The Alleyway
Between the wall and the 6-inch board tamp in sufficient gravel to even off all irregularities in the ground surface and to allow the building of a 5-inch thickness of floor, sloping ½ inch from the wall toward the gutter. Mix the concrete 1: 2½: 5, tamp into place, and finish the surface with a wooden float and a wire brush. The roughened surface thus produced gives the cows a good footing.
The Stall Floor
With the alley finished, begin the construction of the floor of the stalls proper. For the average sized cow, the usual length of stall is 4 feet 8 inches from stanchion to drop gutter and the width is 3 feet 6 inches. The stall floor should slope not less than ½ inch toward the drop gutter to provide for drainage. If an adjustable stanchion fastener is to be used, set it in the center of the 6-inch manger wall. The length of the stall is regulated by this device. For a stall 4 feet 8 inches long, set the outside board (2 by 12 inches) of the manger wall 5 feet 2 inches from the drop gutter. The top of this board will be 7 inches above the finished floor. This extra height provides a form for the manger wall. In this space, place the 5-inch floor in the same manner as the alleyway was laid. If gas pipe stall divisions are to be used later, make mortises in the floor at the proper points by tamping the concrete around a core of the right size, removing the core when the concrete has stiffened.
The Manger
As soon as the floor of three stalls has been concreted and while the concrete is yet green, build the concrete manger wall upon the new stall floor. The projecting 7 inches of the 2 by 12-inch board already in place serves as the outer wall form. “Toe nail” two 1 by 6-inch boards together at their edges, thus providing a 7-inch height for the other manger wall form and a bearing plate to rest on the green stall floor. Set this wall form so as to leave a 6-inch space for the manger wall. Cross-brace these wall forms upon each other and if necessary drive an occasional nail through the bearing plate into the new concrete. Fill the space between the forms with concrete, setting the stanchion fasteners at the same time. Continue in the same manner until the stall floors are finished. If desired, the back wall of the manger may be given a dish shape for a swinging stanchion.
Then commence the work on the other side of the barn, constructing the floor of the alleyway and stall in exactly the same manner.