Genipher
True BYH Addict
Life as a homeschooling mother of seven just isn't chaotic enough...I'm getting myself some goats!
Being in the city, I had to get permission (and pay a $52 annual fee) to fulfill this dream of mine. With our lot size here on the Oregon coast, I'm now allowed to have "up to 3 goats" and "12 fowl". Anyone think the city will mind if we invest in a dozen emus?
Seriously, though. Once I get an established routine with the two doelings I'm getting this month, I'm hoping to get a dozen chickens and, eventually, a few rabbits.
Now, when we lived in the Willamette Valley a couple years ago, I had permission from our landlord to have backyard goats. However, the city said we could only have one. ONE! Yeah, they didn't have a clue about how goats are supposed to be raised. So I got two Lamancha doelings, brought them home, and promptly had our next door neighbor complaining about the noise. sigh. Since we weren't "legal" having two, I decided to return them to the seller and bide my time until we could move and I could live my goaty dreams!
Since then I've been researching, snooping around here to learn as much as I can, and annoying my husband with all the goaty facts I've been learning.
Soooo...I find it rather fitting that I'll be picking up our two Nigerian Dwarf doelings this month, as it's my birthday month!!
I'll be turning 37!
We have a (let's see if I remember this correctly) 10x20 shed on our property that I've adopted as my "goat shed" (the plastic has been ripped off by one of our 2 dogs...there are plans to put up siding...maybe this summer).
After being enlightened here at BYH on how to protect the wood and cement of this shed, I stained and sealed the area the goats will actually be sleeping in. By the way, I hate the color of the stain I used. It looks orange in this picture but it's really red and reminds me of that part in 101 Dalmations (the book, not the movie) where Pongo and Misses (in the book Pongo's wife was named Misses and Perdita was another female Dalmation that had lost her pups and was nursemaid to Misses's pups) and their owners first meet Cruella de Vil. They're invited into Hell Hall and the walls are all red, which reminds the dogs of "slabs of raw meat". Ew. I love meat but I wouldn't want all the walls in my house looking like bloody hamburger.
But, hey! The goats won't care, right?
(My 4-year-old, F, hard at work!)
Anyway, that's what I think every time I see the walls I stained. I really wish I'd picked another color. But, being my first time ever staining anything, I wasn't sure what to buy. I'm just relieved that I figured out how to apply a paintbrush to the walls and got it done!
Okay, I have to admit...I had to stain twice. The first time, apparently, I didn't stir the stain long enough or well enough and I think I basically "oiled" the walls. When I went back the next day to finish the job, I quickly discovered my mistake. That just shows how much of a newbie I am...
Back to the shed: The Goaty Sleeping Quarters is roughly an 8x7 room. There's a shelf that I imagine the two ND will love to sleep on. Behind the main door (which is open in this picture, I'm standing with my back to the yard to take the photo), there's a window.
Question: I've "heard" it may be possible for the goats to break the window with all their playful antics. Do I need to protect it in some way? Also, do I need to cover the plug-ins?
The second room (which I'm planning on separating with a baby gate) has another, larger shelf that I'm planning on using as a milking stand. This room has plenty of space for hay (in fact, we just bought a dozen bales from a local farmer), it holds my metal garbage cans of feed (alfalfa pellets, whole oats, goat minerals, BOSS, etc), and still has room for our ladder and other "odds and ends".
I'm not exactly sure of the date I'm supposed to bring our two new kids home. They were born February 22 and will be ready to leave their mom sometime this month. Their owner is keeping in touch...sending me texts of the kids playing, etc. So cute! Pictures, of course, will be shared as soon as possible!
Being in the city, I had to get permission (and pay a $52 annual fee) to fulfill this dream of mine. With our lot size here on the Oregon coast, I'm now allowed to have "up to 3 goats" and "12 fowl". Anyone think the city will mind if we invest in a dozen emus?
Seriously, though. Once I get an established routine with the two doelings I'm getting this month, I'm hoping to get a dozen chickens and, eventually, a few rabbits.
Now, when we lived in the Willamette Valley a couple years ago, I had permission from our landlord to have backyard goats. However, the city said we could only have one. ONE! Yeah, they didn't have a clue about how goats are supposed to be raised. So I got two Lamancha doelings, brought them home, and promptly had our next door neighbor complaining about the noise. sigh. Since we weren't "legal" having two, I decided to return them to the seller and bide my time until we could move and I could live my goaty dreams!
Since then I've been researching, snooping around here to learn as much as I can, and annoying my husband with all the goaty facts I've been learning.
Soooo...I find it rather fitting that I'll be picking up our two Nigerian Dwarf doelings this month, as it's my birthday month!!
I'll be turning 37!We have a (let's see if I remember this correctly) 10x20 shed on our property that I've adopted as my "goat shed" (the plastic has been ripped off by one of our 2 dogs...there are plans to put up siding...maybe this summer).
After being enlightened here at BYH on how to protect the wood and cement of this shed, I stained and sealed the area the goats will actually be sleeping in. By the way, I hate the color of the stain I used. It looks orange in this picture but it's really red and reminds me of that part in 101 Dalmations (the book, not the movie) where Pongo and Misses (in the book Pongo's wife was named Misses and Perdita was another female Dalmation that had lost her pups and was nursemaid to Misses's pups) and their owners first meet Cruella de Vil. They're invited into Hell Hall and the walls are all red, which reminds the dogs of "slabs of raw meat". Ew. I love meat but I wouldn't want all the walls in my house looking like bloody hamburger.
But, hey! The goats won't care, right?
(My 4-year-old, F, hard at work!)Anyway, that's what I think every time I see the walls I stained. I really wish I'd picked another color. But, being my first time ever staining anything, I wasn't sure what to buy. I'm just relieved that I figured out how to apply a paintbrush to the walls and got it done!
Okay, I have to admit...I had to stain twice.
The first time, apparently, I didn't stir the stain long enough or well enough and I think I basically "oiled" the walls. When I went back the next day to finish the job, I quickly discovered my mistake. That just shows how much of a newbie I am...Back to the shed: The Goaty Sleeping Quarters is roughly an 8x7 room. There's a shelf that I imagine the two ND will love to sleep on. Behind the main door (which is open in this picture, I'm standing with my back to the yard to take the photo), there's a window.
Question: I've "heard" it may be possible for the goats to break the window with all their playful antics. Do I need to protect it in some way? Also, do I need to cover the plug-ins?
The second room (which I'm planning on separating with a baby gate) has another, larger shelf that I'm planning on using as a milking stand. This room has plenty of space for hay (in fact, we just bought a dozen bales from a local farmer), it holds my metal garbage cans of feed (alfalfa pellets, whole oats, goat minerals, BOSS, etc), and still has room for our ladder and other "odds and ends".
I'm not exactly sure of the date I'm supposed to bring our two new kids home. They were born February 22 and will be ready to leave their mom sometime this month. Their owner is keeping in touch...sending me texts of the kids playing, etc. So cute! Pictures, of course, will be shared as soon as possible!
Congrats on your soon-to-be new additions! And happy birthday month to boot 
It's a bittersweet emotion.
