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Building the Goat Barn

Building the Goat BarnThere are a LOT of designs out there for both small and large barns – some are VERY elaborate (and VERY expensive); while others, although simple and functional, are not very attractive. This made it somewhat challenging to come up with a design that we could be happy with – we wanted a functional barn that looked good, and also fit into our budget.

Since our goats were all going to be miniature breeds, we chose to make a smaller-sized barn. This allowed us to stay within our area’s building size limits, and we did not have to apply for a building permit (which were taking several weeks to even be considered). It also lets us test out our design ideas, and make any necessary improvements as our herd grows. So, we came up with a fun design for our (first) little goat barn and started to get to work making it a reality.

Features of the Goat Barn

  • 2 stalls (one used for hay storage when not needed for “kidding”)
  • Covered front porch (for additional shade and “goat lounging”)
  • Double dutch doors (just because they look so cute!)
  • Pole barn construction (for additional strength during our windy and snowy weather)

Barn Dimensions

GottaGoat Goat Barn Plan

 

  • 8 ft. x 12 ft. main building
  • 6 ft. x 12 ft. covered front porch
  • 2 – 4 ft. x 6 ft. stalls
  • 8 ft. x 6 ft. main feeding area

Building the Barn: Start to Finish

The entire project took us just over a month to build, doing most of the work on weekends and evenings (as weather permitted). Part of that time was also spent finding the supplies (such as lumber, fencing materials, hardware, roofing, etc.).

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images…

Fencing the Goat Pasture

We wanted the goats to have some room to run around, so we fenced in just over 1/4 acre. We needed to have a couple of access points, both for us, and for the tractor to drive through the pasture, so we included 2 – 4 ft. gates, and 2 – 10 ft. gates.

We had bought a used hydraulic post-pounder last year, so we had to figure out how it worked for this project! It was a little temperamental, so some of the posts didn’t go in “perfectly straight”, but we managed to build a pretty secure fence.

We used 5 ft. rolls of 2″x4″ no-climb fencing around the perimeter. The only problem we have had (so far) with the fencing was around the gates – the first day we brought the goats home one of them managed to squeeze out, so we had to quickly install some additional fence boards in the gaps between the gates and the fence posts. We’ll keep those in place until the goats have grown a bit larger. If we do end up removing them, we’ll have to remember to put them back up once we have a few kids running around!

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images…

The Finishing Touches

  • We found a few tree stumps around our property, so we put them in for the goats to play on (which the kids (human) named “Stumpville“). We also used some pallets to construct a small multi-level structure for them to jump on (which was named “Pallet Town“).
  • We made the hay mangers out of re-purposed crib ends (we paid $5 for both of these solid maple pieces), and some scrap lumber.
  • The bench in the front of the barn was another used furniture find, which we spray painted a wonderful purple colour.
  • The balusters for the porch were made out of the same “free firewood” lumber that we had used for our garden fence. They have a lot of bark on them, which the goats just love to chew on!
  • The siding for the entire barn was also a great find from our local “free firewood” source. The pieces are quite thin though, so we expect to have to replace a few of them from time-to-time (but we were pretty amazed about this find).

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images…

Bringing Home the Kids

It didn’t take long for the goats to settle right in to their new home. We all have a ton of fun running around the pasture on a regular basis. The girls get “tucked-in” to the barn every night, and let out each morning. Our little barn has been working out very well for them!

We’ve had a few things that had to be fixed or modified (as we quickly learned how “rough” goats can be when they jump on EVERYTHING!), but I’ll leave the discussion of these “improvements” for another post.

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images…

Comments

  2. We fell in love with this barn and have decided to replicate it for our future (2 weeks) baby goats. Thank you so much for the plans! Bob

    Reply

  3. Such great information. Thank you. Did you have a chance to post the building instructions/details yet? Did you do anything with the flooring in the stalls and feeding areas?

    Reply

  5. Hi, just wondering if you could give details about the cost to build the barn?
    Love the barn I want to do one exactly like this for our new goats!

    Reply

    • Hi! Thanks so much – glad you like it! Our little barn has now survived a tough Canadian winter, and is still in great shape. I’ve had lots of requests for the plan details, and should have something available very soon. I’ll include as much as I can on costs too.

      Reply

    • Hi! It is difficult to determine our costs for this structure, as we re-purposed a lot of the materials used. A lot would depend on current lumber prices in your area, and whether or not you can find “bargain” materials as we did. However, we’ve created a new (currently FREE) eBook to describe our building process and materials used for this barn.
      Check it out:
      http://www.gottagoat.com/gottagoat-goats/new-ebook-for-our-goat-barn/
      Hope you enjoy!
      Cindy@gottagoat.com

      Reply

  7. Hello. I clicked on your links but didn’t see anywhere the approximate cost? Do you know by any chance how much you spent on materials (tools not included)?

    Reply

    • Hi Toni – I didn’t include the cost for items in my list of materials (in the eBook), as it varies so much; and we did get a bunch of our materials for free (all of our siding, and much of the non-dimensional lumber) or at discounted pricing (our posts and most of our pressure treated 2″x4″ lumber was purchased as “cull” lumber). However, I would estimate we spent about $900-$1000 for our materials for this barn as we did have to buy almost all of our dimensional lumber, roofing materials, and all hardware.

      Reply

  8. How many goats will this barn design house? We are interested in getting Nigerian Dwarf goats. We may possibly consider sheep too, later down the road.

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    • Hi Sarah! The barn should be sufficient for housing 4-6 miniature goats comfortably. We had 6 does (Nigerian Dwarf and our 2 Miniature Silkies) and Leo (a wether) together there for a long time and they did great (although Leo didn’t sleep in the barn, he preferred his “dog house” outside). However, when we added 2 more does, it was getting pretty crowded, so we have moved all our does to a much larger barn!

      Reply

    • This was exactly the question I had while reading this! I’m planning on 4 goats, so this barn would be perfect since I’ll have room since I’m sure my goat math is off!

      Reply

  9. how much did this whole barn cost to build( not counting the covered porch/or the fencing)
    this goat barn helps me out a lot it is a really nice idea. i would love to have my goats in a wonderful home like this.

    Reply

    • Hi Mike – I didn’t include the cost for items in my list of materials (in the eBook), as it varies so much; and we did get a bunch of our materials for free (all of our siding, and much of the non-dimensional lumber) or at discounted pricing (our posts and most of our pressure treated 2″x4″ lumber was purchased as “cull” lumber). However, I would estimate we spent about $900-$1000 total for our materials for this barn as we did have to buy almost all of our dimensional lumber, roofing materials, and all hardware. The porch area was probably $200-300 of this total amount.

      Reply

  10. Hi!
    So I’ve finished the framing portion of your barn from the e-book. So far so good! My only comment or suggestion so far would be to be slightly more detailed in the portion describing the roofing of the porch. I was super confused until I checked the blog page and saw a picture that showed it. I think including that in the instructions would help along with a more thorough description.
    That being said. Everything else is going super smoothly! Thanks so much for the barn plans!!

    Reply

  11. Hi! I just built this barn pretty much all by myself and it turned out great. Did you use any type of sealant on the finished exterior? Thanks so much for this beautiful idea and excellent, informative pictures.

    Reply

    • That’s wonderful! Sorry for the late reply – we’d love to see pictures… We did not use any sealant on the siding for the barn. It has stood up really well to the elements (most of the “free siding” we used was cedar, so naturally does well without sealing). However, we have since moved our does to a much larger barn (the herd grew to over 30 now), and have put the bucks into that barn. They are much more destructive (especially the boys with the big horns), and have ripped off a lot of the siding, so we have been spending a lot of time repairing our poor little barn.

      Reply

  12. If you feel condensation on the walls or ceiling of a barn in the wintertime, it must be immediately ventilated as it is far too moist for safe goat habitation! An oversized indoor living space is not ideal in the winter as they will have a harder time keeping warm in it. If absolutely necessary, you can use ceramic bulb heat lamps, but you must make sure to keep electrical cords out of reach from curious residents and make triple sure to keep heating elements clean and dust free! Barn fires are tragically common occurrences. Ceramic heating panels are a safer option, or if you have ample funding, radiant floor heating covered in dirt is the most ideal and safe heating solution for animals in barns. If you look into installing radiant floor heating, be aware that this system could cause an environment that is too humid depending on the type of enclosure you have. Typically, wood structures will breathe better than concrete block or metal sided buildings, which are more likely to sweat and contribute to high humidity levels. Additional ventilation may be necessary when using radiant floor heating.

    Reply

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