madelynmccabe's Thread: Lets See Everyone's Herd Houses!

[frustratedearthmother]

BRAVELY said!!!

YUP - lol! I have a plan and she better not try to mess it up. This will be her second time farrowing - but first since I've owned her. Her first time was out in the open in the spot of her choice - she had 6 but lost 4 which is why I want access. I would just rather have access to the little critters from the get go so if there's any problems I can intervene.

I just posted a pic of her over on the "Potbelly or AGH?" thread.

 

[madelynmccabe]

Hey everyone! It's been awhile since we've talked on this thread but I have exciting news! I have finally saved a little over $300 to expand my goat's fence!!!! We built it small because we were expecting to get Nigerian Dwarfs... but the man that was selling them was out by the time we went to look, so we had to go with a couple of his Nubians with a little bit of Nigerian Dwarf in them. We had already built the fence and there was no use in tearing a whole side down and trying to expand it in a matter of days before they came home. So we left it small and when they grew we planned to expand it. In the meantime, they have grown like crazy and become so full of energy it's unreal!! They still haven't reached their full size, but are already much larger then the Nigerian Dwarfs we had planned on. And my dad told me that I had to save up the money to expand their fence since he paid for their house and their fence that we have now. I was very nervous but after 6 months I have finally reach my goal!!!!! We will start construction this spring when it warms up, but honestly I'd love to go out there right now in 20 degree weather and work on it so I could see how happy they will be when I'm done! But I doubt my dad would agree to that

It's not the easiest to see but at the very far right if the pic is a wooden fence post... I'll be expanding it all the way out there!! I can't wait for my goaties to have this much space to run, graze, and play. And we have such nice neighbors to let us connect our goats fence to their huge sheep pasture!! They have saved us so much money on fencing wich has been absolutely great! Also I'd love to see your pastures and any play toys that you give your goats/other animals to give me ideas of what fun things I should put in their new space!

 

[CntryBoy777]

this lounger is by far their Favorite...we play Flip it several times each day...unless it rains of course... I flip it Up and they Flip it over... I have to be careful where I put it tho....because Comet, the white one, will try to manoeuvre it close to the fence and try Jumping it.... but, what gets the most use is the deck... this was because of the sloping ground the building is on. However, in your field ya can build a portion for them to run, jump, and lay on off the damp ground. They play "King of the Mountain" and "Chase" on the deck and on the tires with rock in them. They also play with their feed buckets, but learned to remove the handles before using...

 

[Latestarter]

Having good neighbors is a real joy!

 

[madelynmccabe]

@CntryBoy777 those look super fun and I'm sure my girls would love them! They have one big tractor tire in their fence and I hope to find them a few more since they love it so much... and we have a bunch of extra lumber from our new shed and I bet I could talk my dad into letting me use some of it to build a small deck!
Any more suggestions???

 

[CntryBoy777]

It just depends on your scrap pile, materials availbe (cheap), and Free. A pile of gravel, some boulders, wood spools, and pallets can make many things and spots to be off damp ground. Looks like ya are some where in the Plains, cause in your pic it looks flat, concrete squares can be a path for them to walk on above damp ground and file some Hoof off in the process and aids in hoove problems. I sow rye grass around in their pen in the fall here and during winter they will walk on the squares to nibble rye grass and winter peas. Hoof trimming is minimal, and 4-6 put together makes a warm spot to lay on and drier than damp cold ground. Just remember when ya put things together don't put much in to it, because goats will have ya repairing it or replacing it enough. I make most to be able to come apart and put back together...keeps them Active and focused on something other than the Other side of the fence...

 

[CntryBoy777]

Here's my 3 when it is flip up and the ground is damp...

 

[madelynmccabe]

@CntryBoy777 yes! We are in the middle of Tornado Alley and there are no hills or any sort of high ground for them, although they would probably love to be on top of a hill, but there are none for miles and miles and miles... it's hard to see in my picture above but behind their hay feeder that have 10 or so rocks to wear their hooves down and they play on them so much that I haven't trimmed their hooves in a while!! It's amazing how much time a day they spend playing "King of the Hill" on those little rocks! I plan on making the platforms because where we live, there is no water runoff so it just pools in the yard and they don't like that at all. I definitely won't put too much stuff, I want to encourage them to graze more rather then to eat hay and grain that I have to buy! Again I cannot wait for this change and all of the extra space they will have!

 

[Bruce]

My "herds" live in the shed part of the barn. The upper part was built before the US Civil War, the shed part probably relatively early in the 1900s

South entrance to the shed part of the barn


Barn alley


Chicken coop is a converted horse stall about halfway into the barn.


The alpacas' stall is at the north end of the building. There is a small alley that runs along its north wall leading to their door to the outside.


NO idea why the picture of that little pile of wood is in there!

@Latestarter - 3 words: Wood's Style Coop! It would work great down there in TX.

 

[madelynmccabe]

wow! @Bruce That seems really nice and bet your animals love it!!