Hay loft questions, windows/vents

[CrockpotGodess]

We are getting two mini's end of March. We are building a gambrel roofed shed w loft so we can store hay. We have not settled on the size yet. We looked at a 10 by 12 w a loft approx 1/3 the floor space of the shed. We thought we would make the loft larger, maybe L shaped for more storage space. We plan on windows or vents on each side of the upper walls for air flow. (Not sure how big)

This is the first time we would care for animals who need hay. I have read a lot on the animal care, housing, emergency care etc. A lot of hay info has been found in the quest to learn but not the basics of storing etc. I have read a lot about barn fires too.

What are good rules in hay storage? ( I know not wet moldy etc) My husband was asking if we should make a second unit for hay storage. Like a hoop house. And put a month or so in w goats in loft etc. OR we could just use loft and make plenty of ventilation. Major factor too is the goat mini barn will be quite aways from the drive way. He mentioned putting it in back of double garage. And using wheel barrel to bring out some every month. I just dont know if I want to sacrifice that sector of the garage. It is my work shop. Looking forward to getting feed out of it as it is.
I could put a storage area to the left of garage. And ferry some over to goats.

You guys are so great I thought of you immediately to ask.

Live in NH, concern for mice and chickmunks etc

 

[Latestarter]

I stack mine on pallets, outdoors, against the back wall (East facing, prevailing weather winds come from the west) of my storage bldg. The pallets are doubled up and the whole stack is covered with a tarp with 2x4s holding the tarp up off the hay for breathing space.

 

[CrockpotGodess]

Any general guide lines for storing hay. Like only so many high. So many inches apart. Etc. Is outside generally better. Like a hoop frame for rain cover but open for air?

 

[Latestarter]

Well, mine is/was stacked 2 high on double stacked pallets for more ground clearance to avoid wicking. I laid lengths of 2x4 across the top to keep the tarp from contacting the hay. I had hoped to avoid condensation. I went out today and found mold growing on the top of a bail where condensation had run down the 2x4 into the hay. Gonna have to rethink my storage and come up with a better solution. After almost 2 weeks of solid rain (over 10") the hay got wet, started to mold, and when I broke into the bale mentioned, it had begun to heat.

 

[CrockpotGodess]

Thanks. I am really trying to research as much as I can. I can store in a section in barn, some outdoors, and we are building a loft portion. But no clue what we are doing. First livestock animals, except chickens, for me. Have a vet tech background, so that whole area seems easier to absorb.

 

[Mike CHS]

We store hay in a lean-to on our garden shed that holds about 150 bales. This doesn't help you but our best storage facility is for our alfalfa. We have a stock trailer that was damaged in a tornado that we store our alfalfa in. We have tarps all over the top and it seals very well but only holds 50 bales.

 

[greybeard]

Any general guide lines for storing hay. Like only so many high. So many inches apart. Etc. Is outside generally better. Like a hoop frame for rain cover but open for air?

I've seen it stacked higher than a front end loader could reach, tight as it could be stacked.
I see it around here, stacked inside 18 wheeler box trailers as tight as can be wedged in, and the door open only when a customer wants one or 2 out of it.

The key, is that the forage is cut at the proper time, and dried in the field BEFORE it gets baled & stored.

Not saying they no longer happen at all, but with today's modern raking & tedding equipment and knowledge, spontaneous combustion hay fires are very rare.

I never tarp my hay tight..round or sq bales. Cover it with a tarp like a pup tent if you don't have the means to store it inside. Fresh air circulation is a mold killer and preventer.

 

[Bruce]

and when I broke into the bale mentioned, it had begun to heat.

How many bales will you need to store @CrockpotGodess ?? I would imagine that would lead you to a storage solution. My small amount of hay is stored in an OLD barn, plenty of airflow through the barn. It is stacked fairly tightly on a long pallet which is sitting on the wooden drive bay which is over open space over dirt. It is covered with a breathable fabric to keep the wild bird poop off it. I move about 4 bales at a time down to the stall by the Alpacas' area of the barn alley. They don't eat much so I only have to do that maybe once a month. At the moment they are hardly eating any hay, they are somehow finding enough out in the pasture now that the snow melted. Don't see how though, doesn't look like anything out there other than really dead grass, the hay still has some green and "hay smell" to it.

Oh and where do you live? Please put that in your profile. Never mind, I remembered you had it in your first post. Still good to put in the profile though
Are you likely to get humidity up under the roof of your storage area? We don't seem to have that here but others have posted they have humidity dripping off the underside of an open carport roof. That has to make it hard to keep the hay dry when you can't cover it tightly, nor loosely!

 

[CrockpotGodess]

Think we settled on an 8 by 12 mini barn/shed. With a loft up in the gambrel roof. Going to put plywood sheathing on roof first. Deciding on metal or shingle roof, and vents, windows, etc now

I saw information on metal roofs just put on studs cause condensation.

I am like wow, no matter how much I read I still have 80 I dont know answers... later after the initial build we are going to add a lean to on one side. Not sure what shape I want the loft or set up inside. But I know I want to try to set it up so hay is kept dry. That is the extent of my knowledge

 

[Bruce]

I saw information on metal roofs just put on studs cause condensation.

That would make sense, at least certain times of the year. Humid air contacts cold metal -> condensation. If not immediately, when the sun hits the metal and melts the frost that collected up under the roof.