From Trees to Lumber, to Goat Barn!

Remember those trees we had cut and trucked to the guy with the mill? (If not you can read that post here.) Well some of it has been milled into lumber already and Don picked a load up in his small trailer and is using it to build the goat barn.

I can't begin to express how wonderful it was to have two hard working helpers working with Don today. The three of them made quick work of getting the rafters up on the goat barn and the tin roof on.  You can see the posts with Don and I starting to build the goat barn Here and Here .

 It's very satisfying to have your own trees milled into lumber

 Don loaded a small load of the green lumber into his little trailer so he could use it on the goat barn. 

Nice stack of lumber so far he has milled about 1,300 ' from our trees and he still has about another 700' to go. 

 

 Getting those rough sawn rafters up. Those rafters came from trees we milled a couple of years ago. 

 Don and Clora up on the scaffolding. It was really windy today!

 Getting the tin roof on!

 Jim and Clora cutting the tin to size.

Three sets of hands make quick work of a small project like this.

 Putting up the last few pieces of tin.

 And with that they called it a day. don still needs to screw down the ridge cap but they put in a good long day and he was tired.

A little fun between projects and raindrops.

  Ember was transfixed by a bird outside the front door collecting her fur from the doormat. 

Later on a little Dark Eyed Junco fledged and flew right over Ember's head. She jumped up and snapped at the air not even realizing what had just buzzed her. That little fledgling just barely made it past her. 

 Common Whitetail Male

Common Whitetail Female munching on a Crane Fly

Meanwhile the boys were trying to convince me that they had been imprisoned and were being held captive against their will.

 

They stared me down plotting their escape!

 Watch out for the little one with the squinty eyes. He is an escape artist!

Baby Chicks Sleeping, Sunbathing and Eating

My computer has been in the shop so I'm doing this blog post from my phone which I find a little challenging. The chicks are growing and are still so adorable I'll share some photos of them here today.

We've made some more progress on the goat barn and Don started to stonewall project in the yard where the pool is going to go. I am getting around without crutches now and just wrapping my ankle. Lots going on these days, when I get my computer back I'll update the blog with photos of the other projects.

Baby Chicks Day 2

We got some more work done on the goat barn but I haven't gotten to uploading the photos yet so today I will just share with you some really cute photos of the chicks on day 2.

Day Old Chicks in the Ultimate Brooder!

Our chicks arrived today and our over the top, palatial, brooder is working out so well! The chicks seem to love being able to look out the window and to nap in the sunshine that pours in on them. The Sweeter Heaters are working great and everybody is drinking and eating. So all is well in baby chick world. Yesterdays post gave some of the details about how big we built the brooder you can read that post here. 

 

At the post office in Putney, Vermont picking up our baby chicks

 

Getting ready to unpack them into our palatial, light filled brooder with the Sweeter Heaters

Introducing each of the 35 chicks to the bell waterer for their first sip of water. The water is enriched with vitamins, electrolytes and sugar to help them recover from their 3 day journey in the mail.

Checking out their new digs and chowing down on some organic chick stater mash from Green Mountain Feeds

Below are three videos of me getting the chicks settled in. They were quite stirred up and were chirping a lot but I have to say after we got them all settled in I have been really pleased with how quite and contented they have been. So far the Sweeter Heaters are really awesome. The news paper will only be covering the wood shavings for the first day or two to protect their legs and to help them find the food on the floor without eating the shavings. 

The chicks seem to love being able to look out the windows and they sit and watch me move about the house as if I am their television entertainment ;-)

The Buckingham Palace of Chick Brooders

I read an article a while back about a woman who experimented with raising her chicks in one of those greenhouse windows that you see on houses. Her theory was that the chicks that were raised on the ground in cardboard brooders could not see their surroundings and were terrified when their owners reached down into the brooder to feed, water or handle them. She said that when she was reaching down into the cardboard brooder it fired the chicks instinct that a hawk or owl was swooping down on them. She felt that if they could see the trees and birds out the window and see her whole body at eye level when she tended to them they would be much happier, tamer birds. We are going to free range out birds when they are old enough so it will be a great benefit to have tame birds that will come out of the woods easily at night to go in the coop and not fly up and roost in trees. I also wanted a safer brooder so we are not using heat lamps. Don already had one house burned to the ground because of heat lamps and that is a tragedy no one wants repeated. After doing some research on alternatives I decided to use 2 of the Sweeter Heaters. 

So I set to work on designing a brooder that would keep the chicks healthy, happy, visually stimulated and socialized. I think I might have gotten a bit carried away. Anyway Don finished putting it together today and he drove me up to the feed store, Agway and Tractor Supply so I could get the rest of the items we needed to prepare for their arrival. We will be raising them organically so we were happy to find organic chick stater close to home.

 Don putting the sides on the base. The protective film is still on the plexiglass in this photo so it looks cloudy. 

 The top is made of hardware cloth, a fine wire mesh that is very sturdy.

 I wanted to have two separate doors that folded down in the front for easy access. I also wanted them to be able to be closed at different degrees with a chain and hook for extra ventilation if needed. 

 The brooder is 6' wide, 4' deep and 2' tall from the platform. It's about 3-1/2 feet tall from the floor. 

 Some of the supplies we gathered today, the rest of the stuff is in the car. We were too pooped to unload it tonight. 

Here are the two Sweeter Heaters I bought. They are radiant heaters that are very safe and energy efficient. 

"Sweeter Heaters are safe, energy-efficient, reliable heaters for up to 85 chicks, or for chicken coops in the bitter cold. This type of heater is our favorite by a mile! They are far, far safer than the traditional heat lamp alternative, and will save you money on electricity in the long run. Please see below for full product features/benefits." ~My Pet Chicken 

You can learn more about the Sweeter Heaters by clicking here: My Pet Chicken 

Stay tuned our 35 day old chicks should be here either tomorrow or Saturday.