No! That is not a funny joke for April Fool's Day, not in the least. Why do we have a blizzard out there today? The wind is howling fiercely and snow is blowing and staying on the ground. The ground was nearly void of snow, too, because we had such lovely temperatures in March. Granted, we could have used a little more precipitation and last night, we did have over an inch of rain, but gee whiz! Snow! Today! Not funny.
I have been cleaning the goat barn. It has almost two feet of manure packed bedding and the ammonia smell from the heap was horrendous once disturbed. While it was cold outside, I suppose the bottom was frozen. Now that it had thawed, it was unbearable to clean the barn, which is really an old round granary. I did some the day before and finished the main bedding yesterday, but I had company for supper, so quit and showered and finished making dinner, a delicious roast goat in orange Thai curry with aspargus and Daikon radish, and borscht soup. My mother loved borscht. I do not. Today it is still not a favourite, but my guest was Ukrainian, so I thought it fitting.
And today, I thought it would be quite easy to quickly do the chores since I had been able to use the hose and did not have to haul water in buckets on the wagon. Due to the blizzard, the chores took much longer than anticipated, but then I did get the coarse broom and swept the last of the mess in the goat barn. Then I sprinkled Dolomite lime on the floor to absorb the ammonia. It would have been best to allow the barn to dry out completely, but the does are pregnant and due anytime and with this blizzard, they need a warm shelter, clean and out of the wind. Sometimes things just have to happen, so the barn is back in use tonight. The goats do have another three sided outdoor shelter which they use much of the time. Fortunately the wind side is full plywood on the outdoor shelter, so they huddled in there together and were comfortable. It was just the sense of urgency because of the pregnant girls. Babies must be warm and dry when they are born to ensure survival. A blizzard is no place to enter this world.
Anyhow, the chores did get done and the barn did get finished, thank goodness. It was almost 8:30 when I put the birds in their coops for the night and bid them sweet dreams. I will sleep well tonight and hope you do too. ZZZzzzzzz. Imagine that - snow on April Fool's Day. Harumph!
I have been cleaning the goat barn. It has almost two feet of manure packed bedding and the ammonia smell from the heap was horrendous once disturbed. While it was cold outside, I suppose the bottom was frozen. Now that it had thawed, it was unbearable to clean the barn, which is really an old round granary. I did some the day before and finished the main bedding yesterday, but I had company for supper, so quit and showered and finished making dinner, a delicious roast goat in orange Thai curry with aspargus and Daikon radish, and borscht soup. My mother loved borscht. I do not. Today it is still not a favourite, but my guest was Ukrainian, so I thought it fitting.
And today, I thought it would be quite easy to quickly do the chores since I had been able to use the hose and did not have to haul water in buckets on the wagon. Due to the blizzard, the chores took much longer than anticipated, but then I did get the coarse broom and swept the last of the mess in the goat barn. Then I sprinkled Dolomite lime on the floor to absorb the ammonia. It would have been best to allow the barn to dry out completely, but the does are pregnant and due anytime and with this blizzard, they need a warm shelter, clean and out of the wind. Sometimes things just have to happen, so the barn is back in use tonight. The goats do have another three sided outdoor shelter which they use much of the time. Fortunately the wind side is full plywood on the outdoor shelter, so they huddled in there together and were comfortable. It was just the sense of urgency because of the pregnant girls. Babies must be warm and dry when they are born to ensure survival. A blizzard is no place to enter this world.
Anyhow, the chores did get done and the barn did get finished, thank goodness. It was almost 8:30 when I put the birds in their coops for the night and bid them sweet dreams. I will sleep well tonight and hope you do too. ZZZzzzzzz. Imagine that - snow on April Fool's Day. Harumph!
The first layer is removed. During the winter, every so often a new layer of hay or straw was scattered over the existing bedding. It was frozen to the floor and impossible to get out of there. This method is known as deep pack bedding and is thought to keep toes warm as it generates some heat from decomposition in place. But, whew! The ammonia smell when it was disturbed made my eyes water, so I had to take frequent breaks.
The green was the last layer, which was uneaten hay stems, from the feeder. I forked them out of the feeder and used them for bedding inside, since they are waste anyhow, as far as the goats are concerned.
The pile outside was relatively small yesterday when only half was finished. It is twice as large today and completely covered with snow.
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