What did you do today?

[hihobaron]

Charlie Horse
Hello CH
Sounds like you and the Troops had a good Walkabout.
It has been just to bleeding hot and Humid here in SC to do much walkabout.
Heat index here was 105 degrees. At least out your way it can get hot but it is dry.
A van is a lot better transport for both your goat boy's and moving.
Warning ahead of time Goats will want to drive.
Pete and Sam have tried to hijack both SO Truck and a LEO Car that was here for a visit. (Friendly) Posted stories 
With a van you can use my goat tote idea in the back of the van to go walkabout rather than have to pull a trailer.
I have a wide variety of birds here too, Have no Idea what they all are. SO is a retired Raptor Rehab person.
So I leave the bird watching here to her. All I know is we have about 4 kinds of hawks, lots of flashy birds. Geese/ducks even a few Bald Eagles.
Also small flock of wild turkeys on the property here the bird kind NOT the Political kind.
The birds are safe, but the Political Kind "might" be used as targets.
Good Luck and a safe move.
hihobaron and the Troops in SC.

[Nanno]

"Manslaughter of crows"--I love it! So you're moving out soon, eh? Where you're going, we'll probably be seeing you when we make our near-annual trips to Utah then!

[Taffy]

Today I made two more goat houses out of used fertilizer tanks. Pressure washing them, using the saws all to cut the door and the bottom out of the tank, more pressure washing to finish cleaning the inside of the tank and then used the forks on the tractor to haul them over and lace them in the goat pens. I still need to mount the ventilation cover on the roof of each of them but I ran out of daylight.

I'd penned the goats in another pasture so I could work without them under foot (or tractor tire!). Once i had the tanks placed in the pens I let the goats out. They were leery of the tanks and approached them cautiously. Which is crazy - I placed them right next to the other tanks in the pens! Once they decided the tanks were okay they ran in them and checked them out.

Even though my goats have lean-tos they prefer the tanks in the coldest weather and winds. This knocks one of my pre-winter chores off the list!

[hihobaron]

Taffy
Hello
Who stole who's Idea to use Totes for Goat Shelter and Transport.
You know I am "Kidding" My Boys like both the The Red Neck Goat Shed as well as the Goat Tote that I use mainly in the truck as a way to take them walkabout. Just got another one for "FREE" always good !!!!! It has a valve problem the people we buy hay from could not fix.  So I have another Goat tote/shelter with for me about 20 minutes  when I cut the top out.
Question for you???
You mentioned "Ventilation" what are you using to keep rain out, home made or something store bought??
If a Idea works use it, Copying is the highest type of Complement.
==============================
Today's Project
Picket Pins for all 4 boys. Going to build them myself out of concrete form stakes. At this point I am not worried about weight. Want some thing I can pound in the middle of driveway or old logging road tie the boys off to and let them clear back brush. They will have 360 degrees of rotation as well as swivels on snaps on both ends of line.
I don't think the boy's can pull out a 18 inch X 3/4 inch concrete form stakes I have a steel post puller when I need to move them.
Happy Trails
hihobaron and the Troops in SC

[Taffy]

The fertilizer tanks I use are different than the totes you are using.  These are large tanks that are piped to irrigation systems to deliver fertilizer at a set rate.  The top of the tank has a large screw on lid where it is filled with the liquid fertilizer.  I use 2x4's and screw them to the lid hole to raise above the sides of the lid lip then screw a leftover piece of the tank Ive cut out to cover the hole.  This covers the hole but also allows ventilation so there's no condensation in the tank.  They aren't fancy but they work great and last quite awhile.


   

[Nanno]

Do you cut out the bottom to allow drainage, Taffy?

[Taffy]

Yes. I cut the entire bottom our except for about a 1' lip which is left to help with stability. I fill the bottom of the tank with 2 bags of cedar shavings to begin with and add more as needed. They are easy to move (with a tractor) so if I need t move them to a new spot I can.

[Dave-Trinity-Farms]

And with a little effort, you can often times get these for free from places that supply em along with the chemicals. When they get cracked or get holes, they just break em up and throw them away

[hihobaron]

Hello All
RE: Goat Hotel
Nice Idea
I have to keep mine more "Portable"
AKA: No Loader Tractor any more ,Just Arm Strong Power used to have them but no more.)
So the (2) totes I have now will work for the boy's and there IS No plan to add more critters here.
Unless I need replacements.
Plus for general shelter I have the Red Neck Goat Shed that is semi-Mobile too.
It has been storm proven with over 6 inches of heavy wet snow and Ice on it here in SC winter.
It handles wind well because of the arch/curved profile and has 6 steel fence post and tube gates all the way around 4 foot high and tightly wired together then the arch is made out of cattle panel and covered with a commercial grade truck tarp. with materials on hand that I had less than $100 to put up and every thing is reusable.
8 X 10 and 9 foot center height. (4) goats (wethers) in the usually mild weather we have here in SC it works well.
Happy Trails
Thanks for the pictures.
hihobaron Blizzard,Fuzzy,Pete,Sam and the Troops in SC

[Nanno]

We had a good time at the Colorado State Fair on Sunday and Monday. We didn't bring home any spectacular wins, but we had a good time and the girls stayed healthy and behaved themselves. The girls got sick last time I showed at fair, so this time I brought a jar of immune-booster vitamin gummies for them to snack on. No runny noses this time--yay!

Tigerlily showed me what a negligent goat owner I've been at training her. People who show dairy goats stand their goats up square and a little stretched out, then make them stretch and flatten their backs by running their fingers down certain points along the goats' spines. The junior does (those without udders) also have to tolerate the judge lifting one hind leg and looking and feeling for extra teats. Tigerlily did NOT want me to touch her anywhere on the spine, and she violently objected to having her teats messed with. Most goats will flatten down their backs when their spines are brushed with the fingertips, but Tigerlily's reaction was to rear straight up in the air and hop around. So I had to spend part of each morning working with her in a quiet corner of the barn. I didn't ask her to flatten her back--that was too much to require at the last minute--but I did want her to at least stand nicely when touched since judges also like to feel the goats' backs for width and spring of rib. With a little time and a few cookies I was able to convince her that no one was trying to attack her by fiddling with her back end. She learned to stand nicely for back stroking, but she never got great about having her teats handled. Still, there was definitely some improvement. She went from kicking at the judge in Sunday's show to simply sitting down for the judge on Monday. Luckily judges take this sort of thing with a bit of humor. After all, they themselves have no doubt had a few novice goats that were nervous or angry about being handled in unfamiliar ways at a show. I have no doubt that Tigerlily will be much better-behaved at the Harvest Show this coming weekend.

Pepi, on the other hand, was a sheer delight to work with. This little darling is not only as cute as button, but she's as laid-back and easygoing as a goat can be. I put her on the stanchion and introduced her to clippers for the first time just before her class. I don't clip my goats for shows, but I do trim around the edges a bit, and her belly, tail, and legs needed some sharpening up. She never flinched when I turned on the clippers, and when I buzzed them around her belly and legs (always ticklish places!) she didn't move a muscle. She just looked round at me with a curious expression on her face and watched. She stood similarly well when I sprayed her with Show Sheen, and every time after that when I let her out of her stall she would scamper across the aisle, leap onto the stanchion, and ask me to primp her some more. Pepi was quiet and calm when I took her mother, Petunia, away to the show ring, and she was quiet and calm when I took her for her own class. I never heard one peep of alarm or protest from this little goat all weekend, and she was friendly with everyone who came by to pet her. She kept straining her head out of the stall with bright-eyed eagerness so children walking by would stop to stroke her face and ears. She delighted a lot of people this weekend, including me.