Fungus on the side of the straw, alongside the house.
A foot of manure and straw, ewwwwe.
The little Pygmy and Nigerian Dwarf goats love to snuggle together in the dog houses, that is they did until they could not get in them anymore. Last year, the houses were easy to clean because they were not under 4 feet of snow. This year there were times they were barely visible. The snow has melted somewhat and today the houses were dug from under the 2 feet of hay and droppings, finally thawed enough to dig, or rather fork the hay off. Some fungus had been growing alongside one of the houses. If I knew what it was, maybe it is a delicate edible mushroom?
This winter, the houses froze to the ground and it was impossible to lift them to clean them out, so what I ended up doing was adding a little straw every so often until the straw and manure half filled the dog house. Then the goats could no longer get inside and abandoned them. They were cold in their shelter, so I let the rams in to keep them warm and that worked just fine.
But now, the arduous task of digging them out and dumping over a foot of composting manure and straw was upon me. The larger ones come apart in the middle and the smallest igloo had the bottom removed, but it had long frozen in place and was obliterated before all the others. The three large houses were finally accessible to the half way point, at which the top was disconnected and the contents shoveled out, at least until I could lift and spill the rest. I still cannot use the hose, so I cleaned them as well as I could and put fresh straw inside about 6 inches deep. Now the little goaties can go inside nice clean and dry premises. The composing manure and straw did add some warmth during part of the winter because of the heat produced, but once everything froze at minus forty, the drifts covered the houses anyhow.
Enjoy your little houses, my goaties. You are so cute! Oh, and Robbie was occupying himself with a toy in a bucket while I was busy, silly puppy!
This winter, the houses froze to the ground and it was impossible to lift them to clean them out, so what I ended up doing was adding a little straw every so often until the straw and manure half filled the dog house. Then the goats could no longer get inside and abandoned them. They were cold in their shelter, so I let the rams in to keep them warm and that worked just fine.
But now, the arduous task of digging them out and dumping over a foot of composting manure and straw was upon me. The larger ones come apart in the middle and the smallest igloo had the bottom removed, but it had long frozen in place and was obliterated before all the others. The three large houses were finally accessible to the half way point, at which the top was disconnected and the contents shoveled out, at least until I could lift and spill the rest. I still cannot use the hose, so I cleaned them as well as I could and put fresh straw inside about 6 inches deep. Now the little goaties can go inside nice clean and dry premises. The composing manure and straw did add some warmth during part of the winter because of the heat produced, but once everything froze at minus forty, the drifts covered the houses anyhow.
Enjoy your little houses, my goaties. You are so cute! Oh, and Robbie was occupying himself with a toy in a bucket while I was busy, silly puppy!
Robbie, playing in the bucket!
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