Pasure Shelter 2.0

Last year we made our own pasture shelter out of cattle panels, a tarp and some pallets. Through the winter the constant wind just totally destroyed the t-posts that were holding it upright and the posts bent.

My husband the engineer later informed me it was because they weren't true t-posts, they were garden posts and were a "U" shape which allowed them to bend. They were also cheaper.... Ah well, you live and learn and go back and overengineer the damn thing a second time.

So with the engineer husband on board to just REALLY make sure this thing is still semi-permanent but unlikely to blow over, we set about correcting the original design.

The first one was open on two sides with the cattle panels arcing over the top. Good for shade and not a three sided shelter.

We had to add some cross bracing so that if the wind blew, there would be strong enough resistance to the sheer force.

The animals are happy to be on plentiful grass, and just in time as I've run out of hay and the hay guy I called and reserved 50 with has blown me off.

I bought a few 8ft 2x4s only to discover yesterday when we went to go attach them that we had spaced the shelter to be 8 feet wide. WOMP WOMP.

Engineer husband had a great idea though. We had spare plywood in the shed and that was 8 feet long. He grabbed one full panel and a second as well. We slid the 8ft full panel on the north side closer to the fence line then cut plywood panels to overlap the plywood and the end of the pallets. My useless 2x4s became useful as an additional anchor point on the inside of the plywood so that the nice long screws wouldn't cause issues.

Voila! The structure stands once again with no slanted support! And hopefully much better wind resistance. Until our budget allows for a better run in shed, this will be serviceable and is ready for the beginning of the season of them on this pasture while I let the winter one start resting.

It felt good to get this done. We're also digging out the winter manure and spreading it in the other summer and winter pastures. It's already dry and broken down so it's being used to fill low spots and fertilize everything else. Spring is finally here!