# Finished my Shelter Manger...



## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

ONLY took DH and me a month to do, ha ha!!
The orginal cattle manger in my Shelter adjacent to my barn was falling apart. I had REALLY enjoyed feeding from it and was tired of putting hay out on the ground, looking for the dryest spots. The project started when I finally began stripping the...um...old poo out of my 16 x 19 shelter. I started in the NW corner. After "digging my way to China", and 15 loads later I realized that not all of the floor is cement. =/
It was actually a _Good _thing bc I measured my new dimensions and put a 10yo 8" diameter fence post (that had no job since the new fencing job in 2008) in towards the corner for extra support. I put in 3 ft into the ground. Gotta LOVE my auger bc it works like a screwdriver to dig and pull up dirt. I made it 2 ft. down through the topsoil, then another foot into clay--THIS was familiar. The fencepost was one that DH and I had bought to put up some fencing in 2000. After replacing the muck with used garden soil, to level it to the height of the cement floor, then lining the floor with rubber mats and adding pine shavings, my project looked like this:







My friend had some free wooden pallets--we seem to be on a "pallet roll" with our fix-it jobs--we were off and running. We had a shallow pallet which fit nicely against the west wall. The RH recessed side was still intact. This left a gap for the sliding door to fully open, and we attached a pallet directly to it.







The pallets didn't fit evenly, so we added an ancient 2 x 8 and slid it through 3 of them--sorry no pics of this--to secure them together. I have been buying clearance wood and such from Lowe's all year. They keep the extra cut pieces that the customers don't want for a few days and trash them if nobody else wants them. I've picked up 1/8", 1/4", 1/2" and 3/4" plywood pieces for either 25 cents or a dollar (depending upon the clerk.) THIS is what built my manger. DH and I covered the front with 1/2" plywood.







Then we laid down horizontal pieces about 18" from the top to create a floating floor. Over this we laid down this white, slick 1/8" wallboard stuff--I had picked up two 4 x 8 pieces and various smaller pieces of it at Lowe's--measured to fit and laid this as a floating floor on top. We nailed and screwed same to the west and east sides and on the north facing side of the pallets.







After filing in an exposed pallet pieces we added the final touch--the ONLY piece that we had buy for this project--a 2 x 8, 12 foot board to fit on the lip. It tips slightly down towards the inside of the shelter.














You can see the original catwalk--built like a sonofagun--and I can sweep hay from the loft to the catwalk to the manger, once again. 







"Baby" Pygma approves. =D


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

Hey, check out my work!! =D


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## Fellpony (Sep 9, 2011)

That is really neat


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

One question....what is a "DH"?


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## Cacowgirl (Feb 19, 2011)

Dear Hubby


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

Very intuitive! Well done


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

Thanks!
I took some pictures of the ponies and the shelter with my new camera, a Nikon S6200. UNfortunately a few had some condensation on the lens bc of the damp cold, but you can still enjoy them.
Here is "Buster Brown" enjoying the manger. (He thinks 'cause it's in HIS shelter, and he's by himself, that he OWNS it.)







Guess I surprised him.







No...it was just me so...







back to eating.







Back INSIDE the barn...








Here is my mare, "Moon Eyes" in the old "Corporal" stall. It's the only one with a window.







"Sweet Cup&Cakes" isn't afraid to stick his head through things.







He fills the 12 x 12 stall.


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

Aww they look so happy with their new hay manger! Cute horses too!


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

Thanks--they are happy. The last 2 days we had wild NW winds from a trough around a low front. They were 30 mph gusting to 60 mph, but the ponies weren't out in it, happily. It really makes a difference to have a wooden barn bc it really insulates. I even left a bucket of water in the barn last night and it just had a 1/2" skin of ice on it, despite 16 degrees at 6 AM.
Cup&Cakes tolerates the chickens next door, in the 12 x 16 stall--LAST year, hopefully for that--but they add to the heat, too. I broke down and bought THEM a heated water bowl.







I'm still leery about using any kind of water-heater with my horses, ESPECIALY since my 2 geldings are mouthy and chew on things. (The chickens won't mess with the wire-wrapped electric cord.)


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

Corporal said:


> I'm still leery about using any kind of water-heater with my horses, ESPECIALY since my 2 geldings are mouthy and chew on things. (The chickens won't mess with the wire-wrapped electric cord.)


It might be too much trouble, but what if you built a stand to put the water trough on.. and the run the cabling through the stand.. like they do for entertainment systems?


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## MHFoundation Quarters (Feb 23, 2011)

Looks good! Love the farm girl ingenuity! We make lots of projects around here that way too. :wink:


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

Actually THAT thought had crossed my mind before. I _think_ you're suggesting heating up the base instead of putting a heater into the water? If you come across any plans I'd be very interested!! DH and I take our time with our animal building projects so we don't have anybody hurt with the materials. We have a laundry list of 2012 projects to do. *#1* is to take an outbuilding that's falling apart at the base and rebuild it for my chicken's coop. Here is the 7 x 8 (approximately) building:







_(NOT the best shot, but you get the picture bc the house is purple!)_ The roof is in great shape, but we're already stripped the windows out. Once we remove the roof we're going to take it apart, catalog the pieces (take pictures, print and mark them) then rebuild or replace damaged pieces. We have REALLY learned a lot from the projects we're done in the last few years. I've learned to start collecting materials early for my projects. I'm redoing 4 raised garden beds and I don't want to be spending my free time driving around getting wood when I wake up to a warm, dry day to build.
I've also learned the my DH has some excellent ideas, despite the fact that he is NOT a professional builder.


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

I _wish_ I had plans.. I have a very creative mind but no ways of bringing it together. Maybe someone else does?

I think that chicken coop transforming is VERY possible. And it shouldn't be too hard as long as you have a solid plan  Good luck with all of the projects!


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