feeding purposes, milking, etc.), this also allows you check on your herd. If you run goats, get a few mules to run with them. They are natural protectors and they'll kill coyotes and other varmints that are natural predators to goats. Cheers :)

[@mleonard3163]

I'm not sure if it holds true for mules too but most people in my goat groups that have had donkeys with goats highly DON'T recommend it as donkeys can get territorial and are known to also abuse or kill goats. As for distance, I agree, as close as you can tolerate. I honestly would love to have my animal buildings close enough to use a breezeway or greenhouse to connect them to each other and possibly to the house, especially if I were in a snowy area. Where I'm at it gets down to the teens occasionally and snows up to 6-inches at the most but it's also on a slope so flattish ground is hard to find which means I went with sheds instead of a barn 😢.

[@Ham68229]

@@mleonard3163 Yes, you're correct about donkey's becoming territorial. We had "Jenny's", ran them with both our cattle and our sheep. Never had issues with them. It is a personal preference. Couldn't tell you how many dead coyotes we'd find in our pastures. 🙂

[@mleonard3163]

@@Ham68229 I would love to add a couple donkeys or mules too my farm, especially if I could train the too help with lumber jacking duties up in the woods. I also want a couple mini or small breed cattle for milking to go with my dairy goats and chickens. I'm thinking of a dugout style barn in the hillside above the goat's shed for the cows but I'll definitely need a tractor or some other small vehicle to tow a small trailer for hay.

[@lauracragun]

Love your channel! It makes me so happy! ❤

[@ciphercode2298]

I have seen some really neat tiny pole barns. built the central part about 12ft x 10ft and enclosed it ,adding one side shed at a time a year or so later. Having the taller central part left room to store a few square bales in the loft. He kept feed and supplies in one side shed and tools riding mower in the other. Milking station under the little hay loft.

[@douglasvantassel8098]

Great episode thank you for making these.

[@dwilladsen4696]

Great video! I'd suggest to John also consider the concepts of "Good Enough for Now" vs "The Definitive Project," by which I mean that early on in one's farm journey (both building AND keeping animals), one may not have the experience and confidence to do anything other than a quick basic build, which can be temporary--just enough to handle the current issue. That prevents immobilization while trying to design the "perfect" project. Then, with the skills learned from building that and tending to the critters, a person will realize all the things they would love to have to customize their space for their specific needs. That gives them a chance to make the "definitive" end result someday a carefully thought out place that's a joy to work in. So there's no shame in a quick thing, to buy time for something that will be fantastic in a few more months or a year.

[@maverickstarkey1165]

A typical farm flow (or how you've done it in the past) would be a helpful video.

[@rachel4483]

On the subject of convenience, goats don't like walking in the rain to be milked. Some will just NOT. Attaching a milking area to the goat living quarters is a must (due to moving into someone else's horse setup we don't have that currently and it's a major hardship). Some days you're more likely to fall and injure yourself alone in the dark and wind and in pouring rain than get that doe up on the stand no matter how small they are.

[@davej7458]

In general, how large a minimum distance do you want to keep or maintain between a house and animal barn? Or is the northern european practice of living and keeping animals in the same building possably good idea. Where I live on the West Coast a real consideration, is separating buildings so the don't all burn up together in a wild fire.

[@backachershomestead]

Definitely a large pole barn. We've got enough small sheds.