Who needs a barn?

We have two buildings on our little 12 acres. One is our house; the other is a small shed in which we store the lawn mower, weed eaters, chainsaws, etc. There is nothing in the 1.5ish acres I fenced in for pasture. So what to do for the sheep? They certainly need a reliable shade source to provide relief from the unforgiving summer sun. Here is my solution.

First, I gathered my indispensable post driver. I used this fabulous tool to put up all my fence posts; it seems I am grabbing it to pound in a T post or two at least once a week.

I chose this little piece of bare dirt on purpose. The girls scratched (hooved?) the grass away under the structure in its previous location. I assume the bare earth is cooler. Anyway, I thought I'd save them some work by building their shade source on bare ground.

I place the posts in a rectangle, about 2' x 7' -ish.

Then comes the "hog" panel. Tractor Supply Company defines hog panels as 3' and cattle panels as 5' (if you go to purchase any), but this is a hog panel to me. This panel is 5' x 16'.  It helps to have a helping hand with this step. I never do and I'm always afraid the panel is going to whip back and gouge my arm or face.

I anchor the panel to the posts with one of my favorite tools - zip ties!

Next comes the tarp and it gets anchored the same way.

And we have an easy, cheap, portable, reusable shade source! I probably should have straightened the tarp, but it was really hot this morning. I used a 10' x 12' tarp. The trick is getting the tarp tight. If it has slack, the livestock won't appreciate it rustling in the wind, not to mention it will probably get blown off in a storm. And yes, this shelter has stood the test of storms and performed admirably. I purposely left a gap at the back so the sheep will benefit from the summer breezes we almost always have on the hilltop.

The sheep enjoy their shade and scratching center.

And cost? rough numbers here: The hog panels are about $30 a piece, T posts about $3, the tarp was about $15, zip ties are pennies. So we have this nice little shelter for approximately $60, not including time or the cost of tools. Not bad at all.

I would guess this could withstand Ohio winters, but I plan to build a straw bale structure for my girls. The winter winds can be pretty vicious up here.