Parham Farms

[Parham Farms]

Shelters & Construction

Lots of folks have written asking me about my various shelters. We love calf hutches, but they can be expensive. if you ever have a chance to pick them up used -- seize the opportunity! you can check them out at this link We use metal carports and enclose the sides for permanent shelters. We don't recommend just having the installers extend the metal to the ground because, without protection, it will be quickly destroyed. We have made wooden fencing inside of the shelter to protect the metal siding and we have made our own sides using wood panels or removable panels. I have created lots of temporary shelters, breeding and kidding pens, feeders, and hay storage from cattle panels because I find them easy to work with. I can cut them to size using bolt cutters, then I can use a hammer to pound (bend) down any protruding edges. They can be connected to each other with cable ties, and hinges can be made using cable ties or quick links. They can be bent into all manner of shapes and covered will all kinds of materials. I preferred scrounged or recycled materials just to save money, but the options are endless. Here are some ideas from our building adventures with cattle panels that might inspire you to create something you've been longing for. 8 x 12 Buck Shelter, open front in the summer, with hay manger and sleeping bench built in for stability. The Hay Manger cover is hinged onto the hoop using cable ties. Here you can see how the manger cover slides inside of it, & how we fix the boys up for winter. We've got a shed with a kidding pen on each side just inside the back of the carport shelter. The front of the kidding pens is made with goat panel (4" holes) rather than cattle panels. We used a Dremel tool to cut notches in little feeders so they'd hang on the panels. We also have brooder lamps wired to the panel, but DO NOT use them unless it is an emergency, for example we are out there with wet newborns on a cold, cold night, or if we have a chilled kid. We like to be out there if the brooder lamps are on because they can cause a fire. This is our 2nd kidding pen. It's got 2 hoops made with 2 partial cattle panels and is fully insulated with foil bubble wrap because it's on the windy side of the shed. Hinges can be made using cable ties or quick links. If we use cable ties we prefer the black ones because they don't break down as quick in the sunlight as white ones do. The quick links work best. On our pens that are made with regular cattle panels we attach chicken wire to the outside using hog rings. A 2' wide roll of 2" chicken wire works well to cover the lower portion of the cattle panel to keep the young ones from sneaking out. I'd prefer to use goat panels because they have 4" holes, but they cost twice as much as cattle panels.

Please be patient with us as we build this website. Thanks for visiting & God Bless You!!!
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