The Princess is Peeved

Surprise was not pleased with the situation. Lily, in the background,
worries she might have to share a stall with Surprise & her attitude.

"What are you going to do about the Princess?" Dan asked. He was referring to Surprise. She and Alphie had been residing in the birthing stall, but it was time for them to be moved out. We both knew Surprise wouldn't like that.

When we expected our first crop of kids two years ago, we divided the goat shed into two stalls. That gave me a way to separate the expectant doe and give her privacy for birthing and the first few days afterwards. Since Surprise had the first due date, she was the first to spend time in the birthing stall. For some reason she liked having it all to herself and claimed it as her own from that day onward. Even Jasmine, who could make Surprise mad by hogging anything good to eat, respected her territorial claim to this stall.

However, the time has come for Ziggy to use this stall.

Ziggy waddles back to the goat shed. 

Ziggy, who looks like she could pop at any moment. Ziggy, whose next potential due date is April 5th.

All of this points to our need for a better goat facility. We were happy to have this outbuilding to begin with, and glad to be able to divide it into a chicken coop, goat shed, and milking room.

In Jan. 2010 we modified one of our two existing outbuildings. We added
a goat stall on the right, and made the left side into a chicken coop. In the
middle, where the door is, we made a milking room and feed storage area.

As I've lived with it, however, I've made mental notes of what ought to be changed:

• I'd like a large, general area for shelter and loafing
• I'd like room for two private stalls, to be used only for pregnancy confinement, kidding, or for other hospital reasons.
• I'd like a larger milking area, with both an "in" door and an "out" door for the girls being milked. Otherwise there's a goat clog as they try to push through at the same time.
• I need a kid stall, to separate kids from their moms overnight, so the moms can be milked in the morning. 
• I need a gating system to accommodate all this plus give me room for the wheelbarrow. 

Building a real barn is out, because of cost. This shed, except for the leak in the roof ("fixed" with a tarp) and the deteriorating siding, is structurally sound. While nothing is set is stone yet, the current idea we're looking at is this...

Very rough, non-technical sketch of idea for goat shed using existing shed

The idea would be to add a gambrel or arched roof on to the front of the current shed, creating a loft which is open underneath. The open area would serve as an open air loafing area and rain shelter. The goats would still be able to go inside if needed. Hopefully, we could use the loft for storing hay. The chickens would be moved to a new coop and I'll be able to convert the current coop and milking areas into stalls.

We're talking about putting a milking parlor and storage area out of the carport of the other outbuilding. 

The carport on the left might be an option for a milking parlor. You can see
the goat shed behind it to the left, not far away. The carport would have to
be enclosed, but it would be easy to run a water line out there. I'd love that.

There are a lot of details to work out and likely changes to be made, but this is the direction we're thinking in for the time being. The first step will be building a new chicken coop, which Dan hopes to do this summer. In the meantime I'm thankful for what we've got, and happy to make do.

The Princess is Peeved photos and text © March 2013 

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Life of Riley: Wordless Wednesday Edition

Life of Riley: Wordless Wednesday Edition photos © 

March 2013 by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

We Think We Found The Old Well

Dan may have found the old well. He recently looked online for tips on finding old wells, and we think it's been under our very noses all along.

There is a broken cap lying around somewhere too.

The pipe as you can see, has been filled with dirt and likely the well is too, either because it's dry or because the residents wanted municipal water when it became available. Our neighbor told us his old well is dry. Like us, they'd hoped to use their's for watering their garden.

Arrow points to location of the pipe we think indicates the old well.
Also note the dryer vent to the left below the porch windows.

The only "bad" thing is that it's located so close to the house, as in inches from the foundation. I say that because I don't like the idea of having to dig so close to the foundation to figure out if it indeed is the old well, and whether or not it's salvageable.

We need to know, because we've already got an idea for the greywater from the washing machine on the back porch.

Idea for laundry greywater soil filtration bed. The sketch also includes a
gate across the driveway from our  privacy fence / firewood storage area

The idea entails building a greywater soil filtration bed along that side of the house. Because it gets the blazing summer sun in late afternoon, we'd like to frame the windows with pergolas, and grow something vining for summer window shade. I don't know what yet, but something that doesn't mind the alkaline laundry water. In the sketch above we've also finished off the privacy fence/firewood storage with a gate.

Before we can get to that, we need to finish the outside of the house on that side. That's a job of work because it involves upgrading the old, original windows, and new siding. The bedrooms (middle one at least) are next on the house goal list  after the bathroom (on hold till warmer weather). Every time we've replaced a window we've had to do the exterior siding as well. I reckon what I'm getting at is that there are a number of steps to be done first, so we have some time to investigate.

It would be wonderful to have the old well as a source of irrigation water at least. Even better if the water was potable. That's all speculation and we're not even positive it is the old well. It will be interesting to find out.

We Think We Found The Old Well © March 2013 

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/