The Location
In selecting a site for the Dairy Barn, care should be taken to choose a location where the yard will be well drained. It should not be necessary for cows to wallow through mud up to their knees to reach the barn. A cow spends a large part of her time in the barnyard, and careful attention to the sanitary condition of the yard is necessary.
The selection of the site is very important. It is best that the barn should run north and south to get full benefit of the morning and afternoon sun. The barn so arranged will be warmer. Also plenty of sunlight will help to produce proper sanitation.
Consideration should also be given to the position of the other necessary buildings. The location of the silos, the hog house, the granary, the pump house, dairy and tool house, with respect to the barn is very important.
All the farm buildings should be located conveniently with respect to each other, and having in mind their appearance as well. The appearance of the barn and adjacent buildings will add to or detract greatly from the value of the farm. A Dairyman is judged largely by his barn.
The Size
Be sure your barn is big enough. It is much more expensive to add to the barn than to make it large enough in the beginning. In determining the size, provide storage room to accommodate a bumper crop. Make it large enough to hold all the
cattle your farm can profitably maintain. Experience has shown that the best barns are wide enough to accommodate two rows of cattle running lengthwise. This type affords better ventilation and each row of cattle gets full benefit of the sunlight.
Preference is generally given to a rectangular barn 36 feet wide. This allows for spacious feed alleys, stalls and gutters, and provides for a driveway through the barn, if desired. Stalls are regularly made in the following sizes: 3 ft.; 3 ft. 3 in., and 3 ft. 6 in. The 3 ft. 6 in. stall gives ample room for any size animal. This is the preferred size as it is important to give each cow plenty of room.
While a one-story barn may be built as an ell or wing to the barn in which the fodder is kept, it is usually more economical to have the Dairy Barn two stories high, providing hay and feed room directly over the cattle. The basement is warmer where there is a loft overhead.
The floor of the loft should be of double thickness, with heavy paper between. This prevents dust from sifting through. The same purpose can also be accomplished by sealing below the joists.
Another important advantage in a two-story barn is convenience in handling hay and in feeding. Chutes can be constructed above feed-ways, greatly increasing convenience in feeding. The chutes are closed when not in use.
The grinding room and grain bins can also be located on the mow floor and the grain spouted to feed room below. Placed in the mow the bins are readily accessible for filling and feeding and do not utilize the more valuable ground floor space. The two-story barn, in most cases, saves the dairyman the expense of building a separate granary.
STAR Equipped Barn, Owned by John Mason, Elgin, Ill.
Pane One Ilundred Thirty-six