Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
•
Immediate costs
(or savings) are the initial costs of materials and labor to construct
the barn.
•
Short-term costs
(or savings) include replacements that will need to be made in the
first year or two of service, such as flooring that was a poor choice or wooden rails
that weren't protected from chewing.
•
Long-term costs
(or savings) are replacements made after the barn is several years
old, such as replacing the shingles on the roof and gutting the stalls to replace dan-
gerously deteriorated or damaged stall walls.
•
Maintenance costs
(or savings) are regular-upkeep items, such as painting and
weatherproofing, as well as the amount of bedding that is required daily.
•
Associated costs
(or savings) include the amount of feed wasted or optimally used
due to feeder or stall design.
A significant associated cost can be veterinary bills due to management-related mis-
haps, such as colic (automatic waterer malfunction or horse escaping from stall and
getting into grain room) or injuries (unlined stalls, dangerous projections in aisles).
ESSENTIALS
Construction is serious business and you want to build a structure that will serve you and
your horses well for years to come. Don't try to cut costs for these essentials.
SITE PREPARATION
.
The site must be level where the building sits and well drained
with grading so water flows away from the building. Know the percolation rate of your
soil.
CONCRETE
.
Don't mix batches of concrete for large areas in a small, home-sized ce-
ment mixer. It takes too much labor, time, and electricity, and the result will be an inferior
pad that looks patchy. Order cement by the yard and have it delivered by truck. One way
you can save costs is by having your own crew of neighbors and friends help. (See under
Strategies to Reduce Costs, Concrete [next page].)
LUMBER
.
Use 2x6s,
not
2x4s, for stall framing and any other areas of the barn that
horses will contact. Use rough-sawn (RS) boards, which are full-dimension boards. (A
2-inch RS plank is 2 inches thick; a 2-inch planed board is 1½ inches thick.)
STALL LINING
.
If the barn is metal, line stalls at least 4 feet up from ground level with
2-inch boards or a double thickness of ¾-inch plywood or similar material. Nasty wounds
result if a hoof punches through a metal wall or if a pawing or rolling horse gets a hoof
caught under the sharp bottom edge of a steel wall.
HARDWARE.
Bolts, hinges, handles, latches and locks should be heavy duty. Many
home latches and hinges are too light for use in a horse barn. If your horse breaks through
them, he could get into the grain room and founder or escape to the highway and get killed.
