New Red Barn

Here is our new goat barn! It is 18 x 12 with a 10 x 12 full height loft. Sky lights on the top. This wonderful building was built for us by "Duluth Shed" in less than 3 days. The barn is all solid wood.


Notice the little goat door and ramp cut into the main door. This is on the South side and will lead out into the goats everyday living area.


Windows on the East side to let the morning sun shine in. A high door was included so we could load hay directly into the loft.


Dutch doors on the West side. The inside floor is treated planks normally used for building decks, this will allow for plenty of ventilation. We even have electricity. Now all we need to do is paint it red with white trim, add the lattice, and put up the fencing. Addison and Chip will soon be enjoying their new home.

Bear Walls

Legend has it that the folks who lived here before us were the proud owners of two milk goats. The blue outbuilding lends credence to that claim as when we arrived it was outfitted with a feeder, had straw flooring, glass milk jars were stored in the corner, and there were goat pictures on the wall.

The odd thing about all this was that the property had everything to handle goats, yet there was no sign of the goats themselves. No droppings, no fur, no barren ground patches, nothing. Maybe the goats escaped from the blue building, goats are know to be brilliant escape artists. How hard could escaping be, the blue building was certainly no Alcatraz as the backside was a patchwork of poorly repaired holes and sheeting.


The mystery was solved one day when the furnace repairman asked if we had had any problems with the local bears. We stated that for the past two springs our bird feeders had been mangled by what seemed to be a bear, and the neighbors feeders and garden has suffered the same fate. The repairman laughed and let on that we had so far gotten off far lighter than the previous owners, who had in fact woken to the horrible sights and sounds of a bear ripping through the back wall of the blue building to help itself to the crunchy, cream filled goats that it found inside.



This episode (true or not) has given us pause as we have considered what type of shelter to build for our arriving flock. Hoop buildings have been researched, but couldn't a bear just rip through the fabric wall? Open three sided shelters would provide even less protection. The answer to this conundrum will require a little more thought, but it has surely given us pause to bringing on a few critters this spring and housing them in the blue building.