March 17, 2021

Finishing Touches for the Buck Barn

The billy boys have moved into their new home! 

The bucks have an enclosed shelter, and Dan and
I have a covered area to work in and store things.

Things moved along pretty quickly once the rain catchment was in place. Here are the details on what it's taken to get it ready for the boys.

Grain feeders. Dan had been feeding them from pans on the ground, but they have a bad habit of running through them and knocking them over to see if the other goat got something better in his pan. The girls' feeder set-up works well, so Dan did something similar for the boys. 


Hay feeder. This one is also similar to the girls', except Dan made it one sided instead of double-sided.

The tray at the bottom catches the waste.

It's very easy to fill from the people side.

Jonah demonstrates how to use it.

Fencing. The last thing was the fence. We used part of the chicken yard for the new buck barn and yard, so we needed to fence it in.

Meowy eyeing the shelter roof from the post.

The line of t-posts was in place from an older edition of the chicken
yard. To simplify things, Dan used another t-post for corner bracing.

The other side. The rain tank is off limits, but the clean-out plug wasn't.

Of course, somebody had to rub on it, so Dan
used a bit of cattle panel to fence it off too.

View from the back, where the gate opens to pasture.

The boys' first inspection was, "well, this is nice, but can we go home now?" That only lasted a couple of days.

The only thing left to do is to paint the rain tank to protect the water from algae growth. That will happen soon, since the weather is starting to warm up. We also need to do re-do the chickens yard, so we don't have to walk through the chicken yard to get to the bucks. Also, we'll expand the chicken yard in another direction to make up for the ground they'll lose when we do that.

We planned to use the overhang for grain and hay storage, but right now we're observing rain and drainage patterns to make sure there aren't any problems with that. Other than that, having their housing closer makes it so much easier to do chores!

25 comments:

Toirdhealbheach Beucail said...

Looks wonderful and well thought as always!

The tray for the hay is a great idea. Even with my indoor rabbits, I still grumble at the amount of hay we waste - everything that is left goes onto the garden of course, but I wish they would use less of it.

Gorges Smythe said...

Looks good!

tpals said...

Very nice. Hooray for making daily work easier.

Leigh said...

TB, that tray save so much waste. I remember all the waste when I had bunnies, but at that time, it didn't occur to me to do anything different. I'm sure if there was a way, you'd have already thought of it!

Gorges, thanks!

Tpals, always! I used to say I didn't mind the exercise of walking so far (and I didn't), but Dan does the buck chores so it's much better for him! Plus, we like being able to keep a better eye on them.

daisy g said...

It looks like such an efficient space. There's always another project, isn't there? ;0D

Leigh said...

Daisy, that is so true. In fact, Dan sometimes complains about the never-ending projects. I always tell him we can stop any time he wants. But then, he's always asking, "what's next?" ;)

Rosalea said...

It is beautiful! So well done....and, Cat-approved I see! You have planned it all out well, and did a 'work around' when needed.(fencing in the drain clean-out) Dan is sure an amazingly handy guy.

Leigh said...

Rosalea, there's always something needing a work-around! LOL We worked out the design together, but Dan gets the credit for making it a reality. :)

Mama Pea said...

I've never seen a set-up for pan feeding like that. Not having to go inside the pen to retrieve or set down their pan food is a great idea. Gotta remember that. Slightly off topic, I'm curious as to how you find your bucks' "aroma" since you live in a basically warm/hot climate. We never had much to complain about with our bucks up here (mostly cool or cold weather) except when breeding time rolled around.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Wow! That looks great!

Leigh said...

Mama Pea, we only have buck odor when they're in rut, so it's only a couple months of the year. The way the wind typically blows here takes it away from the house, the road, and the neighbors (thankfully!)

Kristina, thanks!

Cockeyed Jo said...

It all looks great. Fantastic job Dan!

Deb said...

It all looks great. I love finished projects. lol

wyomingheart said...

You and Dan have completed a wonderful project. It really looks terrific! It’s also great that you can keep a closer eye on those boys, as well. Really find that clean out fix, Perfect! Hope this new weather system moving in, does not bring you heartburn! We are watching out for the wind, as our old barn is in horrible shape, and it wouldn’t take much to topple over... we just don’t want it to hit the new building. Take care, Leigh, and great job!

Goatldi said...

Oh MercyMe! That gives the whole phrase won’t you be my neighbor another meaning doesn’t it?

As for the form and function one word Brilliant 💥

Leigh said...

Jo, thanks!

Deb, me too. :)

Wyomingheart, being on the ridge, I'm guessing you can get some really strong winds. I'd worry about the barn too! Hopefully, all remains well at your place.

Goatldi, thank you! It's interesting how ideas and plans change over the years. This is definitely more convenient for us. More convenient for the boys too, because now they can see when I head into the big barn to get feeders ready! Gives me a bigger audience at chore time. :)

Nancy In Boise said...

Looks great!!! Congrats!

Leigh said...

Thanks, Nancy!

Rosalea said...

Leigh. Just curious about the plastic owl. Is it just decoration, or is it to deter some critter?

Leigh said...

Rosalea, we got that decoy owl years ago when we were trying to deter hawks. It never really worked as far as we could tell, so it got stuck on a fence post. Every now and then we found it on the ground. Dan had to work on the fences where it was so now it's in the buck barn. No other reason than that!

Jean Ellen said...

I was curious about your comment of painting inside the water containment system to prevent algae. Can you expand on that a bit? What kind of paint. I just love the organization of the buck barn. Such great work.

Leigh said...

Jean Ellen, the paint we use for the water totes is Krylong Fusion for plastic. It comes in both spray-on and paint-on. I buy the quarts of paint-on. It works exceedingly better than regular paint for plastic, although it will eventually scrape off. I think I bought it at Lowes.

Leigh said...

Sorry, that's KRYLON; no "g" at the end! Too bad blogger won't let us edit our comments!

Chris said...

That's a very handsome, well organised structure. You can see people with experience, designed it. 😉 Great job!

Leigh said...

Chris, experience is truly the best teacher! Actually, I think it help to have to make do for awhile. I find that's when I figure out what problems I need to solve and we make our new structures accordingly.