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Grain Bin Makes Great Goat Shelter
Grain bin panels and a few 12-ft. 4 by 4's, make quick and effective shelters for Eugene Batterton's goats. The price couldn't be beat either. The wood for a single hut cost him less than $50, and he purchased enough panels for six huts for just $100.
"I had seen similar huts for $700 to $800," says Batt
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Grain Bin Makes Great Goat Shelter LIVESTOCK Sheep/Goats 29-1-40 Grain bin panels and a few 12-ft. 4 by 4's, make quick and effective shelters for Eugene Batterton's goats. The price couldn't be beat either. The wood for a single hut cost him less than $50, and he purchased enough panels for six huts for just $100.
"I had seen similar huts for $700 to $800," says Batterton. "The grain bin panels came from a bin with a bad roof, but they still had a lot of good metal in them."
Batterton has made five shelters so far. They all start with construction of a wood framework with three cross members. They're laid 3 ft. apart with the ends trimmed for skids. Two 4 by 4's are then laid lengthwise about a foot in from the ends of the cross members and bolted in place to form the rigid frame.
Batterton then sets up a sawhorse at each end of the framework and lays a 16-ft. long 4 by 4 across them. Three 12-ft. metal panels are draped across the 4 by 4. One end of each panel is bolted to one of the two framing 4 by 4's running the length of the frame.
"I drive in lag bolts to attach the end of each panel to the first 4 by 4," says Batterton. "I leave the bolts a little loose to allow the panels to flex."
Once all three panels are secured on one side, he attaches a scrap I-beam or even another 4 by 4 to the still unsecured ends of the panel. Three come-alongs attached to the framework and the I-beam are then tightened to pull the panel ends into place behind the second lengthwise 4 by 4. This puts the curve in the roofline and gives the goats needed headroom. With a 10-ft. distance between panel ends, the center height is about 52 in.
Once the ends have been lag bolted in place, the I-beam can be removed or left in place. The entire process takes only a couple of hours.
"It takes me longer to gather the materials than it does to build a shelter," says Batterton. "The goats love 'em. One can hold as many as 20 goat ewes, and the kids love to jump on top."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Eugene Batterton, P.O. Box 554, New Castle, Ky. 40050 (ph 502 845-4465).
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