Hello, not long ago I posted asking for suggestions and ideas about building a barn, as I am doing phase 1 on my new barn this summer. (location Montana) I’m not a new horse owner, but I’ve always had my horses at home and never have had a barn. I have another question. Does anybody have a combined feed and tack room? I would think separate would be better but I might need to combine them. This is just a barn for me and a few equines maybe a couple goats at some point)- no boarders. Thoughts?
I do and it works really well for me.
I have separate storage for hay but feed and tack are in the same room. Works fine.
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If you plan to have the hay storage in there too be prepared and keep your saddles covered and plan on dusting often. Make sure you keep you feed in metal containers so if any mice are attracted they won’t chew on tack. If worked fine for me but I’m a bit of a neat freak.
We try to have separate places for tack and feed and hay.
Even if it is only a tack locker, it is best to have the tack in a place it won’t be exposed to dust, insects and rodents that may be around where there is feed and hay.
I know plenty of people that just keep their tack in their trailers or in the house, rather than in the barn without a designated tack storage place.
We just built the tack/break/restroom/feed room.
Before that, we kept horses in the provisory barn and our tack and feed in separate spare storage rooms behind the garage.
We took any to the barn every time what we needed to feed or tack up, or led the horse to the back of the garage to saddle.
Grooming tools were in the barn and in the tack room.
We had hay stored in that provisory barn, but any other feed and tack was not staying there, no safe place for it.
If you have a choice, try to keep tack in it’s own separate place.
Then, if one room only is what you can have, then that will have to do.
Mine is combined feed/tack. Of course, I only have a max of 4 horses at home, so I don’t need a lot of space for feed. Two garbage cans and a stack of 5 bags. Oh, and supplements. I do keep a vacuum in there, and use it every few days in every nook and cranny.
Easy to keep neat and tidy. I and my kids are the only feeders.
Not sure I would do it with a larger herd, or if feeders were hired help and not neat-freaks.
What CFF said.
I have grain and supplements in one corner of my tack room, and it doesn’t take too much space away.
I do have separate hay storage (stored in outbuilding, and cart with 1-2 bales in the barn aisle). I would not want to keep hay in the tackroom because it would get everything dusty.
I have a friend with her hay along the back wall of her feed/tack room combo. She has to move tack around to allow the guys to unload and stack the hay there; it makes for tremendous dust, and it limits how much hay she can purchase at a time (only 1 ton can fit in there and still allow her room for tack and blankets).
For 2 horses, it might be fine, but if possible, I’d recommend combining just grain with the tack room, and have bulk hay storage elsewhere
I have a separate feed and tack room. The feed doesn’t take up that much space with two horses and really I could probably combine the two and be fine. But in my feed room I also keep extra buckets, bags of shavings, brooms, shovels, a ladder (nothing like lugging a ladder all over the property lol), the hot water heater. I have tools in there too so I dont have to walk out to the workshop to get some, which is nice. I guess its really more of a utility room. lol.
I have a combined feed and tack room. Hay is separate.
I also keep a pile of bagged shavings in there. Chicken supplies/feed are in there too.
It is really just the fourth stall, so a 10’x10’ space.
There are times that I wish I had a separate tack room, but that is more because Mr. Trub adds things to the room (ladder for example) and then things get crowded.
combined feed/tack, seperate building for hay and bedding. 4 cats live in the tack room so mice are not an issue
Do what you can afford and works for you. My first priority is to keep the hay separate. I would rather have one larger area for tack and feed, than two smaller areas. With only a few horses, feed shouldn’t take up that much space. I would really have loved to have a sink in the barn. I never had that, but a counter with a sink or a utility sink would be great! I know, not what you asked but just popped into my random mind.
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Thank you for all the information. Just to clarify, feed does not include hay, just sacked feed, supplements, etc.
I have a combined feed/tack room, with hay stored separately. Small barn, maximum of 3 horses here, and my room is a little smaller than a stall – I think maybe 10’x12’. The room is finished and secure so we have never had a rodent problem in it, but I am also religious about never leaving the door open. I also keep things cleaned up so there isn’t spilled feed to attract insects. I have a small fridge for carrots/apples/ground flax/beverages, and a table on one side with supplements on them and pellets/grain stored underneath. That’s the extent of the “feed” room and then the rest is tack and horse care stuff. Works for me.
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My good friend has a nice little private barn set up. She has a feed/tack room combo, and then a separate little storage building for hay and extras (tools, fencing materials, etc.). She keeps the extra feed bags in an old freezer int he storage shed, and only has a few bags of feed in a heavy duty container in the feed/tack room. Keeps the barn tidy, and reduces chance of fire by having all the “stuff” somehwere else.
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I have a combined feed/tack room and it works fine. I think this is very normal for smaller barns. I keep hay elsewhere. Dust is never an issue without the hay in there. Concentrates shouldn’t be dusty!
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same as everyone else, feed+tack in one area, hay in another, it works just fine.
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Both arrangements can work. Personally I prefer keeping the tack separate from the feed. However, if you do use one room for both feed and tack, it is important to store all grain and supplements in rodent-proof containers.
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I think this is important no matter what arrangement you have.
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Grain bags & supplement containers are in my rodent-proofed tack room.
Hay storage room has a container large enough to hold 14 gallon-size Ziploc bags. Every Sunday I mix the weeks’ feed/supplements for my 2 horses (1 on senior feed & joint sups vs 1 easy keeper on ration balancer & allergy meds & Bug-Off) to makes before/after work feedings as efficient as possible.
Three stall shed row, feed, tack, and hay in one of the stalls. Has worked fine for over 10 years.
