No More Free Range...except chickens.

We have finally finished the goat and pig pens.  It has been almost a month that these animals have been running free throughout our five acre farm.  The relief as the final stretch of fence went up is indescribable.  Just so nice to know that things will look about the same outside when I wake up in the morning as they did when I went to bed the night before.  Having the goats and pigs contained has made so many things easier.  We don't have to worry about feeding anymore...the goats cannot get into the shed with the grain buckets anymore.  We don't have to guard the chickens so that they can eat something before the piglets get to it.  We don't have to make sure that the chicken coop is impenetrable during the day so that the piglets cannot get inside and eat eggs.

The piglets and goats do not share my enthusiasm and have been very vocal about it.  But they will adjust.  Ruby and Jaws never did take a walkabout.  They respected the two lines of hot wire we had around them - even when it wasn't on.

J brought the pig shelter over from his dad's house and moved the chicken coop out of the way of the fence line.  Again, I don't know how people live without a crane truck.

We don't have a true shelter for the goats yet, but we put an easy-up in the center of their pen which creates a nice square of shade for them.  We will have to build something before fall so that they have real protection from the elements, but for now, shade is all that they really need.

Upcycled vendor signs for shade and windbreak.

We decided to use some old vendor signs we found as a windbreak and shade-maker for the pens.  I used fencing wire and attached it to the field fence.  I'm always looking for ways to jazz up the farm and these signs were perfect.  They definitely help with the wind (which seems to be constant) and they are creating pockets of shade for the critters inside the pen and out.

We have built a lot of fences, but I think that these two pens are a couple of the best ones.  J is proud enough of them that he is willing to take credit...and that's saying a lot.