D4—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 13,1981
VPI young stock barn pleases Lebanon dairyman
BY SHEILA MILLER
NEWMANSTOWN - Ever since
Extension Agent Newton Bair
advised John Oberholtzer that his
old limestone barn (bmlt before
the American Revolutionary War)
should come down, the Lebanon
County dairy farmer has been
planning his new heifer barn. And,
this April, his ideas materialized m
the form of a modem Virginia
Polytechic Institute design.
Oberholtzer confesses his idea
for the barn was not an original,
for he had seen one budt last fall on
a farm near Klemfeltersville.
“The beauty part of this barn is
the ventilation and the fact that not
a lot of bedding has to be used,”
says Oberholtzer in describing his
latest building addition. “I’m
really pleased.”
The open-fronted building is
designed to allow the sun to shine
into the heifer pens the painted
tin roof is pitched toward the back.
The back wall, constructed out of
regular saw lumber, features
ventilation panels that can be
opened or closed using a manual
winch.
The floor of each pen is sloped
from back to front to allow urme
and any water to dram to a central
alley between the bam and feed
bunk. And, each pen is equipped
with a heated, automatic waterer.
A roof covering the feed bunk is
also pitched, and allows any ram
water to run off on the outside of
the building area, keeping excess
water out of the alley way where
manure collects. The alley is also
on grade so that the manure can
dram to a pit located at the end of
the building.
One of the features of the feed
bunk that Oberholtzer says he is
well pleased with is the convertible
head gates that double as feed
trough bars. He has two sizes
See design plans on page D 6
Each of the six pens has a sloping floor which
allows urine and water to drain to the central
aisle. Oberholtzer points out the stalls should
be bedded with peanut shells, sawdust, or
finestraw. Baled straw, he emphasizes won’t
work down.
one tor small calves on the upper
end and ones for bigger heifers and
cows at the other end of the trough.
Oberholtzer claims he can’t beat
the way he can “take a calf fast”
now to tag, dehorn, and vaccinate,
where before handling even a
small calf was quite a job.
Oberholtzer recalls how the barn
was built by a four-man carpenter
crew in a matter of 10 days.
“It went up fast,” he says,
pointing out the carpenter, J Elvm
Horst, of Newmanstown took pride
in his work.
Reviewmg the building expenses
Oberholtzer says the cost for
concrete, cement block, sand, and
mortar came to about $2,200, with
both the treated and saw lumber
costing just over $3,300. Roofing,
siding, trim and hardware for the
bunk and barn came to about $1,700
with labor amounting to just over
$2,300.
Oberholtzer says the new barn
will hold as many head as his old
bank barn, with 7 or 8 heifers per
pen. The particular barn design he
followed called for six pens.
“You don’t want to crowd the
animals,” Oberholtzer points out,
“or you’re defeating what you’re
after m the first place. When you
put too many m a pen, they’ll be
stunted and you could wind up with
pneumonia.
According to Oberholtzer,
there’s nothing better to raise
healthy calves than fresh air and
sunshine.
“When 1 first saw the building”,
he recalls, “I thought it looked
sloppy, but all the cattle looked
good and healthy. Then, I wouldn’t
have given a nickel for the bam,
but I kept watching the calves
grow without any trouble. So, I
decided to build one. It’s the most
economical and healthiest building
you can put up for the cost.”
Scrapings are pushed off the center aisle blocks four high. John Oberholtzer,
into this 14’ x 16’ manure pit. A grooved Newmanstown, who designed the pit himself,
concrete ramp leads down onto the poured sa y S jt is not to be used for long-term storage
concrete floor. The sidewalls are concrete will be f luledr
The end pens are equipped with hardware jrs an easier task. Oberholtzer
that converts into head gates which makes stresses the trough width be made to allow the
tagging, dehorning, vaccinating, and breeding small calves reach the feed
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A hand-winch lowers four wooden panels at
the backside of the stalls to allow good ven
tilation. Says Oberholtzer, he opens them
according to the weather if it’s cold and
damp, the panels are closed to prevent any
drafts over the heifers.
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