....over the summer!
For starters the biggest news is that we got the old horse barn fixed up and majorly upgraded. Here's before pics
This was after we had taken off the partly collapsed roof, and the tin siding. We had used this barn for years, and my hubby had done the roof and sides himself, but a major snowstorm collapsed part of the roof and a "somewhat" tornado ripped another section off. So here is the process of building...
Its massive now. The pics above are of the framework. There is now a hayloft above the stalls. And several pens that hubs built on the left side, and a tack room that will be heated and insulated.
My favorite feature is the haybunk hubs built between the 2 pens.
And now the tackroom, which i only just finished painting yesterday
Next year we will add a second level and stairs to it above the tackroom. That too will all be enclosed and have the leather workshop in it, as well as a mini type apartment for resting in comfort during fooling and kidding seasons. It will look like a repeat of what's there now, with windows facing the animals living spaces.
You can also see, the big space behind the tackroom is hay storage. So far half of that leanto is full of hay for goats (horse hay hasnt been moved yet)
We did run into an issue with the hayloft though- it's a massive space but the skidsteer cannot reach it everywhere due to the grade of the floor. (The building was originally built for dairy bulls in the 1960s- so the floor slants for outdated drainage practices back then.) We wanted the loft to be level, so on one end it is actually higher. And the plan is to have stairs built to reach it and then holes cut above each feeder to throw hay down into.
But now we have to come up with an alternative way to get hay up there, since round bales can't be taken apart up there, and can only get there at the shortest grade. (Those will have to come back down). And not sure if big squares could be gotten up there, or if we have to go old school and get small squares and an old conveyor to get those in and stacked. My son, who has never stacked hay, thinks that's a great idea. My hubs and I have though, and oiy that's so much extra work. We'll see what happens- for now we're just gonna leave the space sit until the best solution presents itself, because there are more important things to focus on getting done before winter comes.
The first residents in the horsebarn were weanling goats, oh the irony, but soon after a few of my young horses moved to the pond pasture. They still haven't used the stalls cuz there is materials waiting to be cleared out.
This week my little Pedro did move in, and is staying in the big pen next to the goats. He's been having so many issues and daily treatments that it just works better having him be alone in a pen. He's such a good boy, and doesn't care about being alone either cuz nobody's pushing him around then, and the goats keep him company. Next week I'm taking him to a specialist and hopefully get one of his issues sorted.
Today's agenda is building some stuff useful for stables everywhere.
A horse update is next to follow as that's been some major big things as well!
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