New feeder

A new feeder... I know another one! This is my breeding feeder, I have a 2 sided pen for my boys and this is for the 2nd side. I have one built similar for one side. I need to breed on one side to keep everyone separate, and they need to not eat on the ground. My other one that is in the boys side gets rained in. I have to pull it out and redo the bottom and put a lid on it.


My bottom in this one is pretty tacky, 4 different scraps of plyboard are screwed down there just to keep the hay from falling through. The top is 2 scraps of plyboard also not quite right for the size, it overhangs enough in front and back but the sides are a bit shy. They do come far enough over to completely cover the top. The top is hinged so will need a bead of silicone to keep it from leaking. This is a great way for the hay to stay dry-unless we have driving rain.

So now I can start my breeding!!!

Family

My brother in law, his wife and their two girls visited for a few days this last wk. We had an amazing time! I didnt take very many pictures... yes I am ashamed! They had a new baby and honestly I didnt take many pictures at all!


Jacob and Tad camped out one night, they managed to survive the zebra sized mosquitoes. Tad had a fabulous time camping, the girls all stayed inside in comfortable beds. Briley (their cute 3 yr old) managed to be far more bug bit than the guys by a random mosquito who spent the night indoors.


We had smores together despite us staying inside. Briley wasnt interested after a couple of bites and discarded it. Wouldnt that be simple, if your kid DIDNT love smores? Maybe give some carrots instead... Just kidding! This little girl is adorable, smart and so well behaved. Her parents have done a great job with her, she is so fun and sweet. We enjoyed her and the new baby, who seems to sleep and smile most of the time! Except for that pooping... OH MY!

Nathalie is laying on the bench here, she and briley were both pretty exhausted from playing all day inside, outside, up and down the stairway. Jacob worked every day that he was here, he cut up trees with the chainsaw, did fencing with me, IE taught me how to fence... Fixed the trailer tire, used some pretty cool power tools, moved around/took apart some furniture, carried the heavy things, took the kids shooting, helped-IE did the bulk of the work with a friend who was helping-put 1100 pound bales of hay in the barn, closed that area off from the goats... The list goes on. He helped me enormously with the accomplishment of my to do list. It was an overwhelming list for me.

I am thankful for family, and thankful for family and friends who support us and help care for us when Frank is gone. It means a lot to us. This deployment will be over soon but I will have memories of this year of people who went out of their way to help us. This was the biggest, they drove 12 hrs with 2 babies to help me, visit with me and overall have a great time.

Carpentry

Tad has been allowed use of his bat, if he is nowhere near ANYONE as last yr he nearly removed Nathalie of her shoulder. It was an accident but all the same... he is hitting apples that fell off in the last big storm.


And this, is my next masterpiece. My first feeder was for a couple of goats who were separate IE bucks, this one is one of a set I am making for our feed barn. We have 5 grown does (female goats) and 5 doelings. This feeder will be technically big enough to feed all of them, but will give too many chances for bullying so will build a 2nd.

This is 8 ft long by 2 ft deep at the top, the bottom is a deeper rectangle because I have learned! Goats will knock things over. The broader base (I hope) will help aleviate this problem.

The angle of the slats in front allow for less waste, I saw a similar set up online. This feeder will hold 4 small bales.

Its all 2x4s, ripped 2x2s and 1x2s. Its pretty light weight this way, using the smaller pieces as slats. I will probably use hinges and some thin plyboard to put a lid on this just in case the feed barn roof leaks, or someone tries to put their feet on top-this is guaranteed to happen.

So there you go, my latest creation. This took aproximately 3 hrs though I took a couple of breaks to do school with the kids, wash the dishes, make some bread and do my share of chores in the house. Oh and play with the kids for a bit and at one point inquire of my daughter if she intended to be a meanie forever. The answer was no...

Rainy day

chicken coop-sort of...

Tad can mow the lawn now! He does less lines than I do, it looks better. He mowed front lawn 1 night and back last night, I do the edges still.


Here is his front lawn, so manicured!


This is my chicken house, we fixed it so it isnt tilting anymore no pics of that yet. This is my homemade brooding box, they do lay eggs in it. the roof is slanted on the brooder box so they dont sleep/poop on top of it. Its all made from scraps we had around here.

I put a rip 2x4 scrap in the back end of the roving yard for them to roost on, sit
on however they like. They actually sleep on it, I can sneak out quietly in the dark and they are all lined up there! But if I go out at 5 am, some may be inside the house. The back of the chicken house has a door, we are putting a door in the roving coop as soon as I get some 2x4s ripped.

The house and coop are 2 parts, but the whole thing rolls on wheels. You can move it together or separate. The roof has some gaps, I will fill in with spray foam insulation since this is my first, well 2nd, carpentry job and its far from perfect. It works though, gets the job done! Roosting boxes are perfect size, 2 chickens can use each box, they dont poop on the lid, the floor is lined with greenhouse panels and silicone in cracks for easy cleaning, the whole thing moves so new grass, new bugs, and no smells... Chickens without stink only works with a roving coop.