All I want for Christmas... On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...a new motor for the 1566. On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me...two bulls for the herd. On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...three new milkers (would settle for a closer place for service/parts). On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...four gift cards! (Menard's, Harbor Freight, Mill's Fleet Farm, feed co-op) On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...interest free refinancing! (I'd love her forever) On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...six springing heifers. On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...seven Mexican workers! On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...eight shop lights On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...nine pallets of seed On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...ten new tires! (they'll be used by Easter) On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...eleven smartwool socks On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...twelve hand tools (tools are like shoes, you can never have enough)

Kat, The US Dept. of Ag has a variety of free downloadable barn plans,.... http://www.ebackroad.com/0mwpsorg-freefarmplans.html That said, you will probably find that they are commercially oriented, but by pouring over them, you can figure out things like minimum space allotments for stalls and coops based on animal type. You need to figure out some things before you "guess out" your barn. Who and what you are going to keep there, how you will clean it, and finally once you have the size, how you will build it. The "cheapest" way to build a barn depends on local traditions and local materials. Around here, it is ether a pole barn constructed from standing timber like a log home, or a driven post and beam barn, (18" posts consiting of local timber, bottom treated with wood preservative, buried 5 feet in post holes, sheathed with 2' wide locally sawn planks lag bolted to the posts. For example, I have two barns, one for horses, one for "livestock", (really just peoples former pets and assorted characters living out their retirement in comfort). The horse barn in on the edge of a 1 acre corral, the livestock barn on the edge of a 10 acre fenced cross section. Both barns have concrete foundations and concrete floors. Entrance, Passage, stall gates and stall size are set up so that I can clean out the waste and soiled bedding with the Skidsteer. There is a central channel leading to a 3" drain and slurry pond, and a 2" water line, so that the walls and concrete floor can be hosed down clean and sterilised. For bedding, from the local Horse shop, I have gotten one inch thick 4 x 8 compressed rubber mats which line the stalls, overtop wood chips and straw are spread. As a result, cleaning all the stalls in both barns, washing the walls and sterilising the barns are a one person, one day chore, ( including loading the waste in the compost bins). The barns get cleaned out quite regularly, every couple of weeks in summer, every week in winter. You could use rammed earth or a floor instead of concrete, ( a 1:3 or 1:4 ratio of cement, rototilled into the dirt, dampened, leveled and compressed with a vibratory plate compactor). The horse barn is 24 x 24 x 12 high, with a 16 foot loft for hay and feed storage. The walls are 2 x 6 studded on 24" centers, R22 insulated, (gets cold here), sheathed on the exterior with patterned OSB panels, primed and stained, sheathed on the inside with unpatterned OSB stained white. Stalls measure 8 x 8 with 4 x 4 picket sides and a 8' galvansied economy gate. There are 4 stalls on each side with a 8 foot central isle. The hay loft has an 8 x 8 trapdoor in the center providing access from inside the barn, and at the rear, a 6 x 6 door providing access from outside. Also in the hay lofts are a 6" x 8" Barn Owl entrance. Entrance to the barn is through a 12 x 12 tack room, dressing room, where the horses can be groomed, examined, bridled and saddled and the gear can be stored on the walls leaving the floor space open. Each stall has one double pane 4 x 5 foot sash window, and the east wall of the tack room has the door, and two 2 x 4 windows. The south wall has 3 4 x 5 windows. Inside the barn, at the other end, is another sliding door providing rear access to the barn. We currently have one colt, two riding horses and three dog food horses living with us. The livestock barn is similar, except the stall sizes are different. 4 8 x8 stalls line one side, 8 4 x8 stalls line the other. The cow gets an 8 x 8 stall, the two pigs share a 8 x 8 stall, 3 goats share one 8 x 8 stall, 2 other goats have individual stalls, 2 sheep share a 4 x 8 stall, with 4 sheep total in the barn, and the lamma has the last 8 x 8 stall. Unless ill, injured or nasty weather, everybody spends the day outside in the fresh air, and gets called to the barn at sundown. Pretty sad actually, clearing out beetle killed pine in a manly man way, chainsaw, axes and everything, followed around by a mangy pack of animals looking for affection, treats or just to hang around with me and the dogs. Sad thing is, the Belgan Shepard is nuts about fetch, and so is one of the pigs. I am working hard on getting them to take turns, as open competition is not fair to the pig, but then, I have been doing that for three years now to little success.

I currently have 16 pullets and 2 cockerels--3 1/2 month old Australorps)in an 8' square 3' tall chicken tractor and 15 layers in a second one. I move them by lifting one side with a hand truck and sliding 3 lengths of PVC pipe each under the parallel sides pointing in the direction I wish to move. One piece of PVC is at the leading edge, the second is in the middle and the last is 3/4 back from the leading edge. Then I lean into the side and push the whole business one 8' length onto new grass. When the tractor rolls off the rear pieces of PVC, I place them in the front. My yard is fairly smooth so it's no big deal to move them on a daily basis. The only difficulty is when the ground is extremely soft from rain or when the grass at the leading edge is too long. The chickens do a good job of tearing up the sod but if rain is adequate, the droppings break up quickly and the grass starts to grow again almost immediately--to the point that you can't tell the tractor was there a week later. I have about a month's worth of spaces for each tractor so creating a "hot environment" isn't a problem EXCEPT when we don't get rain like this past July and August. There is no reason why it shouldn't work. Just be sure the ground is dry enough that the chickens aren't digging in wet soil.

My SIL's town CEO and health dept visits the neighbor to see if he has complied and my understanding is that they have fined him but, the neighbor is on disability and does not have the funds to fix his septic. Apparently the whole system has to be replaced, my SIL did hers after moving in and it cost over $25,000. So, although the town is being proactive and trying to make him comply, there is a point where it does no good, because it is taking so long, which is why my sil just went ahead and bought a very powerful system that filters out pretty much everything. Changing ordinances won't do anything to the current situation because towns usually grandfather things in. For instance, I have a fence in my front yard which is against current rules but it is grandfathered in. I also wouldn't be pushing for an ordinace change since even many urban areas are allowing people to have a few chickens, but it is specified hens only and only a certain number. They eat ticks, nasty bugs, actually do alot of good. I think you would potentially have alot of people against you in your town if you started lobbying for no chickens. What about going over to the landscape design forum and asking their opinion on how you should screen that area out? They have great ideas and may have an idea to use those vines. We have vines on a back fence and they do grow like crazy. I would also think about planting some bushes or plants that smell good. Some lavender, rosemary, honeysuckle, lilacs, etc may help to combat the smell in the summer. If the chickens are not being cared for properly you could call the animal control person or county shelter or humane society. They actually have quite a bit of power and they will probably give him a list of things to "fix" and then come back and check that he has done it. I really feel for you, I hope you can figure out something that makes life more enjoyable when you are outside.