Or really just a giant muddy mess in our backyard. Last summer we started the process of building a deep pit beef barn to feed cattle in. Basically, a building with a 12 foot concrete hole under it to contain manure for the cattle that we were going to raise in the building.
The process was pretty amazing and exciting and overwhelming all at the same time. Elliette went from thinking we were making a swimming pool to thinking that we were going to be buying her a horse to put in our huge new barn out back. Needless to say it was a very disappointing for our horse and pool loving daughter. So, I convinced Daddy that purchasing a $50 rummage sale trampoline was a pretty good compromise for her.
Eventually as the months went on we went from the muddy hole in our backyard to something that started to resemble a building.
Once the rain stopped, well, more like slowed down, we were able to start laying the rebar for concrete to be poured.
Then we started by pouring the floor of the pit. And then once the floor was poured we began to set forms so we could pour the walls. I say we, like I actually was out there doing it. And in case you were wondering, no, no I was not out there helping build this building. I did however cook one really good meal for each of the groups that came out to work on different parts of the building.
Surprisingly this part of the building, the pit and the floor, were the most labor intensive. It really felt like it took forever! It may have been the rain, but I felt like it took so long. And then once we got to putting up the walls for the building I felt like it took about ten minutes. Okay, maybe like three days, but it was really fast!
This is our first building for specifically feeding cattle. Before we put up this building we fed cattle in an open lot in the same spot that the building sits. This is something we discussed long and hard. There are various ways to feed cattle or keep cattle. There were pros and cons to any choice that we made and I made lots of phone calls, visited other buildings, and even attended a conference just for various environments to feed cattle before we made our decision to build this building. Look for a post next week to highlight the pros and cons to feeding cattle in a building.
Neat pics – thanks for sharing!
I am not familiar with this type of feed building – I wonder if many people around us have these deep pit barns? I’ll have to ask around – I really thought only the dairy farms and hog operations used these “high tech” intricate type things. So the waste – does it run off into lagoons, or get pumped out into fields? Just wondering about decomposition over time..
I am guessing there are probably some in your area, for feeding beef cattle it is a a newer concept. But, very common with dairy and pork. The runoff is all contained in the 12 foot deep pit under the building and then once a year we will pump the pit and using a liquid spreader spread in on our crops for fertilizer. Great questions by the way! 🙂