The first step was to tear down the top half of the wall between where the goats live and where the hay will be stored.
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| Goat side |
A hay feeder will be build under the opening.
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| People side. The door will come down too, for a solid half wall. |
This is because I'm about tired of having to wade through a crowd of pushing, shoving goats to fill the hay feeder. It will make life so much easier to give them hay without getting my toes stepped on. The feeder will be built when we work on the goats' area. First we had to get the hay moved.
Initially we put up a cattle panel as a wall of sorts between the hay mow and what will become the milking room on the right. After we took apart the hay hut, we pondered what to do with the deck it was build upon. The deck was made from the old front porch floor, and is quite sturdy. We didn't want to dismantle it, but didn't know where to store it either. I suggested we use it as a wall between the hay storage and milking room.
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| The hay hut floor makes a good wall with ventilation at the top. |
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| The underside faces the future milking room and feed storage. (Goat area is in the back.) |
The underside framing of the deck suggests shelves, and Dan said he can add more. At least the deck is out of the way, still available if needed, and useful in the meantime.
One more view from the hay feeding side
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| Once the hay feeder is built, I'll just have to pitch the hay over the wall to fill the feeder. |
A length of welded wire fence contains the hay for now. It's a setup I'm really happy with.
So that was the first step for the Little Barn interior. Progress is always happy and it feels good to have the hay secure and out from under tarps. The next step is to build a new wall between the goat area and milking room. More on that soon.
Aug. 2016 by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/
21 comments:
Good job Leigh! Funny how when we start out we think we have it all figured out and then it seems our needs change as time and needs roll on. I have had three different barns/milk room set ups on three different farms and multiple variations with in the time spent on each property. Having livestock is not a static lifestyle. Ever changing from season to season and size of herd and vision of what we want. Can't wait to see it done!
You've put some real thought into that small barn and labour saving is always a good idea with time in such short supply.
I don't know about your goats Leigh, but mine can fit through a 24"x36" tall opening about 3 feet up from the ground. You sure they aren't going to sail over that half wall into the hay? And the cagey little sneaks might even use those feeders for a leg up and over.....
I echo Theresa exactly. I can picture nimble goats easily breaching that half-wall. But what a great use of a deck/floor as a wall. Very clever!
Great progress and I like the reuse of the deck for a wall!
looking great! and not getting stepped on is a plus!
I've found that once you free up a tarp, it generally finds another use right away.
That is so true. Now I look to meet needs and solve problems; especially things I didn't know about until I had goats!
Kirsty, I hope so. I'm sure something will come up as soon as it's all done. :)
Theresa, with goats the only thing I'm sure of is that they'll do the exact opposite of what I want them to! So far no one has thought about trying to jump that wall. The hay feeder is always full so I suppose that helps. The stall is basically only used at night, for the little girls to be separated from their moms. They want to stick close to where they can see them, so they're pretty content to stay where they are. (knock on wood)
So far so good! But with goats, you never know. :)
Yeah, that worked out great!
I'll be glad when we can build the hay feeder, but it's a ways down on the list yet.
LOL. Ed, that is so true! Right now they're still covering the hay on the open side, until we can get a wall put up to protect it from blowing rain.
Leigh,
I see great progress on your small barn!!
I get so much inspiration from y'all. Now if I could only start acting on it! So many building projects on the list here...
Hoping yours continues to go well and you're enjoying the final product soon.
Man, I am having a hard time putting the pics together, this old drafter needs a floor plan-got one?
But Yaaayy!! .....on shifting stuff to make it work better!
Thanks Sandy!
I sometimes wonder if the building projects ever go away! Our list is years from being completed. I hope your projects go well!
You know, I almost put the floor plan pic in the post, but thought it might be too much. :) Here's a link to the planning post - http://www.5acresandadream.com/2016/06/the-old-goat-shed-roof-it-or-lose-it.html. Floor plan about halfway down.
Ah, rough as that FP is, it does help. Thanks!
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