Portable Livestock Shelters
Owner: Greg Samuel
Location: Seymour, Mo.
Business History: Portable Livestock Shelters in Seymour, Mo., is owned and operated by local businessman and Greater Ozarks Audubon Society Field Trip Chairman and Bird Recorder Greg Samuel. Greg originally owned a lumberyard in Rogersville, Mo.; he soon found that building livestock shelters had the potential to be a unique business opportunity. “There was nothing like that on the market, and I needed it,” Greg said. He started out building livestock shelters for himself – before long, people were offering him money for the structures he was building. Greg found that he had created a niche market that folks were very interested in and so, Portable Livestock Shelters was born. Today, Greg runs a 10-person crew, and his products can be found on farms and in backyards everywhere.
Products and Services: Portable Livestock Shelters has grown to include many different lines of hand-built products, but one of the biggest sellers continues to be the livestock shelters themselves. All of the shelters built by Greg’s business are portable, just as the name says. Some of these products include Chick-N-Carts, a variety of small and large chicken houses, Pigeon Lofts, dog houses, equine shelters with or without optional tack and feed rooms, sheep, goat and calf shelters, rabbit hutches, Weather Shield stock feeders, and Build Your Own Coop supplies. Another hot item, Greg said, is the line of greenhouses offered by Portable Livestock Shelters; included in this line are cold frames and Green Thumb Garden Boxes. Portable Livestock Shelters also carries products with a whimsical touch – like weather vanes, bird houses and bird feeders crafted from cedar lumber, and Ozark Mountain Christmas Ornaments. Greg has a website for all of his product lines, and he also displays his products at Farmfest and the Home and Garden Show in Springfield, Mo., and at the Four States Farm Show in Pittsburg, Kan.
Future Plans: “Keep my doors open,” Greg said.
