We moved in. We finally have a place to call home.
This herd started out with 6 goats. Mocha, Mazy, Viola, Raelynn, Brain & Thomas that we picked out at Heather & Luke's. (These would not be the last to come from there...along with a friendship) The girls lived in half of a 2-stall barn, while the boys lived in the old pig pen.
A couple months later we added Tweed. The barn was getting full so things got shifted around so everyone had a comfy place. A calf hutch was gifted to us by a friend.
More goats were added to the herd via purchases, trades or birthings. My dad & I
drove to a Cabela's in Hamburg, Pa, where we met Lori. Lori was waiting in the parking lot with Shiori & Allie. Little did I know I was getting a wonderful friend along with those 2 does.
Added to the herd was Olegra, Tamara, Mercedes, Bevie, Snickers, Porsche & Jasmine along with oodles of kids. While I would love to keep them all, we had no excess room for them. We added more calf hutches. We moved the milking into the old milkhouse to give more space in the barn. We added an addition to the front of the barn.
Still.....we were running out of room. Kiddings became crowded & overwhelming. Sure, we could have whittled the herd down to smaller numbers. And we did. Some left with tears while others went to good homes.
George & I talked over our options. We finally decided that we needed a new barn. A barn with plenty of room, electricity, running water that could stay on even during the winter, a place to store all the feed, a place for milking that didn't require the goats or I to go outside in inclimate weather, kidding stalls, fans & best of all....no more struggling.
And so....we had it built. The old buildings that sat for the last half century were torn down. The land was pushed around and reconfigured. Cement was poured. The frame started to take shape. Metal was added. Wiring was strung with lights & outlets. Water was replumbed.
