Jun. 23, 2025
Agricultural buildings are very important to the successful operation of farms and ranches, and they deserve careful attention when it comes to managing energy expenses. The best time to incorporate energy efficiency that will yield the highest savings and the lowest operating costs is during the design and construction phase. Unfortunately, energy efficiency is often ignored when farm buildings are constructed. Energy efficient building design involves the selection of appropriate energy efficient materials and equipment, and addresses the layout and orientation of the building in a way that is intrinsically energy efficient.
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Farmers should resist the urge to reduce construction costs by eliminating proven energy efficient equipment and designs. This almost always lowers a farm’s profitability in the long run. There are many improvements that can be made to existing farm buildings that will increase the energy efficiency of the building.
Probably the best advice when it comes to farm building energy efficiency is to utilize the services of a qualified energy specialist and a farmstead planner to review your building plans and make recommendations, whether they are for new construction or existing facilities. Having efficient material and traffic flows in and around the farmstead can improve labor as well as energy efficiency. In addition to that, it pays to understand some of the common ways that you can make your farm buildings more energy efficient.
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Summer Kitchen: A Summer Kitchen is a small, rectangular, usually gable-roofed building used for cooking and located close to the farmhouse. Summer kitchens kept the heat and smells from cooking and food processing out of the living quarters. Highly productive farms led to greater food diversification and the need for ample space for pickling, canning, drying and smoking. While detached kitchens have been a European cultural practice for centuries, the term "Summer Kitchen" came into common use in Pennsylvania in the mid-19th century and remaining examples date mostly from to circa period. The term is also associated with PA German culture but is not used exclusively in that context. Summer Kitchens have chimney or stovepipe, cookstove and abundant windows to permit natural light into the workspace. They are most frequently built of frame, but can also be of stone, brick or log. Some feature a cupola with a dinner bell on the roof ridge or an attached bake oven adjacent to the chimney.
Corn Crib: A Corn Crib is a small storage facility for holding and drying ears of field corn which is used for animal feed. It may be a standalone structure or attached to another building. Wood is the most common construction material, but some earlier log examples can be found. Corn Cribs are constructed with open horizontal slats for ventilation and a raised wood floor for protection from rodents. Flared keystone shaped Corn Cribs are common with slanted sides to shed water and prevent the corn from settling on the bottom. Once machine-milled, beveled boards became available, corn cribs tended to feature straight, not flared sides. Hatches in the roof were used for the filling of Corn Cribs and doors at the bottom of the cribs were used for unloading. Wire mesh on the interior provided added protection from vermin. When incorporated into the design of another building, Corn Cribs usually appear as shed roof extensions.
Manufactured corn cribs were produced in the early 20th century, but not during World War II due to metal shortages. After the war, round metal cribs with conical roofs became popular again. In the mid-s technological advances made Corn Cribs less common, utilizing combines to shell corn in the field. Corn cribs can be found throughout the state, but they are more common in the North and West Branch Region and the Central Limestone Valleys Region. Corn Cribs found in the Norther Tier Grasslands Region tend to be of later date since field corn was not grown there until modern hybrids became available. Corn Cribs signify the high importance of field corn in a diversified grain and livestock economy.
Silo: A Silo is a tall cylindrical structure that holds fresh organic matter for winter animal feed. It is filled with shredded or chopped grass, corn or other plant material which ferments into a highly nutritious feed. Silage feed resulted in a significant productivity increase for dairy cows and allowed farms to add to their herd of animals. Silos came into widespread use in the late 19th century with the rise in expanded dairying.
Early silos were rectangular and of wood construction and sometimes placed inside the barn. Round cylindrical silos located outside the barn soon became more widespread in use. Silos were filled from access doors at the top and unloaded from tier of doors reached with a ladder so that silage could be dropped down an exterior chute. Silos were constructed of wood, occasionally of stone and more commonly of special curved brick, hollow tile, galvanized iron and interlocking rings of poured concrete. Cement staves became popular after their invention in because they were durable and allowed the silo to be a taller, perfectly round airtight cylinder for tightly packed grain. Concrete was the most popular material for silos until the development of Harvestore glass fused to steel tank silos in the later half of the 20th century.
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In recent years horizontal, not vertical silos have also been created in concrete lined pits covered with plastic.
Outhouse or Privy: An Outhouse or Privy is a tall narrow building usually with a square footprint built over an excavated pit to collect human waste. Once the pit was filled, the Privy building was moved. Most Outhouses were constructed of wood frame and located to the rear of the main house. Accessed by a front façade door, Outhouses often had a vent of small window for light and ventilation. While single or double seat outhouses are most common, some farms had had more. As Privies were necessary everywhere prior to the development of sewer and septic systems, outhouses can be found across the state and continued to be built and used into the 20th century. Occasionally, Outhouses would be embellished with architectural trim.
Hog House: The Hog House or Pig Sty, Swine House, Piggery or Hog Pen is a separate building for housing hogs. Generally, it is small low building with individual pens for each animal and openings from those pens into an outdoor yard. The feed aisle is located behind the pens and accessed by a gable end door. Hog Houses were often located facing south on the forebay or eave side of the barn, between the barn and the house. Sometimes the area above the hog pens was used for either a hen nesting area or for the storage of feed.
Hog Houses can be found throughout the state, but are more common in the southeast, central and western regions. This reflects the importance of hogs and corn within the context of diversified farming. In the North and West Branch region, pork production was geared to local markets. In other regions the Hog House seems to reflect more family use and limited market production. I dairy areas the Hog House was sometimes a complement to the dairying economy since hogs could be fed buttermilk or whey. Kitchen scraps and milk were often fed to the hogs with women and children responsible for the feeding.
Poultry House: Poultry Houses or Chicken Houses or Hen Houses provide shelter primarily for chickens, but less frequently for turkeys or ducks for the production of eggs or meat. Historically they were almost always of frame construction with numerous windows across on the eave side to provide light. Small, hinged access door and ramps allow the birds to move in and out of the house. Poultry Houses were usually located between the house and barn, especially for earlier structures.
Over time Poultry Houses were moved farther away from the house. Perches and nesting boxes are provided inside "layer houses" for chickens producing eggs, but not in "broiler houses" for chickens raised for meat. Most remaining Poultry Houses in Pennsylvania date from no earlier than the turn of the 20th century. Older Poultry Houses are smaller, made of wood, not concrete, and located closer to the house. They can be found in all agricultural regions of the state and there are few regional differences in design. Other farm outbuildings are frequently converted to poultry raising and this is often visible due to the creation of new windows in buildings that previously had none located there.
The prevalence of Poultry Houses and the increase in size illustrates the rising significance of poultry in the farm economy. Even in the 19th century, flock size was well above state averages in the North and West branch Susquehanna Region and in the Northern Tier. Poultry raising was also important in the southeast and in areas with good transportation to large metropolitan areas. The Cocolamus Valley in Juniata County became known for hatcheries and poultry production in the mid-20th century. Traditionally, women tended the poultry on the farm until sometime after , when poultry became a larger operation and men became more involved.
Brooder Houses are small, almost square buildings for the hatching of chicks which were often heated by stoves evidenced by a chimney or stove pipe extending from the roof. They are located close to the farmhouse to facilitate constant tending, usually by farm women. "Peeps" or chicks would be gathered from a hatchery and cared for in the Brooder House.
Colony Houses are small, portable shelters for young, free range pullets who were not confined in a Poultry House. Very few examples of old Colony Houses remain in Pennsylvania.
Hatcheries are buildings specifically constructed to provide a warm place for the hatching of eggs into chicks.
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