February's Golden Sun

Finally remembered to take a camera up to the barn.  It was below freezing but I figured I could get a few photos before the camera shut down.

Today some notes on a few little things that have worked out well in our barn.

First of all, I love how much sun comes in.  The goat side is on the west and the light streams into their stalls and their run in area.
Here's the stall.  Notice the black rubber bumpy itching panels.  They still haven't really gotten the hang of them.  Notice Vera watching in the doorway keeping an eye on the does.  Do you think she's counting to make sure everyone is in?

Here's the other end of the same stall.

Here's the doe stall for when I separate the milkers from their kids overnight.  They can still see each other and often sleep near each other on opposite sides of the wire panel.

There's a goat and dog sized door into the run-in area.  Here's Stella peeking out.  She's due April 4 but it's her fist pregnancy and she's not big yet.  I hope she only has 1 or 2.

The run-in area is nice and large.  The does have half of it and the ewes have the other half.  I put a platform in the goat side and my brother built a dog house.

I chose the size of the doghouse to be big enough for both to fit in but small enough that they could build up some heat in there.  The opening faces the exit in case they need to leave and do livestock guardian duties quickly. The siting of the doghouse also provides a windbreak against west winds, something the goats appreciate.  They like to lounge on top of it in the afternoon sun when it's not windy.

Then there are those goat housekeeping problems....

So after a couple of years of grabbing a handful of waste hay to sweep off the goat "berries" I decided that maybe what I really needed was a windshield brush since it would do double duty; sweep off berries and the scraper could be used when they'd been stepped on and smooshed onto the surface!  It hangs nearby on a bit of framing.

Another idea I had was the piece of scrap 2X6 that I lay along the top of one of the hay mangers on the center aisle side of the stall.  It allowed me to balance feed bowls, flakes of hay and buckets of water up there so I didn't have to be holding stuff when sidling through the gates.  While that worked well the board did get in the way of filling the manger it was on so I had to move it and sometimes it would fall off into the aisle.  I decided it should be hinged so that it could be flipped up when the manger needed filling and down when I needed to balance stuff on it.  Feed pans and water bucket on it waiting to be taken away when I leave the stall.

Here it is flipped up for manger filling.

You  may notice that the goats are pretty pudgy.  (They only get 1/4 cup of grain so they are not being overfed, honest!)  Between all their fur and their full rumens they rather look like ottomans with heads and tails.  Because of this I've been considering myself to be royalty; Queen of the Ottoman Empire!

Here is the ewe stall.  They are expecting dinner.....

Chores are done and Vera is on watch duty.  Fergey is probably patrolling the perimeter already.

Upstairs in the Barn

Okay......and up the stairs we go.  I must admit it's lovely not to have to climb a ladder each time I head up to get hay.

Here's the hayloft.  Some bedding straw is visible on the left but most of what's here is lovely second cutting hay.

The barn upstairs is so big because  it extends out over the run-in/solarium areas on both ends so we decided to put a warm barn office for record storage, chatting with goat/sheep buyers and for waiting out long nights of expectant does or ewes.  This barn is a hike up the hill from the house and checking on a mom-to-be every few hours all night would be exhausting.  This way I can crash on one of the daybeds along the window and pull my overalls on to walk down the stairs for maternity checks as often as I want without being totally fried the next day.  It's a fairly large space so we put some kitchen base cabinets along part of one wall.  They have an electric tea kettle, a few utensils and tea in them as well as a wash basin for washing up the tea mugs.  I think I'll put  a couple cans of soup up there for extra long nights or days during kidding/lambing season.  The floor is shiny because it's a fake wood laminate......I much prefer real wood but I couldn't justify the extra expense and this has the benefit of being easy to wipe clean.  Under the daybeds is a storage area......who knows what would need storing but it seemed silly to wall off that space with no access.

Here's the same wall of windows/daybeds but the other end of it.

The snack and tea area.  The top is just some boards....not sanded or finished but that's okay since this isn't a kitchen....more storage than anything.  The file box with all registrations, health charts, breeding notes, etc. is kept in one of these cabinets.  

The book shelves and coat rack area......

Notice how my brother used sections of curved birch to make shelf supports.  The coat/hat hooks were a gift from my partner Joseph.  He made them the year before.

Here is the strip of LED lights that I put up behind the beam to light up the shelf of tea stuff.  They adhered perfectly on half of the V-groove of the roof paneling.  They cast an amazing amount of warm light.

So, that's it!  I think I'm pretty much caught up with barn updates. Hope you've enjoyed them!!!

More Barn Photos

Okay.....just a quick bit of barn news.
Here's where I milk.  It's a cool blue room, small but big enough to hold a milking stand and supplies.  I keep small bins with grain and alfalfa for feeding the does during milking.  My milking machine bucket hangs up to drain.  The actual machine part of it lives through the wall in a tiny room that also houses the barn electrical panel and a few tools.

Next door to the milking room is the milk processing room.  That's still a work in progress as I wait for a sink.  Jeff did a great job putting up the plastic wall covering, trimming it out and then caulking everything.  There is a floor drain and someday there'll be a huge 3 bay sink in here as well as a separate hand-washing sink.  I'm not planning on being a Grade A Dairy but I don't want to do something I have to undo and redo if I choose to go for Grade A designation.  Right now we're waiting for the caulk smell to dissipate and hopefully soon I'll find the right sink.

And last, but not least is my "bucket loo" as the British call them.  This is a bathroom option for those who would rather compost their own waste rather than use drinking water to flush it away somewhere. We have regular toilets in our house but I had no intention of a septic system at the barn.  My brother built this beautiful little indoor outhouse.  After each use some peat moss is added to cover.  When the bucket is full it goes to a special composting area and can later be used on non-food crops.  Actually, most of the world uses human manure  (humanure)  on food crops but since I have lots of animal manure options I'll only use it on non-food crops.

This little indoor outhouse is located just past the well/pump box, tucked into a small area not needed for anything else.

I'll post photos of the grain room and tool storage soon but next up is the barn office and hayloft!

Barn Update

Okay, at last an update on the barn project.  I've been too busy to write.  I hope the ewes and does are all bred.  If so it's going to be achingly cute around here this spring!  I'm hoping the barn will hold the increase in animals.

I forgot to get some shots of the front of the barn so we'll start with the center aisle.

Here is the main goat stall.  All the does live here and the milking does are separated overnight into an abutting stall to the left.

The below photo is of the stall the does stay in overnight.  Two junior does are watching.....
I like that when separating moms and babies they can still see each other and indeed sometimes sleep next to each other on either side of the wire.

This photo doesn't show this area very clearly but there is a aisle (with gate on it so it can be yet another pen) with 3 potential kidding/lambing pens to the left and one double sized pen at the end.  I say 3 potential pens because the pens are created by sliding 2X6 lumber into metal tracks and that allows the creation of more small pens or less larger pens depending upon what is needed.  I also have 2 medium sized pens 8X12 and 8X16 that are available for weaning groups, sick bays or whatever.  Note the gaps in the gates at adult eye height.  That's so they can see out, see their neighbors, see the new babies in the next pen, etc.  The gaps are high enough to not create drafts for the kids but low enough that kids can peek out once they are coordinated enough to stand on their hind legs.

Below is the ewe stall.  Like the main goat stall it opens out into what I call their "solarium".  (No, they don't have a den, rec. room or library!)  I don't yet have any photos of the solarium area showing the clear panels that my brother Jeff built to cut down on wind while allowing maximum light.  These panels are either removable (on the east and west sides) or in sliding barn door form  (on the north side) so that summer's breezes will be welcomed into the area.

Also like the main goat stall, it has 2 doors out into the solarium.  A human-size door and a sheep sized door.  I like two doors when there are new herd/flock introductions because no members can be cornered inside.  For instance I kept both doors open when I first put the ram in with the ewes.  I keep only the smaller door open when it's cold and I want to minimize breezes in the barn.

Below is the insulated box that covers my well  (yes, we built the barn around it on purpose), the pump, the hot water heater, and the batteries that run the pump.  The well pump is by Simple Pump  ( www.simplepump.com  )  and runs off of 2 car batteries with a battery tender that keeps  them charged.  If we lose grid power the batteries would likely run the pump for close to a month without recharging.  Attaching a handle I have would allow us to pump by  hand if we needed to or a solar panel could be used to recharge the batteries.  I like this pump a lot.  When animals depend upon me for water I need to know I have access to water even if the grid goes down because of a bad storm or other grid damage.

The insulated well box comes off (the side aisle side of it) for access to work on it.  The top hinges open for quick access.  It hasn't frozen yet and I can put a light bulb in there for heat if needed but the 4 gallon hot water heater keeps it warm enough in conjunction with the rigid foam insulation.

Notice the bucket stand that Jeff made.  It makes it easy to fill both the small buckets and the 5 gallon buckets.  The laundry faucet is kept from freezing with a small insulated box that fits over it when I finish chores.  It's a perfect system.  The bucket stand top is lined in roofing rubber to keep small spills from going all over the floor or rotting the bucket stand.  I love having cold, warm or hot water whenever I need it!!  This really beats carrying water by hand to the small barn we used last winter.

I think I'll stop this post here and do another one with photos of the milking and milk room and other parts of the barn.

November 9th! Beautiful Weather!!!

I've been enjoying working on the barn for several reasons.  First, I get to work with my brother and I really like that.  Second, I get to watch the animals and be more aware of herd health, herd dynamics and individual behaviors.  Third, I get to drink in all that beauty of the different flocks/herds in their pastures, the surrounding forest, the view through the bare trees to other mountains, etc.

I've really been enjoying our small flock of Cascade Farmstead ewes.  I think I finally know all six by name now.  I admit to having some favorites.

This is Lisette and I think she's very sweet.  She's the color of butterscotch, has no horns and is unfortunately the shyest but maybe someday she'll be tamer.

This is Lady of the Lake.  She's the friendliest and always ready to lead the herd after me.  They've eaten their pasture down quite a bit so it's time to move them onto another pasture I think.  This will be the first time they follow me down the center aisle of the pastures to get to another pasture.  I'm hoping it easily becomes part of our morning and evening routine.

This is the view down the road from the barn driveway to the house driveway and beyond.  The first half we have to plow because the town didn't have the funds to repair it after all the road fixing needed to get back to normal after Irene.

Okay.....this photo is from the late spring but I'm thinking about baby goats again because it's breeding season for next year's kid crop.  This is Leoneea with her twin babes Tao and Rasha looking out from behind a wall.   Leoneea has such a lovely look to her and like all the other goats was a great mother to her young. Tao still likes to climb into laps although he's a bit big and Rasha (the doeling) is a sweetie who likes nothing better than to get some patting.

Zetta gave birth to 4 babies; 3 doelings and a buckling.  This photo shows them only a few hours old.  I've been telling all the does this year to only give birth to 1 or 2 babies this year.  I don't want the herd to grow so quickly!!!

Note to Self!

Note to Self!!!  Next time I am painting or staining something remember to  try a sample of the chosen color rather than trust the color chart.  I was rushing to get the barn stained before winter and the temps have been dropping.  I found someone local to do the job and he and I both thought it should get done soon so I chose a color that I thought would be sort of a golden oak color.  I almost panicked when I came out of the barn to look at the front that had just been sprayed! It looked like yellow more than wood; sort of a yellow ochre color.  Yikes.  It's not like I live near a paint store and the stain had already been bought and winter is coming so I had him finish it.  It's okay...much better now that it's dry.  It's sort of a golden saddle leather color.  Next stain job will be in a color to mellow it a bit.  That's the fun of using translucent   stain.   Oh, and I'm pleased to report that most of the snow has melted.  Or at least half the field is bare now.  I guess my optimism is showing.

October Storm

We got a winter trial with 4 inches of snow on October 28th.  Then on Saturday we got about 24 inches of snow.  We woke up Sunday morning glad that it had stopped ahead of schedule and amazed to look out at the results.  The texture of the snow allowed it to create slumps over the balcony railing.

Here's a look down the driveway.

Here is our 20 foot pond in a photo that shows the depth of the snow.

It took us a day to get ready for the storm and then a day to clean up after it.  I managed to plow down from the new barn.....a good thing since the town doesn't yet plow that road.  Our town did plow to our house driveway although they sunk the big plow truck in the mud along the dirt road that leads to our driveway.  With a week of days in the 40s and 50s I'm hoping the snow melts and that the goats can go out to pasture for a few more weeks.  The dogs LOVE the snow and it was deep enough to make them look like albino Corgis!  They get excited when the snow falls off the barn roof.  They pounce on it yelping in excited falsetto.  Back to working on the new barn this week.

"Bowl with Eggs" still life in reality

Our hens have started laying and the eggs are such lovely works of art and such miracles.  Okay, so I'm easy to impress because I see the beauty and miracle of just about everything.  I'm particularly enjoying the sight of the soft blue/green eggs in a bowl that my friend Susan created and gave to me.  The color is a pretty close match although the greenish eggs vary somewhat in tint from blue/green to more of a soft olive green.

I'm also enjoying the garlic harvest.  Here's what a bulb of garlic looks like when it's just been cut down from the hayloft.  Below is after the roots have been trimmed and the outer layer of skins have been rubbed off.  Ready to add to the pile we keep ready to add to dinner creations!

Note: these garlic photos feature another piece of ceramic art by my friend Susan.  

Wish I had another sunny day to get some more up to date barn photos but here are a couple.  It's a lot further along now and the fencing is done as well but none of that has been photographed recently.  Well pump goes in this week and that's exciting for me since hauling water gets old fast.

Hay Manger Design

Here is a photo of our hay manger created using a piece of hog panel and 2X4 edges. The 2X4 edges were cut on a table saw to create a place for the wire to get held securely. The 4X4 mesh of the hog panel is perfect in that no one can get their head stuck and it's all rigid enough to be very solid and, we hope, indestructible.