Alpaca Shed #2
Today's entry continues my description of our alpaca sheds, their advantages, and their disadvantages.
In the first installment of this series, I mentioned some serious drainage problems with the shed we call alpaca shed #1 also known as the metal shed. In reaction to the drainage problems with our first shed, we tried a raised floor on our second shed. This shed is a wooden structure with a plywood floor over pressure treated beams. The beams rest on blocks to raise the shed off the ground and to level the shed. A wooden ramp was constructed for access to the shed. This ramp was painted with non-skid paint.
In general, I like the wood construction much better than the metal construction. I think the overall shed is more comfortable. However, the shed is almost unusable in some months due to slip hazards and I have questions about the long-term durability of the plywood floor.
We haven't had any wear problems on the plywood floor -- yet. The floor has been painted with several layers of exterior grade latex primer, but no final paint. The primer has worn in places, but the floor is still in good condition. We have had a rubber mat on the busiest part of the floor and even though we show no wear yet, I am quite worried about the durability of the floor. The final plan for this shed is to paint the floor with a very hard and durable marine-grade paint, then put some sort of non-slip surface over the paint. Non-skid is essential because the floor is slippery when wet and alpacas do fall when they slide on this floor.
The ramp is the other major problem. It is built with pressure treated lumber, primed with exterior latex and painted with a non-skid exterior paint. The anti-skid paint works fairly well when the ramp is wet. However, when frost gets on the ramp or when mud is tracked up the ramp, the ramp is slippery and dangerous. We're very uncomfortable with the wooden ramp. We lose sleep worrying about it all winter long.
Watching an alpaca slip and fall on the wet floor is scary. Watching said alpaca then jump to his feet, slip on the ramp, fall heavily, and tangle four feet in the fence along the ramp is truly frightening. Fortunately, Percy pulled his feet out of the fence, rolled over, and walked away unharmed -- all before I could finish gasping and truly start to panic. Unfortunately, events like this are all to common when the ramp is muddy. We've been lucky so far, we're scared every time something goes bump in the night.
The third problem with shed #2 is drainage. Because we raised the floor, I didn't bother to install drainage around the shed. A wet area formed at the base of the ramp, and this wet area has been churned into ankle-deep, gooey, liquefied, mud. This mud, of course, gets tracked onto the ramp making the ramp even slipperier. Even with the raised floor, this shed needs a drainage system and a sand/gravel approach area. Ultimately, the wooden ramp into this shed needs to be replaced with a properly drained gravel/sand ramp.
All in all, I like shed #2 a lot better than shed #1 and I feel like we learned from a lot of our mistakes. Unfortunately, our attempts to avoid drainage problems led to the ramp which renders the shed unsafe in muddy or icy conditions. As I will explain in future posts, I like the raised floor in our hay shed, but I think a pole shed rather is a better design for animals.
Alpaca shed #2 from the side. Note the cement blocks supporting beams. The floor is more than knee-high on the downhill side and six or eight inches off the ground on the uphill side. Note also the ramp described in the story, the overhang on the open side, and the need for a coat (or 2 or 3) of paint.
Alpaca shed #2 showing the ramp and the floor. The pile of straw is over the mud at the base of the ramp in an attempt to maintain footing. The ramp is dry at the moment, but very slippery when wet. The black rectangle on the floor is a rubber mat.
Interior shot of alpaca shed #2. Note how wet the inside has gotten despite the raised floor. This is due to wet animals and tracked mud.
Alpaca shed #2 from the front -- the open east side. Note the slope and the longer ramp on the downhill side. The dividing wall is tall enough that adult males could shelter on one side of this shed with adult females on the other side. The structure on the right side of the shed is a chute used to confine alpacas for herd health.
In the first installment of this series, I mentioned some serious drainage problems with the shed we call alpaca shed #1 also known as the metal shed. In reaction to the drainage problems with our first shed, we tried a raised floor on our second shed. This shed is a wooden structure with a plywood floor over pressure treated beams. The beams rest on blocks to raise the shed off the ground and to level the shed. A wooden ramp was constructed for access to the shed. This ramp was painted with non-skid paint.
In general, I like the wood construction much better than the metal construction. I think the overall shed is more comfortable. However, the shed is almost unusable in some months due to slip hazards and I have questions about the long-term durability of the plywood floor.
We haven't had any wear problems on the plywood floor -- yet. The floor has been painted with several layers of exterior grade latex primer, but no final paint. The primer has worn in places, but the floor is still in good condition. We have had a rubber mat on the busiest part of the floor and even though we show no wear yet, I am quite worried about the durability of the floor. The final plan for this shed is to paint the floor with a very hard and durable marine-grade paint, then put some sort of non-slip surface over the paint. Non-skid is essential because the floor is slippery when wet and alpacas do fall when they slide on this floor.
The ramp is the other major problem. It is built with pressure treated lumber, primed with exterior latex and painted with a non-skid exterior paint. The anti-skid paint works fairly well when the ramp is wet. However, when frost gets on the ramp or when mud is tracked up the ramp, the ramp is slippery and dangerous. We're very uncomfortable with the wooden ramp. We lose sleep worrying about it all winter long.
Watching an alpaca slip and fall on the wet floor is scary. Watching said alpaca then jump to his feet, slip on the ramp, fall heavily, and tangle four feet in the fence along the ramp is truly frightening. Fortunately, Percy pulled his feet out of the fence, rolled over, and walked away unharmed -- all before I could finish gasping and truly start to panic. Unfortunately, events like this are all to common when the ramp is muddy. We've been lucky so far, we're scared every time something goes bump in the night.
The third problem with shed #2 is drainage. Because we raised the floor, I didn't bother to install drainage around the shed. A wet area formed at the base of the ramp, and this wet area has been churned into ankle-deep, gooey, liquefied, mud. This mud, of course, gets tracked onto the ramp making the ramp even slipperier. Even with the raised floor, this shed needs a drainage system and a sand/gravel approach area. Ultimately, the wooden ramp into this shed needs to be replaced with a properly drained gravel/sand ramp.
All in all, I like shed #2 a lot better than shed #1 and I feel like we learned from a lot of our mistakes. Unfortunately, our attempts to avoid drainage problems led to the ramp which renders the shed unsafe in muddy or icy conditions. As I will explain in future posts, I like the raised floor in our hay shed, but I think a pole shed rather is a better design for animals.
Alpaca shed #2 from the side. Note the cement blocks supporting beams. The floor is more than knee-high on the downhill side and six or eight inches off the ground on the uphill side. Note also the ramp described in the story, the overhang on the open side, and the need for a coat (or 2 or 3) of paint.
Alpaca shed #2 showing the ramp and the floor. The pile of straw is over the mud at the base of the ramp in an attempt to maintain footing. The ramp is dry at the moment, but very slippery when wet. The black rectangle on the floor is a rubber mat.
Interior shot of alpaca shed #2. Note how wet the inside has gotten despite the raised floor. This is due to wet animals and tracked mud.
Alpaca shed #2 from the front -- the open east side. Note the slope and the longer ramp on the downhill side. The dividing wall is tall enough that adult males could shelter on one side of this shed with adult females on the other side. The structure on the right side of the shed is a chute used to confine alpacas for herd health.
posted by Upper Alpacas | 5:25 PM
1 Comments:
Like how I ask for these pics and then don't come back for days? Sorry about that!
Thank you for posting these. About how many alpacas will fit into these? Or I guess do they like to be close together inside, or do they need personal space? We have a big horse barn and my husband thinks we can just partition a small part of it off for them and still have room for a tractor and hay, I'm not so sure. (at first, yes-we won't be buying more than 4 to begin with...)
The slipping is scary. I'm worried about them running around and slipping on walnuts and breaking a leg. Maybe goats would eat the walnuts....
Thanks a million! I'm going to send your link to my husband.
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