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November 2007: I had been thinking of getting a larger stall built for a long time, especially since The Rainy Season was sneaking up on us. When they all snuggled into their stall, Betsy in the back, with Wattles in front of her, then Calvin in front of him, and Marshall at the front, that little stall was hotter than blazes, but Marshall would get wet from rain blowing in from time to time and there was nowhere else to go in that stall, no room left. He and Calvin would occasionally go sleep in the large doghouse they slept in when we first brought them home, and sometimes Wattles would join them when Betsy the Herd Queen was picking on them. It was a very cute sight - three Toggenburg faces peeking out. We just built a little barn which we've named The Goat House. It's 8' x 12' and we put a skylight in that we had found in the weeds - I have no idea where that came from. It is very roomy, with a small doorway on the East side. In the Summer we'll put a doorway on the West or North side, too, so we can have a cross breeze when it gets extra hot. We'll put an East side door on with a piano hinge on one end and a hasp on the other, so we can unhook the door and fold it back against the side of the building and hook it there for the season. The outside still has to be finished. We may just paint it instead of doing something fancy. It's good sized for the wethers and they love it. Here is a picture of it, looking at the South wall, which is what all our bad weather hits. Although it would probably be the easiest place to have a doorway, it's the place that made the least sense to have a doorway due to the high winds and driving rain that would pour in.  Here is the East wall on a rare Winter day at our house, when it was beautiful, bright blue skies. Cold and clear. It was wonderful. This isn't straight out of the Fine Homebuilding magazine or anything, but it gives the goats shelter, they are spending a lot of time in it and it's cozy. Here is a picture looking toward the North wall on the inside. I put our wooden stanchion in there and the skylight offers a lot of light, which is nice. I'm going to board up the interior wall so they can have something to lean against without pushing out the exterior wall. This picture isn't crooked. The roof slopes from 6-1/2 feet on the East side to 8 feet on the West side and the stanchion is standing in a spot that has a little dip in it. For now, I'm just using it for medicating and doing things like hoof trimming; eventually I'll be using it as a milking stand. Here is a shot of their mineral feeders. I can now feed them without being out in the pouring rain and having them stand in the pouring rain, and their mineral feeders can all be dry, too. Here is a picture of our mineral feeders, which were $9.99 at Wilco Farmers, I think, and just hook over a 2x4. The goats love them and we actually put them at the right height, too. |
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