Ready to go

Tomorrow we're going to put the cattle in the barn!  Half of it, anyway.  Today in this blistering heat - over 90 degrees - the crews worked really hard to finish up half the barn.  (Really, they work hard every day.  They're impressive to watch.  And I'm not just saying that to get them to do a good job on our barn, because I'm 99% sure they don't read my little farm blog.)



Max pointed at the four different pieces of equipment and repeated each time, "That's my favorite."

The mattresses are in, the sawdust is ready for them to lie on, the water tanks are full, the curtains are open, and the fans are in place.  They're really going to enjoy coming in from the heat for some shade and air circulation.

Speaking of lying down, I loved your comments.  Yes, they're freestalls.  All piled up.  Farmers put freestalls in barns so each cow can have her own place to lie down.  It's raised, so they step up on it and lie down on the mattresses between the stalls.  When they relieve themselves, it doesn't mess up where they're lying.  Instead it goes to a lower level where it can be scraped out with a skid steer.

But they made some good art in the meantime.
 
Here's the barn, empty for the last time ...

 

Fans up high, freestalls down low

Functional freestalls, sawdust, mattresses



Plastic curtains

The unfinished side ... to be continued