[horseluvr2524]

Hello! I live in Arizona in the hot, dry, and when it rains, very muddy desert :lol: We are building our horse property from the ground up. I am putting in a shedrow 3 stall barn with a fully enclosed and concreted feed room. I originally planned for a 12x16ft feed room. Should I make it 12x24? How many bales of hay could I store in that? I'm wanting to keep 60-70 square bales of hay at a time. My plan is to buy before winter (more like fall out here minus leaves :lol while hay is still good quality and fairly cheap so I won't have to buy any during "bad hay" season. I will also need to reserve room in my feed room to keep my wood shavings (I'm going to buy in bulk) and my doctors buggy. So how big should my feed room be? Side note: I am keeping 2-3 horses at any given time. No more than that... unless they are minis!

 

[horselovinguy]

I would always suggest going larger if planning and building than regretting not having the extra space that you could use.

Concrete floor in the feed room will be easy for keeping clean.
I would put the hay on pallets not tight against the walls or ceiling to allow it to breathe.
I use to stack my hay on a pallet sometimes on edge sometimes flat depending upon how tight the strings/wires were and how heavy the bales were.
I would stack {say flat} across the entire pallet then stack the next layer the opposite direction to keep it as stabile as possible. I use to go 4-5 rows high when I could, realistically it was 4 high for me to pull down and not wear it on my head as it fell.
A ton of hay was easily put on 3 pallets, that was 48 bales to the ton.
These were small pallets...
We also put a loose plastic sheeting over the top of the hay, just laid there not tied down tight to keep dust, bird droppings and ick from finding a home up there...
I would do a palate under your shavings too...they will absorb moisture through the concrete floor even in as dry a climate as you are. You should be able to store easily 20 bags of pine shavings in brown bag or plastic wrap rectangular bale size.
Your palates can all touch and should touch each other and the hay should be placed as tightly together as possible. You only need a few inches between wall and hay/shavings...not a walk-space.

You should have enough room to easily store your 2 ton of hay {about 100 bales}, shavings and your cart... if placed correctly you should have extra space on that larger size feed storage area.
:wink:

 

[Left Hand Percherons]

You can stuff 130-150 small squares in a 10x10 stall depending upon the dimension of the bale and how tight they are. That will last 3 horses 4-5 months (about 1 bale a day) A Drs buggy, without shalves, is going to need an 8x5 area. That's a ton of wasted space when you don't have any extra to spare. Do you use it on a regular basis? If not, find somewhere to suspend it from the rafters out of the way. It will also keep it from getting beat up and chipping the paint.

Bulk shavings for 3 horses isn't worth the space it takes to store them. You're talking another 10x10 area for a small dump truckload. The bigger question is if you live in AZ, why are you building stalls? The horses don't want them, they create another layer of work, they're hot and miserable in the summer, they're expensive... I'd spend the $$ on a larger structure and just divide it up with panels to optimize air flow and flexibility. Insulate the crap out of the roof and install fans at both ends to keep interior temps down. Close off the feed room and tack area for safety and security.

 

[Saddlebag]

This was a noted farrier's observation. Horses that stand in shavings wind up standing with their heels raised which can cause changes in the navicular bone. When I tho't about it, the shavings do pack under the heels. I've always used straw and it doesn't do this. Just something to think about. Wheat straw makes awesome bedding as the horses don't eat it. It is the bedding of choice at the tracks.

 

[CLaPorte432]

I have two 10x24 hay sections for storage, they are 8-12 feet tall (roof slopes)... I fit 300 bales in each side. These are about 70-80# square bales. I got all 600 bales in this year and Im set until April-ish with hay. When building, go bigger...you will regret it later when you need more space.
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[horseluvr2524]

Thanks for all of the advice! We are building a shedrow, which is not a traditional indoors fully enclosed barn. It will have good air flow-I am putting grilled sliding windows at the back of every stall. The front of the stalls will be traditional grilled top and wood bottom. I am planning on figuring out some kind of fan system. I have several reasons for going with real stalls instead of the metal fence panel stalls that most people use out here. Most important reason, where we are building our house it is not uncommon for mountain lions to climb through the fence panels and drink out of the horses water, while the poor horses are out of their minds with fear. I am very reluctant to subject my horses to that. I want them to feel safe in their stalls. Secondly, the horses often kick right through the space in the bars of the fence panels when having a fight, and sometimes they catch a leg and hurt themselves. It doesn't happen often but still makes me nervous. My mare is a kicker. Thirdly, and least importantly, they might stay a little cleaner, which would be nice! I have had plenty of experience with the metal panel stalls, and I don't see how they are any better, they are just cheaper. We are putting in turn outs so it's not like they will be in stalls all day. Usually in summer they are let out in mornings and brought in about noon when the heat hits its peak. I have been inside shedrow stalls before in heat of summer-they are not any hotter than the fence panel stalls, and the horses inside of them were certainly not sweating, even when it was 110+F! There was a black percheron cross that was kept in one of these stalls. I visited him frequently in the heat of the day and I never found any sweat marks on him. He didn't even have fans! Granted, these stalls had air flow front and back, like I am planning on doing. I am sure a fully enclosed stall would be very hot!

That is some very good advice concerning shavings! I did not know that. I'll look around for some wheat straw... although my mom's mare eats just about anything lol hoping she doesn't eat that!

From what most of you are saying, it sounds like a 12x24 or 12x36 will suit our purposes just fine. Hay for four months would be plenty. Our horses eat about 3/4 of a bale a day. They are light, small horses, and very well fed. We are not underfeeding! In fact, my mom's mare is a little on the fat side, but she is a QH, and eats everything! The other three at the barn where I am at are lighter arab, half arab, and my mustang, who are on the sleeker side. They are all fed 3 times a day. I will probably be sticking to that schedule.

Thanks for all the advice everyone! You have been very helpful. I will post pictures next year after everything is built.

 

[CLaPorte432]

Keep in mind, straw is NOT absorbant. at all.

I actually hate straw and have only used it for foaling purposes so the foal doesn't inhale/eat shavings. Within a few days, I'm back to shavings or sawdust.

In all the years i have used them, i have never had an issue with leg/hoof problems. And I bed my stalls deeply. (Horses LOVE fresh shavings)
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