The disadvantages of the round dairy barn are, that it cannot be
enlarged by building on as readily as can the rectangular form, but as
the round barn may be built higher to the eaves than a rectangular barn
36 feet wide, provision can be made for the growth of the herd by
building so as to put cows in the second story and still leave
sufficient mow room for hay.
The objection is frequently raised that a round barn is difficult to
light. This difficulty is entirely overcome in a barn 90 feet or less in
diameter, if a sufficient number of properly spaced windows are used.
See Figs. 4 and 30. With the same number of windows, the light is more
evenly distributed in a round barn and the sun can shine directly into
some portion at all hours of the day during the winter.
[Illustration: FIG. 12. FIRST STORY WALL, AND FOUNDATION FOR SILO, FEED
ALLEY, AND MANGER; SILL IN PLACE, READY FOR JOISTS AND STUDS.]
The objection has been raised that rectangular objects cannot be placed
in a circle without a waste of space, but this does not apply to a dairy
barn, as the storage of hay and grain depends upon cubical content,
alone, and silos should always be circular, no matter where built. Cows,
when lying down, are decidedly wedge-shaped, requiring much less space
in front than behind. The objection may be raised, with round barns
large enough for two rows of cows, that the row headed out does not use
the space as economically as in the rectangular form, because a cow
needs more width at the rear of the platform than at the manger. Where
there are two rows of cows, the inner row is usually headed out, and as
only about one-third of the cows are in this row, this loss of space is
counterbalanced by the large number of cows in the outer circle using
the space more economically than they do in the rectangular barn.
Box stalls cannot be as conveniently arranged, but in a one-row barn,
gates hung on the outside and swung around to the manger, form stalls
for cows at freshening time, and in a barn with two rows, box stalls can
be arranged in the inner circle.