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| I don't think that solid sides in a hoop building are as big of a concern as you think. If you ventilate your barn well the fat lambs aren't going to be any better off with open sides.
On the flip side, if you plan on lambing in the winter, unless you have well sealed solid curtains you're going to have drafts, which, as you know, are about the worst thing on lambs, especially newborns. If you use woven fabric, depending on the wind block factor, it's either going to be drafty in winter or so-so in the summer.
Another consideration is that with open sides as the rain comes off the roof it is going to be pulled inside the building by the natural air flow of the hoop building, unless you go with gutters - one more expense.
I have 4 foot solid walls with a 1 foot opening on top covered by regular fly screen. The roof cover ends below the opening and this works fine to keep the rain out and break the wind, but it still has plenty of air flow. If you have doors at the ends that you can leave open in summer and close when it's cold and/or windy, and you have well sized vents at the roof peak, the ventilation will be more than adequate year round.
Another concern for me with soft walls is that I have sheep grazing outside the barn walls and I know that if I had anything less than a solid wall they would have it destroyed. | |
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What to use for sides on hoop buildings
