old ranch barn

One thing I love to take photos of is old barns and old houses. If you drive through a rural area you will find old ranches and farms and the barn is the biggest and nicest building on the ranch.  A rancher learns early if he is going to survive he must provide for his animals.

Many people lived in dug outs in the hills with a rock front and had a nice barn. A barn was necessary for survival on the plains.  Even today ranches provide for their stock as they know without it they lose everything.

This old barn is at a deserted homestead near some mining areas too.  The house has almost totally fallen down, the garage area has an old car inside and the garage has fallen down on top of it.  The barn still stands, the roof looks good and the barn has some bad spots but it is till usable and hanging in there. Even the fences have mostly fallen down. Cows still go inside for shelter here.

There aren't a lot of trees to break the wind and the snow so barns became a way for animals to get out of the storm and most had a loft where they stored hay and on blizzard nights they could crawl up in the loft and throw the hay down. Much more fun then hauling it over in the storm.  Luckily most winters we don't get to much snow to feed off the truck or wagon.

I have a friend that feeds his stock the old way with a horse drawn wagon or sled depending on the weather.  The one team makes me laugh because if you feed off the little ATV or the pickup they will run around and get in front of you like they are towing you. They won't eat until you are done then they go back and eat. It is the cutest thing you ever saw.