New Goat Platform in Shed Now

This morning I went to McLendon's and got two half-sheets of exterior plywood and five 26" 4 x 4s so I could build a new platform in the shed for the goats. The one that was there didn't let me get behind it easily enough to gather the eggs that the chickens are laying back there, so I decided to reconfigure the space. Now there is even more elevated resting area for the goats with sufficient, accessible space under it so the hens can lay their eggs and I can gather them easily. A win-win for all concerned!

 

It was chilly this morning but the task required sufficient effort to keep me toasty warm. I started off in a thick jacket and my Russian hat (the one Lisa got me as an early Christmas present) but within twenty minutes I had to peel both off because I was sweating.

 

I had to dig out a lot of straw and pine chips to get down to the foundation of the shed--a base layer of crushed rock that I put in there ages ago to ensure adequate drainage out of the shed--so that when I built the platform the 4 x 4 legs would be sitting on bedrock and not straw or pine shavings.

 

I nailed the two half sheets of 1/2" plywood together to make a very solid platform and then put five posts underneath--four in each corner and one near the middle. After I did that, I put all of the soggy underlying straw and pine chips into the wheelbarrow and pushed it to the plastic shed where the hens sometimes hang out, because during the winter that area sometimes gets swampy, so I wanted to build it up over time using discarded straw and chips.

 

All during the time (at least 90 minutes, all told) I was working on the platform and getting the floor space in the shed mucked out before restocking it with fresh straw (not all of the straw was bad, so it didn't all have to come out, but two big wheelbarrows full of it did), the goats were turned out into the back yard to eat hay, carrots and a little grain. They don't wander far when I let them out; they stick pretty close to me.

 

Maggie and Mr. Tumnus (they're Nigerian dwarfs, a dairy breed, although Mr. Tumnus is half pygmy) kept coming back to check on me and watch my progress. They are true love bugs; they love to be tickled, scratched and cuddled. The pygmies do too but they are less pushy about it, and there are four of them, so they hang together a lot and wander around in a bunch, never far away. They don't seem to be as "needy" when it comes to getting their fair share of hugs and scratches but they are the more vocal breed of the two breeds, for sure. They cry plaintively whenever I go out into the back yard, wanting me to come over and interact in some way ("feed me, feed me!" usually, in winter; the rest of the year, they call to me to take them outside their pasture so they have a wider variety of growing foods--brush, blackberries, salal, ivy. etc. to choose from!). They only seem to compete this time of year when food is involved. But they're amenable to scratches when they're resting and chewing their cuds. Maggie and Mr. Tumnus are amenable pretty much all the time. Mr. Tumnus still considers himself a "lap goat" although he's bigger than his mom Maggie now. I have to discourage that. I allow him to put his front feet on me, or to straddle my lap on both sides and lean and lay on me, but the hoofs have to stay out off my legs and out of my gut these days, for sure...

They're very very plush this time of year. Their hair is longer and more dense; my fingers disappear when I run them through their coats this time of year. In summer, they're much less hairy and more sleek.

 

 

On my Facebook page (Kristine M Smith, Tacoma WA) you can find videos of my goats at all ages, from barely born to now. Enjoy!