SXliij 
^RY HO^ : 
NEW YORK, AUGUST 
VOL. LII. No. 
BARN FOR A REGIMENT OF SHEEP. 
TO WINTER FEED 1.280 LAMBS. 
The following' note may serve for a text: 
Will Mr. J. S. Woodward Five a drawing or p’an for a barn In which 
to feed 1 ,CC0 or 1,200 lambs, as I, along with others, have taken a great 
Interest In his articles on wintering sheep and propose to build a 
s eep barn to accommodate a large number of shees If It can be done. 
Washington County, Md. JOHN A. nicodemus. 
Plan for a Sheep Barn. 
We have on our Park Hill farm a barn 96 feet wide 
and 160 feet long with 30-foot posts on a nine-foot 
wall, all above ground. Were we to devote the entire 
lower story to this purpose it would furnish plenty of 
room for 1,280 lambs, besides ample alley spaces. But, 
not be less than three or four feet square, and be pro¬ 
vided at the bottom with slides or valves. 
Rack Room or Feeding Spaces must be in propor¬ 
tion to their size not when put in, but when fitted for 
sale. One foot in length for each lamb is enough 
trough room, but it is well to have an extra space in 
each pen, and the racks should be so made that when 
a lamb puts its head into one the only way it can get 
into any other part is to back entirely out. 
Clean Water in Plenty must be provided for 
each pen, and be always in abundance and fresh. It 
is better that it be not too cold, and it will be very 
handy to have it so that it can be drawn directly into 
each trough. 
and three windows on each side. Three doors may 
be made on each side, if desired, for ventilation and 
for running a belt from the engine to the thrasher 
placed on the floor. These doors should, of course, 
not go below the roofs of the lean-tos. 
The windows in the lower story, of which each side 
has seven, are placed directly opposite the division 
fences between the pens, so manure from each can be 
thrown out when cleaning out the outside rows of the 
pens. Each end should have four windows. This 
will give 22 windows to the lower story, affording 
ample light to all the sheep. Fig. 179, shows the 
lower 6tory with the pen or alley arrangement for the 
sheep-fold. The center alley is eight feet wide and 
runs from end to end with a door at each end, shown 
supposing this inquirer does not require so much 
storage room above, I have planned a barn having the 
same capacity for lamb feeding and in which the 
storage capacity can be made to fit his requirements. 
In planning any building it is first best to consider the 
requisites for success in the pur- 
poses for which it is intended. 
Among the more important for 
winter lamb feeding are suf- 
ficient room, plenty of air space, 
proper ventilation, rack or feed- 
ing capacity, fresh water and 
convenience in feeding and care- tSRSaSK f a 
ing for the stock. wapi BBll 
Room for Lambs is of great im- Wsk 
portance. They are to be fed $&[&&& 
high on stimulating food for aara 
about five months and should 
have just room enough to take 
the proper amount of exercise 
for their best health and no more; 
as all extra exercise will be at a , gi 
loss of gain and greater con- k .}| 
sumption of food. We have often ^ 
put 20 lambs in a pen 20 feet long > 
and seven wide : they did nicely. 
We have even put them in quar¬ 
ters much more prescribed with 
no bad results. But as will be 
seen, I have provided a pen 21 
feet long and 9 % feet wide for 20 
lambs, including rack and alley 
space. 
Air Space Required. —This is 
not of secondary value. Accord¬ 
ing to the best authorities, one 
cubic foot of air space is sufficient u 
for each pound of live weight. 
While this is good as a general 
rule, much depends upon the 
facilities for changing the air. 
The most desirable weight for a lot of feeding lambs 
in fall is 55 to 60 pounds, and as they should go out in 
spring at 100 pounds, the average will be about 75 
pounds for the winter—according to the rule, they 
would require 75 cubic feet of air space each. If 20 
be placed in a pen 21 feet long, 9% feet wide, and 
nine feet high, each would have 90 cubic feet, which 
would be safely within the limit, especially if 
Proper Ventilation be provided for. This has 
very much to do with the highest success. With this 
amply provided for, lambs can get along and be 
healthy and thrive in very much less space. If the air 
becomes stagnant and vitiated, no matter what the 
feed or care, no great gain can be expected, but with 
appliances for proper ventilation, so arranged that 
control can be exercised over the outgoing air, 
many more lambs may with safety be put into the 
same quarters. The ventilating trunks should extend 
from the folds up to and out of the roof. They should 
The Convenience of the Shepherd must not be 
ignored. It is easy to have everything so handy that 
one man can easily care for from 500 to 800 lambs; or 
so unhandy that with equally hard work he cannot 
care for over 200 or 300. Convenience is every- 
“The Golden Hoof.” Fig. 179. 
thing in caring for the lambs. These would be in 64 
pens, and each pen must be visited from five to six 
times daily, and the more compactly they are placed, 
the easier to reach them. The barn I have planned 
fully meets all these requirements. The lower story 
(I would have none of it below ground, except one 
end, and on this end it should have a double walk 
so as to be made absolutely dry inside), is 96 by 
160 feet outside, with the side walls nine feet 
high. The upright or center part I have planned is 
48 by 160 feet, with 24-foot posts above basement. 
This part may be varied by making it wider or nar¬ 
rower, higher or lower, according to the storage 
capacity required. 
Air and Sun.—A s will be seen, I have provided for 
eight ventilators, four on each side, and these come 
from nearly over the division between the pens on 
each side of the barn. I have also provided for three 
windows and a door on each end of the upper story 
at D. D. This alley is wide enough to allow one to 
drive through for cleaning the manure from the in¬ 
side pens and may have a trap-door from the upper 
floor opposite each cross or feeding alley, or only four 
as shown in the cut, through which to throw down 
forage and bedding from the 
storage-room above. If only four 
are used, each will answer for 
four feeding alleys. They should 
be made strong, be hinged at one 
side and have a ring attached, so 
that they can be shut down when 
not in use and form a part of the 
barn floor. The side or feeding 
alleys are formed by the feeding 
racks, as shown by the double 
lines and should be not over three 
Si, feet wide in the clear. 
Pure Water Wanted. —The 
£3*2 windows are shown at the Ws. 
Each pen has a gate marked G. 
Wg In the center of each lot of four 
pens is placed a water trough, as 
¥ shown. These should be made 
of galvanized iron and be three 
feet long, one foot wide and six 
inches deep, placed in a light 
wooden frame fastened into the 
fence so as to extend into each 
t pen. The water may be sup- 
5 plied from a tank in the barn 
I above or from a spring; no mat- 
I ter whence, only that it be pure’, 
1 fresh and abundant. It is better 
6 to run the pipes over-head with 
Is / ,■ s / a tap or faucet at each trough; 
eIK/YU although they may be laid 
under ground with a hydrant 
V ' brought up at each trough. In 
the latter case there is danger 
that the sheep will “monkey” 
with the faucets and sometimes 
may turn them, thus drawing the water all out of the 
tank and flooding the pens. If the folds are as warm 
as they should be, there is not the least danger from 
frost by having pipes over-head. The location of the 
ventilators is shown by the dotted squares at the Vs. 
In this plan I have figured on the walls being of 
stone and two feet thick, leaving the room 86 by 156 feet 
inside and making the pens 21 by 8% feet, including 
the racks. If the walls were of wood, double-boarded 
and sheeted so as to make them frost proof, the pens 
could each be a half foot longer, as the alleys are 
ample as given. I don’t care about what the barn is 
made of; but insist on its being so warm that there 
will be no danger of freezing the over-head water pipes. 
Feeding and Other Considerations. —In this barn 
the grain bins may be placed on each side of the up¬ 
right at proper places, and under the roof of the lean- 
tos, with spouts running down into the alleys below, 
each being provided with a slide and hopper for draw- 
