Legend Dairy Goat Barn Container
A project to rehab an old shipping container into the coolest goat barn you've ever seen. Dreamed up by our oldest daughter Adali.
From the very beginning of our homestead journey Adali was totally invested in the animals. She basically raised all our chickens for eggs, pigs and chickens for meat, and goats for milk. She took on the responsibility of feeding and caring for them, waking up early every morning, and getting her own great pyrenees guardian dog to protect them.
By last season we had 4 potential goat mamas, and she wanted to breed all of them. That’s a lot of goats, and our existing infrastructure was not currently up to the task.
Adali came to us with a big proposal - a brand new building that would provide a safe shelter for all the goats, stalls to keep the new kids separate so we could milk, a proper insulated and sanitary milking room, and better feed storage. Plus all new fencing to encourage rotational grazing and create more protection for the animals.
So we sat down with Adali, created a set of kickstarter style donation options with really fun goodies, and gave our viewers a chance to support her dream. They showed up in a huge way, and funded the project so much that we moved to phase 2, and added even more goals. See below :)
The Plan
Adali didn't want something we had to build from scratch. We needed it functional as quickly as possible. Shipping containers had finally come back down to reasonable prices here, so acquired a standard 40’ container to use as the base structure.
We’re calling it the Legend Dairy Goat Barn Container!
Using a shipping container means all we have to do is get the area leveled and compacted, have it set in place, and then we can get to work building out the inside.
Speaking of the inside. First up we’ll be creating a feed storage area on the East side of the container using the existing cargo doors. This way we can do bulk loading easily.
Then we’ll create a “hallway” in the middle section that the animals can take shelter in during storms or cold weather. Inside the hallway will also be 3 gated kidding stalls for keeping new mamas and babies together, separate during weaning, and the ability to lock them up to keep them safe from Predators.
This area will also have some additional storage and two new doors for access from the North and South sides of the container.
The far west end of the building will be framed out and insulated to create a closed sanitary milking room. The long term goal here is a small gray water sink, milking fridge, and possibly AC window unit during the summer. To start it’ll just have a milking stand, though.
Then we’ll install all new field fencing connected to the container. While we love our exterior high tensile electric perimeter fence, we’ve found that we need a tighter weave to keep predators out and baby goats in. Over time we plan to expand off the initial fence and build smaller paddocks for rotational grazing and separating kids and mamas during milking.
As part of phase 2, we're adding framing and full insulation for the entire building, a 10' roof awning overhang, small solar power system, and rainwater catchment.
We hope you enjoy this project - videos of each phase are down below.
THIS COMES FIRST - Prepping our Homestead Perimeter for Container Delivery
The Legend Dairy Goat Barn Container project has officially begun! Before we can bring the shipping container in, we have to deal with surveying and preparing to re-fence our homestead perimeter. Let's do this!
IT'S HERE! Adali's Goat Barn Shipping Container Gets Delivered
The shipping container gets delivered and we have to re-fence our perimeter in record time.
Surprise Guest TRANSFORMS the Shipping Container in One Week!
A surprise special guest comes to the homestead for a week to cut door and window openings, weld frames in, and build the coolest sliding barn door you've ever seen.
Turns Out She REALLY Loves FRAMING! Goat Barn Shipping Container Continues
Time to learn something new! We’re framing the inside of the goat barn shipping container, adding new walls, and preparing for electric and insulation. Spoiler - Ashley really loves framing :)
DITCHING Traditional Insulation for Something BETTER?
The next important step is to insulate the goat barn container. Our friend Kyle brings his spray foam gear to the homestead, and we get the area prepped and run electrical in the walls.
Get in Touch with Kyle for spray foaming or geodesic dome builds.
Will We FINISH the KIDDING STALLS in Time? Baby Goats are COMING!
With baby goats fast approaching it’s time to turn our attention to finishing the walls and building the kidding stalls in the center section of the goat barn container. This entails days of cutting, measuring, and experimenting to get it just right.
We Tried Building Our First Metal Field Fence...Success or Flop? (Part 1)
The goats can’t move to the container without a protected area. So with the stalls finished, we begin the process of learning how to build metal field fencing - an entirely new process for us. Step 1 involves setting the corner posts and then cutting, grinding, and welding it all together.
Goat Birth SURPRISE! Rushing to FINISH the Protective Field Fence
Our first goat babies are born before we can finish the Legend Dairy Goat Barn Container, so we kick into high gear and do our best to finish closing in the metal field fencing.
The Goats are HOME!
Fences need gates, and gates need latches! Today our friends at Best Gate Latch save the day by sending us 3 of their awesome weldable latches. We do our best to hang the gates and get the goats moved before the last kids are born, but nature has other plans :) One way or another we will get the goats moved to the container barn!
TRANSFORMING the Milk Room For Happy Goats (& Happy Daughters)
Even though the goats are in the Legendary Goat Barn Container, that doesn't mean the project is finished yet. We still need to cover the milk room walls, get the feed room functional, and begin the long process of finishing the milk room which includes painting, staining, plumbing, electrical, and more. Part 1 of the milk room remodel starts now.
Are We FINISHED with the Goat Barn Container?
The goal today is to get Adali’s milk room operational so she can actually use it. This means we have to build the power closet, set the fridge in place, finish installing our Pioneer Mini Split AC, and get some temporary solar panels up to keep the Legend Dairy Goat Barn Container running. Then maybe we can focus on some other projects around here!
Packing Cute Goat Goodies for Our Goat Barn Supporters ❤️
It's time to ship out the goodie packets to our Legend Dairy Goat Barn Supporters! Come along with us as we print, pack, and mail over 200 envelopes with the cutest goat stickers, pins, and shirts you've ever seen :) We're moving into the final phase of the container project, and we can't wait to wrap this one up.
P.S. Get your Leftover Packs Here →
This Was NOT Part of the PLAN 😱
The next step in the goat barn container was SUPPOSED to be the roof awning. Turns out Ashley & Adali had other plans. This week we build an entirely new field fencing paddock to keep the goats safe while we build the roof and begin rotational grazing. Will it take 2 days like Ashley thinks? OR 4 days like Jonathan predicts? Shout out to Justin and Leslie for their help on Day 4!
We've Been DREADING This STEP of the Goat Barn Container 😬
It's the start of the last major piece of the goat barn - and the one that we've been dreading: the awning roof. Today we start the first step setting the concrete piers that will support the main posts. Then our friends at Best Gate Latch hook us up with two weldable latches to finish the new paddock.
HOW STRONG Does the Shipping Container AWNING Need to Be?
We're picking right back up on our Legend Dairy Goat Barn Container roof awning project, we move to the next steps - setting & prepping posts, installing the main beam, and fabricating custom brackets to attach the rafters to the side of the container.
WAIT - Did We Just Get Good at ROOFS?
With the custom metal brackets fabricated, we turn to our friend James to help us structurally weld them to the shipping container. Then it's rafter go time! Are we actually doing all this on camera? Are all the cuts actually working out? Are we roofers now? What's going on?!
We’ve Got SHADE & a New PAINT Job? 🎉
After test fitting our rafters, it's time to prep them for installation. But wait! We're taking a quick detour and painting the container before we put the roof up. Then it's back to decking...will we get it finished?
We FINALLY Have WATER in the Milk Room! 💦
After finishing the roof decking on the shipping container awning, we turn our attention to plumbing the rainwater catchment tank, and plumbing the gray water drain. We FINALLY have water at the Legend Dairy Goat Barn Container!
We Built WHAT for the GOATS?
We're waiting on metal roofing panels so let's knock some things off our punchlist. There's a goat swing, water line insulation, fancy LVL cuts, and more. The Goat Barn Container is almost finished!
This SOLAR SETUP Changes Everything!
Huge progress made today! The metal roofing panels are installed, and we rack up all 3,000 watts of solar power on the new IronRidge solar mounting system. Finally the milk room in the goat barn container is nice and cool with no worries of running out of power.
The project is finally completed! What a journey this last 4 months has been. Thanks again to the project supporters - Adali is so happy with how everything turned out, and the goats love their new home.
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About the Author
Jonathan Longnecker is the strongly opinionated tattooed and bearded half of Tiny Shiny Home. He loves making music, figuring out nerdy solutions, exploring the outdoors, and living off-grid.
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