Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1895-10-16
the IDEAL COW BARN.
How to nuild 1t and How to Furnish II
In Good Style.

Take a building that will hold SO
cows, say 80 feet wide by 1903 feet long
and IA feet high. The first story should
! be 10 feet for the COWS, with foot
loft for meal and cut litter. A building
! of this width and size can be built OF
light timbers, say 2 by 4 inch studding,
| balloon frame. As the roof is narrow
the rafters can be light and need no
purlins Board it with neat siding and
! line it or plaster inside With well ar
| ranged windows and air ducts you have
| light and ventilation as thoroughly I'M
| der your control as in the living room
| of your house. Such building as this
can be put up for one-third the cost OF q
| 55 by SO foot bank barn and be infinite
" better as q place to house cows. Two
objections will probably be urged against
this single purpose barn-first, that you
will need a large barn anyhow, for the
storage of hay and grain, and, secondly,
that it will be inconvenient to get the
coarse provender from the storage barn
to the COW barn. In answer to the first
objection / can say if new buildings are
to be put up build them long and mar
row, as in the case of the COW barn be-
fore described for the same saving III
the cost of the smaller sized lumber can
be made. Lumber of what we call yard
sizes costs $12 to $15 per thousand.
Sawed sizes cost SIS to $50, and quite
large sticks, which have to be of good
pine, may cost $50. Such build
ing as above indicated can be built of
yard sizes and would not cost over half
as much as square bank barn of the
Chester county pattern of the same ca
pacity. IL your old barn is good, take
out your basement stables, drop your
bays and so increase the storage capacity
AS to the second objection, every farm
er with land enough to put on 40 or so
COWS to 100 acres will surely have
silo and cut his fodder and his hay, and
with well arranged hanging tracks can
his cow barn with more satisfaction than
in the old way of taking forkfuls of hay
and sheaves of fodder through dark and
narrow entries.
A silo should be built near to, but
not in connection with, the COW barn.
The penetrating smell of the ensilage
may be dangerous to the milk or cream.
A round silo, 25 feet deep and "A feet
in diameter, made of lumber, can be
built for $500. If judiciously placed, it
can be fed from with sufficient conven-
fence and safety. If this silo is filled
with we'll grown and we'll matured
corn, but little other coarse feed will be
required and the feeding of the cows
made easy and simple.
An extension of this idea of single
purpose barns would suggest a horse
barn also, which in many ways would
be preferable to stabling them in the
Easements of bank barns. We used to
imagine that great straw sheds were
needed for the storage of litter, the shell
ter of the stock and the protection Of
the manure. Now we haul our manure
directly to the fields, our cows are not
let out when they require shelter, and the
straw should be cut into inch lengths at
the time of thrashing, in which case it
canabe housed in one-third the usual
space, and actually costs less than to
store it away uncut.
Now "a few words as to the stable ar
rangement of this ideal COW barn.
Twenty Eight feet, the width of this
barn, allows a foot entry on one side
running the length of the barn. The
are 90 feet long and hold six cows each,
40 inches to the COW. There are three
double stables and two single ones.
Those at each end of these eight stables
hold 48 cows and occupy "a feet, in
Guiding the four cross entries, which |
are feet each. Each COW stands on
platform AZ feet wide, with a l foot
manure gutter behind her and a walk
of 4 feet. Of course this spacing presup
poses the use of stanchions The COWS
feed on each side of this 9 foot entry,
depression in the cemented floor serving
as trough. The cows are watered from
a water bowl, which, with traps, stable
piping and plumbing, will cost about 81
per head. Very slight divisions are re-
quired between the cows, and but little
lumber is used in the whole stabling.
All feeds are carried through the en-
tries on hanging iron tracks, high enough
70 be out Of the way. An extension of
these same tracks should lead to the
storage barn and silo, which need only
be few yards Off The whole stabling
and entries should be solidly laid in wa
ter lime, finished with Portland cement.
A room at any end of building, 90 by
IA feet, is used as Office, hot water ar
mixing boxes, etc.
The meal is kept in the half story
rooms above, and is let down through
shoots.
These stables all open into the barn
yard lot, and being short are easily
cleaned, and the stables, holding only
nix cows each, are not crowded when
letting in or out.
A concluding word on ventilation
With no other animal is warm and
squable temperature SO important. This
condition fosters secretion, and secreting
Is a cows life duty. Coal is cheaper
than corn as fuel; one costs 81 per tor
he other $40. If your stables are not
warm enough, make the heat artificial
y. Do not turn your COW 8 stomach into
, heating fr1rnaoo We xuan+ +bot RI |