I just heard...

[julieb]

Stalls that clean themselves..can you imagine, now thats a idea I really like :bgrin , like little mini robots picking up all the little mini poop. :bgrin I have a barn cleaner, that goes around the full barn, and takes everything right outside into the manure spreader, but darn--I still have to pick my stalls, and put it into the cleaner, which runs in front of every stall. Maybe I'll ask Santa for some barn cleaning robuts for christmas...and you all can just about guess what SANTA would tell me :bgrin Ohhh, wouldnt it be nice to be Martha, and have cleaning help, and not even see a cobweb. BUT--we could just put those big black creepy plastic spiders in our cobwebs, and tell everyone we decorated the barn for HALLOWEEN. I LIKE that thought! YUP~~ good excuse not to sweep down the cobwebs. Corinne

[SIZE=14pt]Ok Corinne i need to know about this barn cleaner...it sounds a whole lot better then my filling the buckets..when you have time i would love to hear about it and where you get them

: [/SIZE]

 

[MeadowRidge Farm]

OMG, Julie~~ and to think you live in my neck of the woods. :bgrin Do you know where the PATZ Corp. is in Pound?? :bgrin They make them there. They are expensive, several thousand $$, but we had this installed when we still had our dairy cows. My barn is a remodeled dairy barn, most dairy barns have barn cleaners, we took all the stanchions out of and resurfaced the floor and matted it, and built stalls. Here is a pic of the barn cleaner..if you look close at the floor you will see a gutter that runs in front of the stalls, that gutter has "flites" on it,(if you look really close you can almost see the darker lines in the gutter..those are the flites) so you just need to scrape out the stalls right into the gutter, flip the switch and it goes right out the barn, up a chute type thing, and it gets deposited into the manure spreader. I dont always use it, because I figure I can get it done just as fast by hand. But it does come in handy when there is alot to clean, like in winter, when I have so many horses and donkeys in the barn on nasty days. I have a friend who had a barn cleaner installed last year, and has the cleaner running right thru the middle of her stalls, with a grate over the gutter..my little dickens would be sure to find a way to move the grate and step into the gutter! My gutter is about 8-10"s deep, and we do have grates that fit over the stall door areas, but I dont use them. Mine are use to stepping right over it. :bgrin Ce

 

[julieb]

OMG, Julie~~ and to think you live in my neck of the woods. :bgrin Do you know where the PATZ Corp. is in Pound?? :bgrin They make them there. They are expensive, several thousand $$, but we had this installed when we still had our dairy cows. My barn is a remodeled dairy barn, most dairy barns have barn cleaners, we took all the stanchions out of and resurfaced the floor and matted it, and built stalls. Here is a pic of the barn cleaner..if you look close at the floor you will see a gutter that runs in front of the stalls, that gutter has "flites" on it,(if you look really close you can almost see the darker lines in the gutter..those are the flites) so you just need to scrape out the stalls right into the gutter, flip the switch and it goes right out the barn, up a chute type thing, and it gets deposited into the manure spreader. I dont always use it, because I figure I can get it done just as fast by hand. But it does come in handy when there is alot to clean, like in winter, when I have so many horses and donkeys in the barn on nasty days. I have a friend who had a barn cleaner installed last year, and has the cleaner running right thru the middle of her stalls, with a grate over the gutter..my little dickens would be sure to find a way to move the grate and step into the gutter! My gutter is about 8-10"s deep, and we do have grates that fit over the stall door areas, but I dont use them. Mine are use to stepping right over it. :bgrin Ce

[SIZE=14pt]Well Corinne, buckets it will be

: but it was a good thought for a while..that cleaner is for a much larger barn then mine!!!! i bet it was a blessing when it was a dairy barn makes much more sense....i bet it is handy in the winter though for you..Your barn is very nice

: boy would i love a barn like that... i am not formiluar with all of the barn equipment well thanks for filling me in

: [/SIZE]

 

[JumpinJackFarm]

Ce,, I know I have seen your barn before but Wow... I love it!

I just love the nostalgia of it... AND how functional it could be on my property

Are? the ditches on the sides Cement OR in the Dirt?

Is there an angle at which the ditches/gutters flow?

What is at the end of the Ditches/Gutter? for the clean-up ... a BIG hole?

AND... WHY aren't your Critters eating up the Stalls????

The wood in your stalls looks so good??

My Donks are going crazy lately on our Stalls.....Abbie is teaching Zepp to be a "wood chipper"

What can I do about that ???

 

[FlatCreekFarm]

My barn is a remodeled dairy barn, most dairy barns have barn cleaners, we took all the stanchions out of and resurfaced the floor and matted it, and built stalls. Here is a pic of the barn cleaner..if you look close at the floor you will see a gutter that runs in front of the stalls, that gutter has "flites" on it,(if you look really close you can almost see the darker lines in the gutter..those are the flites) so you just need to scrape out the stalls right into the gutter, flip the switch and it goes right out the barn, up a chute type thing, and it gets deposited into the manure spreader.

Dang, Corinne... I think you give Martha some serious competition in the barn department... WOW!! I love the history of that barn too

AND... WHY aren't your Critters eating up the Stalls????
The wood in your stalls looks so good??

My Donks are going crazy lately on our Stalls.....Abbie is teaching Zepp to be a "wood chipper"

What can I do about that ???

I have this gut feeling that I'm raising a couple of wood chippers as well

The little stinkers start chomping on their straw bedding (the clean part I hope) if (heaven forbid) they run out of hay in the night. They don't have access to wood yet but they will... guess we'll see

 

[MeadowRidge Farm]

You guys are funny

Zepp is probably learning to become a wood chipper out of boredom, but I really do doubt THAT guy is ever bored.(at least that what everyone seems to tell me that donks are nortorious for chewing ..out of boredom) He just seems to be extra high energy for a donkey

Do you have vitamin and mineral licks out for them? ...and hey, I own a wood chipper too, whenever Casper is in his stall, unless he has his manger full of hay, you can bet..hes going to be chomping on my stalls. He now get put in one and ONLY one stall at the end of the barn. I figure that way, when he demolishes it. I wont have to hear all the yelling and complaining from Bob that he has to replace boards again...he'll only have one full stall to redo

You really dont want to know what I did for my bad wood chipper do you??? ..Ok, I put HOT SAUCE all over the boards, and they tasted it once and never went back. The hottest I could find

My cleaner gutter is cement, the full barnfloor is cement and my stalls are matted. The gutter isnt angled but the actual cenent floor is at a tiny angle so that when they pee in a stall, the pee will run towards the cleaner, but I use bedding over the mats so it usually soaks up in the bedding.

The end of the barn has a hole cut into the wall about 20"sx20"s, and that has a sliding type of door on it, when the cleaner is running and the door is opened..which it has to be, the flites take the manure out the barn, and up a slide, around the top of the slide and back down the other side..coming back into the barn again. I really like my barn too, and in about 15 years..its going to have its 100 yr old birthday, it was built in 1924. My FIL built it with some neighbors. I will post a pic of it later..of the outside of it. Believe me..NOTHING like Marthas, or I would be saying I will post a pic of our HOME

Now, if you all lived alot closer, you would be more then WELCOME to come to our christmas party, which always ends up with everyone in the barn. My barn gets decorated, and my horses/donkeys each have there own stocking, and a swag hanging from there stall, plus a tree (unlit) up for them. Bob (hubby) usually has the percherons(they belong to a friend, but make our farm there second home alot of times) all harnessed and we go for a long and COLD sleigh ride around the lake, but not really sure what is going on this year yet. But, I know we'll be having our x-mas party! So come on over...Thanks for the compliments on my barn. Ce

 

[FlatCreekFarm]

our christmas party, which always ends up with everyone in the barn. My barn gets decorated, and my horses/donkeys each have there own stocking, and a swag hanging from there stall, plus a tree (unlit) up for them. Bob (hubby) usually has the percherons(they belong to a friend, but make our farm there second home alot of times) all harnessed and we go for a long and COLD sleigh ride around the lake, but not really sure what is going on this year yet. But, I know we'll be having our x-mas party! So come on over...Thanks for the compliments on my barn. Ce

Wish I did live closer -- sounds like WAY more fun than any Christmas parties in our neck of the woods

I love the whole idea of it ~ that is my kind of party

Please share pictures this year?

We can feel as if we were there

Oh and one more thing about Martha (some of you are thinking

"enough Martha already!" ha) ... she is dressing her donkeys up as DONKEYS for Halloween tomorrow (some French-made donkey costumes, but of course

) I don't know if she will have them on the show but I'll bet at some point she will at least show pictures of her little trick or treaters

I'll keep my eyes peeled