The girls came home on Halloween!!

[PattiXmas]

and boy were they STINKY!! Hopefully in March, we will be blessed with healthy and happy little kids! We changed the color of the barn around a bit. We had painted it green with red trim (Christmas colors) but we weren't too happy with the red. We have since changed the trim to white and it looks much better (even though we are not Spartan fans!). We will be doing the writing in red though.

The girls in one stall. We have made 2 more, but one has the chickens in it temporarily. It got cold here fast! We also have to finish up the gates.

Look, we have lights!!! Hubby was kind enough to run and install power out to the barn. We think we might put in a ceiling fan in the summer. He did install a window the other day, I just haven't gotten the pic yet.

The chickens in their "rented" area. We are planning on building a coop just adjacent to the barn, but giving them their own run. They are NASTY! If it wasn't for their tasty eggs, they'd be in the crock pot!

 

[cmjust0]

The gal on the left in the photo...with the frosty ears and muzzle...is a spitting image of the doe we lost a few weeks ago..

Hug her for me, if you would.

Glad they're back home with you.. I really like your setup, btw.. Looks good!

 

[PattiXmas]

The gal on the left in the photo...with the frosty ears and muzzle...is a spitting image of the doe we lost a few weeks ago..

Hug her for me, if you would.

Glad they're back home with you.. I really like your setup, btw.. Looks good!

Sorry about the loss of your baby. Snowy is a very sweet girl. She follows my daughter everywhere. Both girls were extremely happy to be back home.

I'll give her a big hug for you if and when she stops smelling like a buck .

 

[PattiXmas]

Another quick question - do you think we should insulate the barn? We were thinking about doing it, but have since ran out of time.

 

[lupinfarm]

Where are you located? If you're located in an area that gets cold cold temps like us here in Ontario, we went down to -36 last winter, sure am glad I insulated the chicken house!!. We insulated our goat house (it's definitely smaller than yours, its only 6x6 but I have 2 minis) with Roxul, R14 comfort batt insulation, put up vapor barrier and then plywooded over that. The girls are comfy and happy on those cold nights.

 

[ksalvagno]

Barn looks great. I would think some deep bedding of straw should take care of it. I don't know if your winters are any worse than Ohio but our barn is not insulated. We have a metal barn with OSB board over the bottom 4 feet to protect the metal from any damage an animal could do. No insulation in between that.

 

[cmjust0]

Depends on how cold it gets, I guess.. Our goats stay in a pole barn with no doors and 1/2" gaps between the boards. It keep the wind off, but it gets down to 0* or less at least once or twice a winter and stays in the teens sometimes for days on end.

No problems so far, that I can tell. We keep them with plenty of hay, and bring warm water at least once a day.. Been good enough so far.

 

[lupinfarm]

PattiXmas, your barn is a gambrel roof .. Is it a pole barn? I'm building stable blocks for my horses and I really like the look of the gambrel and with the roof structure that you have/truss system ,it looks like it would work for me as far as height is concerned.