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Project Priorities & The Weather
In our last episode of adventures in bathroom remodeling, we were stuck with temperatures too cold to do the next step – refinish the old clawfoot tub. We need both air and surface temperatures to be at least 72° F / 22° C to work with the product. Because our house is so cold, we decided to wait until warmer weather.
That was actually a good plan, because with planting season right around the corner, we have some outside projects to tend to. At the top of the list was a shelter in the front pasture for the bucks. This is because next summer we will remineralize the buck pasture, just like we did the girls’ new pasture last year. We also decided to plant it to field corn for one summer before planting forage. That means the billy boys have to be moved elsewhere for awhile.
The new shelter is three sided. The sides aren’t square to the back, but sort of fanned out.
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| New goat shelter, just finished. |
Dan built it in the far back corner of the pasture. He used two privacy fence panels for the back.
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| Backside of the shelter. Using privacy fence panels will give a more cohesive look to the fenceline once we replace the welded wire with privacy panels. |
We plan to eventually fence that property line with these panels. The roof is shingled. Dan contemplated the options and went with shingles when we found them for $15 a bundle at a surplus building supply warehouse.
Also he built a hay feeder.
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| Hay feeder, sized for a big ‘un & a li’l ‘un |
The “tray” on the bottom catches a lot of hay that the goats tend to pull out. Not all, as you can see, but it’s the least wasteful hay feeder we’ve made so far. The challenge was the size. It needs to accommodate a short Pygmy and a tall Kiko.
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| Our bucks, Gruffy and Elvis. |
Because the fencing panels have gaps between the pickets, Dan added an inner plywood wall across the back of the shelter. The purpose of this is to block the wind. Cold is actually less of a problem for goats than rain and drafts. They need to be able to get out of these if they choose.
I was able to test this out the other day when I was painting. The day was sunny but the wind was sharp and chilly. It was snug and pleasant inside.
Speaking of painting, here’s how it looks with a coat of barn paint
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| I love barn paint. It covers pretty well and wears well too. |
The last thing to do is to run a gutter along the back and add a container to catch rainwater. This will be very helpful for watering the goats.
So, another project almost ready to cross off the to-do list.
2013-04-03 23:47:08
Source: http://www.5acresandadream.com/2013/04/project-priorities-weather.html
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