O So New Stall Project

[O So]

I don't know if you have a TSC close, but here's what they have available in mats:

http://www.tractorsu...rubber-matting/

I'd love to have some mats in my stalls, but its not in the budget, and the dirt floor is ok for now.

The closest one to me is the Woodland one. It is about 30 miles give or take. If my local feed store is more then 40 bucks a piece for the 4x6 mats, I may have to take a drive! LOL

Thanks for the link!!

 

[chandab]

The closest one to me is the Woodland one. It is about 30 miles give or take. If my local feed store is more then 40 bucks a piece for the 4x6 mats, I may have to take a drive! LOL

Thanks for the link!!

If its not some place you get to regularly, I'd call first to see if they have them in stock, so you don't waste a trip.

 

[O So]

We are getting there!!

I'm hoping to have it ready for O So tomorrow. Well, all except the rubber mats. I will have to wait till after the 1st. I think the feed store is closed that day.

Here are some pics of our progress today.

The start of the first wall. Hubby is doing it different then what I planned, but as long as it comes out safe and sturdy, I am ok with it!

Hubby cutting the hole for the door.

Here you can see the door with some plywood pieces on it. We attached the plywood to the existing outside boards of the garage. Tomorrow we will cut around the plywood and then cut the door in half. That way I can leave the top open for O So to look outside if I want. Also, when the door is closed, it will look pretty much like there is no door from the outside.

This is where we left off for the night. Tomorrow we will hopefully finish it. We have to cut the door out and hinge it, then put the other sides wall up. After the walls are all up all we need to do is hang the plywood that will line the whole stall. Oh, and we need to make the inside door. That shouldn't take long though.

I probably won't hang is feeder in there till after the 1st. I don't want to move it to far away from his water and I still need to go get a water container and hook or something for the stall. So he will basically be able to just go in and out of his new room all he wants the first day or maybe 2.

I will update again once we make more progress!

 

[LindaL]

Just a quick question...what happens when you get O So a buddy?? lol

 

[O So]

Just a quick question...what happens when you get O So a buddy?? lol

Guess I would have to get less picky on what I keep and clean the other side of the garage! LOL

 

[O So]

We are hard at work on O So's stall again, but had to take a break, hubby had to go on a tow. I figured I would come in and do a fast update while he is gone.

I'm kind of excited, we got the door done for the outside!!!

Here is a pic from the outside. It's not all the way closed here but you can see what it will look like when it is! I still need to ad the trim though. I figured I would trim it with white boards later.

Here it is with half of it open. Oh, and we still need to replace the broken board at the bottom of the door. It was just to rotten. It's an old garage!

Unfinished view from the inside. Kind of blurry. I guess I should go get my normal camera instead of my phone.

O So checking it out and doing his first nibble job on the door.

We were in the process of cutting and placing the plywood on the walls when hubby had to leave for the tow. So it looks like we might just get it finished today and O So just might be able to go inside tonight!

I do have to rethink my food and water placement. I wanted them on the wall of the bird cage, but I didn't think about the bird nesting box right above them. The birds knock out a lot of wood shavings, which in turn would fall into O So's food and water. So now I am thinking of putting the water just to the right of the outside doorway. The hay would be on the new wall we are building. Either that or I could possibly put a piece of plywood on the bottom of the next box to catch the shavings. Then I could just go sweep them off when I clean O So's stall. I will have to figure out something soon! LOL

Will update later tonight!

 

[weerunner]

I'm really enjoying watching your progress. You must be very excited to have a nice warm inside place for O So. I know I just love the new stalls my hubby and I built this year when we got full to the brim in my barn. New stalls are so much fun and filling them is fun too.

Keep us updated, I'm waiting patiently.

 

[O So]

Well, O So gets to spend his first night in his new stall!

That is if he wants to. LOL It not completely finished yet, but it is open for him to go into.

Here are some more pics. Putting in the plywood.

Plywood up on 3 walls.

4th wall built and inside door put on.

Inside the stall. Still need to hang Hay/grain feeder and get a water container. Dad suggested the automatic kind. He sent me a link to one and I liked it so we are going to go look for one tomorrow.

O So coming inside for the first time.

Continued next post. Went over pic limit......

 

[O So]

Wet horse!

The door is a bit taller then I wanted, but I can always cut more off later!

O So licking his lolly pop!



Finally a pic of all his tack hung up!

So, what is left to do is: Install hay feeder, water dish, salt blocks. I need to go to the feed store tomorrow to price and hopefully buy the rubber mats. Then once they are in I can spread the shavings out and he will be all set! I am hoping I will have final pics tomorrow.

I have another question. I currently have red heat lamps in my macaw cages ( O So won't get any warmth from them or much light either). I was wondering if I should put a red lamp in the main part of the garage, to give O So some light. Not so much heat, but mainly for some light. Do you guy's have lights in your barns that stay on at night?

 

[targetsmom]

OK, I joined this late and did not read every post, so I could very well be wrong... But I would be concerned if you are storing O So's grain in those garbage cans right outside the stall. If so, that (to me) is a disaster waiting to happen, as he would only need to open the stall door - or have someone not shut it properly and he could get into the grain and overeat. Forgive me if I am wrong about the grain being stored there but there are too many forum posts about "my minis got loose and into the grain...". I would store the grain somewhere where he cannot possibly get to it if he gets loose and/or you forget to lock something.

I am happy to see that he goes in there - I have had horses who were used to run-ins that refused to go in a stall no matter how bad the weather was! I also admire your initiative and energy!

 

[Little Hooves]

This is so amazing! Very admirable and I like all the hard work you put into it for your little guy.

It looks so GREAT that I couldn't believe you started out from the first photo.

I would have been overwhelmed, but you kept chugging along. Excellent! Good job! O So must be "oh, so" happy

 

[O So]

OK, I joined this late and did not read every post, so I could very well be wrong... But I would be concerned if you are storing O So's grain in those garbage cans right outside the stall. If so, that (to me) is a disaster waiting to happen, as he would only need to open the stall door - or have someone not shut it properly and he could get into the grain and overeat. Forgive me if I am wrong about the grain being stored there but there are too many forum posts about "my minis got loose and into the grain...". I would store the grain somewhere where he cannot possibly get to it if he gets loose and/or you forget to lock something.

I am happy to see that he goes in there - I have had horses who were used to run-ins that refused to go in a stall no matter how bad the weather was! I also admire your initiative and energy!

Thanks for the concern, but there isn't much I can do with his feed or the chickens feed. Bout the only thing I could do is store them under the carport but I think that would be to damp for the food. As far as forgetting to latch to door, there isn't much concern on that. Only time I will need to unlatch it is to deep clean the stall. I climb over the door right now. That and you won't need to open it to feed him because the feeder will be close enough to just toss the hay and grain in from the outside of the stall.

I guess the only thing I could do is get all metal cans and try to do a latch system on them. I only have the one garage on that side of the property and the lawn mower shed is just to far to go for food every day. I also don't have the room to put another shed up. If I did, I would have put a nice little shed up for O So's stall, instead of using my garage!

 

[chandab]

The door is a bit taller then I wanted, but I can always cut more off later!

You could also cut a "V" in the center to lower part of the door low enough for him to look out easier.

 

[O So]

You could also cut a "V" in the center to lower part of the door low enough for him to look out easier.

That is a good idea! That way he can't reach his food buckets on the side of the door.

 

[O So]

This is so amazing! Very admirable and I like all the hard work you put into it for your little guy.

It looks so GREAT that I couldn't believe you started out from the first photo.

I would have been overwhelmed, but you kept chugging along. Excellent! Good job! O So must be "oh, so" happy

Thanks. I am really happy I kept going. And only in about a weeks time! I didn't think I was going to get that much 'junk' out of the garage that fast.

I was also happy that hubby was willing to take time off of his project that he just started last weekend, to help me this weekend. I only need him to help me hang the water and food dishes now and then he can go back to his project! LOL Thing is, his project is another one for me too. We bought a 29 Ford pick up for me about 3 years ago. He tore it apart to rebuild it, but then stopped. He just started on it again last weekend. I'm kind of excited about it too. It will be my truck to go get my hay in.

I will share a pic of it too, once I get my phone handy again! LOL

 

[sdust]

As for the storing of your feed, PetsMart has dog food containers that are air tight with a screw on lid, that hold 50 pounds. They cost a bit more but your food is safe, other than from bears! Yes, I have had one container draged off by a black bear and destroyed because I was lazy, filled up the container with dog food and left it out side my door for the night! These are tough containers and I never thought it would be an issue.

 

[AnnaC]

I just want to add my congratulations - what you have done with your garage for O So is brilliant - he's one very lucky little boy!

Anna

 

[wcr]

As far as the grain cans, you could bungee from handle to handle on the sides through the top handle and they would be secure. I am sure you will keep an eye on O So at first to see what he gets into. I find it amazing what horses can and will get into even with the best of care.

 

[O So]

Today we finally have it finished! We made it to the feed store and I bought 2 5x7 3/4 inch mats. Also made it to Harbor Freight to buy the waterer my Dad suggested to me! I say it is done, but I don't think any of my projects are ever done. LOL I will always be trying to find ways to make it better or more convenient. For now though it is done as far as O So being able to live in it.

Here are the final pics.

2 5x7 mats pretty much took up the whole stall. Only about 6 inches not covered.

Got the feeder installed. As you can see it is close to the door so there is no reason to have to open it. I can toss the hay and grain in from the outside of the stall.

Moved the salt blocks in. I will probably buy a block holder later down the line. For now I have another rubber mat so it will help protect the expensive mats. LOL

I forgot to buy more shavings when I was at the feed store so I only had enough to fill the corner of the stall.

Finally, we have the water installed. It is a bit higher then I wanted it, but O So can still drink with no problem. I showed hubby where I wanted it, he put it where I didn't. lol

Tonight will be the first night that I will lock O So in. I am going to leave the top door to the outside open for now. Least he can look out. I put some toys in the stall to hopefully help on boredom throughout the night.

Right now I'm not sure how much I will actually lock him in. I am thinking I will lock him in when it is raining, but only at night. If it is a dry night, I will let him have his freedom. I may lock him up when it gets below freezing too. That doesn't happen to much here, so I won't be locking him up to much for that.

 

[wrs]

You did a great job.