Building a goat barn or shelter doesn’t need to be expensive to be functional – and it can still look GREAT, even on a budget!
Our first goat barn (see Building the Goat Barn) turned out really well, especially after we fixed up a few little mistakes (see 3 Mistakes to Avoid When Building Your Goat Barn). It was a pole barn design that we had planned out for our does. However, we needed a another space to be able to keep our future bucks separate from the does, so we designed a simple framed shelter, built on skids, for the boy’s barn.
We decided to locate this barn next to our shipping container that we use for hay/feed storage. We did this for a couple of reasons:
- It provides additional protection from the wind and other elements; and
- It “camouflages” our shipping container (which is a wonderful and easy storage solution, but really doesn’t look that great).
To keep costs down for this barn, we used a combination of new and salvaged materials. We built a lean-to style roof, both for simplicity and to keep consistent with the design of our doe’s barn.
Although you may not find the exact materials and options that we did, hopefully what we used may give you some ideas for how to cut costs when building your own barn.
Barn Materials
| Item | Qty | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skids, 3″x9″ HEAVY timbers | 2 – 16 ft.; 2 – 6 ft. |
FREE | A road crew was replacing a bridge deck down our road, and they brought the old timbers up to our place (for the cost of a case of beer). |
| Lumber | 4 – 14 ft. 2″x4″s; 32 – 8 ft. 2″x4″s |
$50 | These were for the basic wall frames and roof trusses. We used a few other 2″x4″s for some of the additional framing. We purchased all of these in a load of “cull” lumber for $99 (plus tax), which contained a mix of 16 ft. and 8 ft. 2″x4″s. Some were a bit wonky (bowed or twisted), but we had enough to complete this barn, plus another similar sized structure, and we still have some left over. |
| Roofing | 4 – 8 ft. sheets of black metal roofing (36″ wide); 1 – 8 ft. polycarbonate roof panel; roofing screws |
$175 | The most expensive part of the barn was the new roofing, however, we really like using the black metal roofing – it goes up quickly, looks good, and lasts a long time. The polycarbonate panel we added is a clear (tough) plastic, which adds a great “skylight” to the barn! We wish we would have thought of this for our other barn, but we may still add one later. The additional light is fantastic, although this panel cost double that of the metal. |
| Siding | Misc. lengths/widths | FREE | We used boards from a local lumber yard that they set out as “free firewood”. These are quite thin, but have been working well for our barn siding. We used some thicker boards on the inside walls of the barn. |
| Door | Used wooden door in jamb | $10 | Found in a local building salvage yard. I painted it to match our farm logo! |
| Accessories | Door handle, latches, etc. | $25 | Miscellaneous hardware to finish off the barn. |
| TOTAL: | $260 | Approximate cost only. Nails, screws, rafter brackets, and some other hardware was also used. |
We used scrap lumber for the remainder of the finishing for the interior. We added a small stall at the back of the barn, which is being used for hay storage. Plus, we put in a shelf for the goats to jump/sleep on, and built a two-sided hay manger.
Finished Barn Dimensions: 6’7″ wide x 14′ long; height is 6’3″ on short end, and 8′ on tall end.
Have a look at the construction of our budget friendly goat barn.
Click the thumbnails below to view larger images…
In addition to building the new barn, we fenced in both a front and back yard for the boys, and added some “toys” for them to play on (made out of free pallets that we picked up from around the city).
Click the thumbnails below to view larger images…
Now, we just need to find the right bucklings! In the meantime, this wonderful little barn is housing two wonderful little Nigerian Dwarf doelings that we just added to our farm. These two cuties will be moved to the pasture with our other does in a couple of weeks, but for now they are enjoying this great space, and having lots of fun exploring their new home.
I do like the simple but beautiful goat house… I would like to construct a how for my new birds (chicken) here in Nigeria . So i need your help. The cost and the building pattern for a mini or small plan/sample for poultry farm.
Thanks! I’m working on some more detailed plans that should be available soon.
Hi! We’ve created a new (currently FREE) eBook to describe our building process and materials used for our goat barn that might help you out. We will have plans for some of our other buildings in the future, so keep checking back.
Check it out:
http://www.gottagoat.com/gottagoat-goats/new-ebook-for-our-goat-barn/
Hope you enjoy!
Cindy@gottagoat.com