Tuesday 27 November 2007

Milk Scale II


Well, I purchased the milk scale. I emailed the sellers and they tested the scale with some weights for me. I am not planning to use it commercially or anything, but I read that you should track your goats' production as a way of monitoring their health, so I wanted some some degree of accuracy.

I just love the thought of hanging this old brass scale in my goat barn! Total cost was $9.99 US and $6.99 for shipping. That's a bargain, especially with the Canadian dollar so strong right now.

Thursday 15 November 2007

Milk scale

I saw a vintage brass milk scale on eBay. I wrote to the sellers (a friendly couple as it turns out) and asked about accuracy, bearing in mind that it would be for private and not commercial use. They wrote back that they tested it for me and it works well.
I love the idea of using this vintage scale to track my goats' production. It is less than $20 including shipping, so I might just go for it.

Friday 9 November 2007

The vision

As I write this, it is November 9 2007 and the kids will not be born until the Spring, and I walk often in the pasture where my kids will play.
I have an idea for a sort of jungle gymn for the kids -- a couple of wooden platforms at different levels, a heap of stone, and a long cedar post set horizontally. I got the idea for the post from a picture I saw on the Internet of someone's goats having fun on a fallen log. As it happens I have the cedar post and lots of lumber already.

I am making good progress on cleaning up my stable, hereafter known as the Goat Barn. I think I an focus on one of the horse stalls and get that in stellar shape. I don't see why I couldn't house two young goats in a stall meant for a stallion horse.

Tuesday 6 November 2007

Goat housing

I have about 5 acres of land, including a fenced pasture where a previous owner once kept sheep. Right now it's just a place for our golden retriever to run through the weeds.

When we moved in (July 2007) the weeds were already chest high, so I decided not to try to cut them down. As I write this it is November 6 and the vegetation is dying down. In the Spring, I will keep the weeds cut and hopefully the goats will do the rest.

Beside the pasture is a small stable. The building is not that well made but with some sprucing up it will do. It does have two nice horse stalls made wih rough sawn lumber, and a small animal pen between them. I am cleaning out the old bedding, and this will be the goat house. I will get some pictures of this work in progress online soon.

I am thinking to put two lines of electric fence around the goats' pasture and buy a solar powered fence energizer. The solar cell trickle charges a gell cell that energizes the fence. This way I don't have to run power from the house out to the pasture, or worry about escapees during a power failure.

Monday 5 November 2007

Outside the palace

I decided to acquire some goats for milk and companionship. This will be the record of the adventure as I (and my fiancee) adopt and raise our kids...

On the weekend we went to St Joseph Island to meet Sigrid, who answered my ad at SooToday.com for does. She is obviously a marvellous person who loves sharing what she knows, and will be a great resource.

We also stopped at the farm of Sig's friend Sherri, to see some goats that she got from Sig originally. Beautiful, calm, intelligent animals, as is Sig's whole herd.