Jumping the Moon Dairy - the next chapter

[babsbag]

Tomorrow is the day...I get to take another test. And I get to see if I have everything on the list done. I has been a crazy day, trying to beat the rain.

You know that goats melt in the rain so I needed to do something to cover the area that they wait in for milking. Our rains are starting tomorrow and it looks pretty wet for the next week. I bought this cover a few months ago and thought that it was going to be "easy" to put up. HA HA. I should have known better. So we ran out of time this last weekend to get it done, my fault for grossly underestimating the scope of the project. I was seriously considering not milking anymore this year...goats hate rain.

But DH went off to work on Tuesday and I decided that I could do this on my own. What a project it turned out to be. It is 20 x 24 and much taller than I had imagined. I need to put an end panel on it as our winds will blow rain right through there. I looked at buying the end panels but they are $$$. And this is only temporary (I hope). 2 days later and here it is. I also need to do a better job of anchoring it. Right now it is tied to some t-posts but I know that DH can do it better when he gets home this weekend.

I am about ready to throw Jumanji in with the does and let him have his way with them. I still have 20 does to breed and I just can't catch them in heat. Saturday I will pull my LM buckling out of the pen he shares with my mini Alpine buckling and put all the mini does in with the buck. I did sell one mini Alpine buck a few days ago so that is good. I would put a couple of does in with my older bucks and just not care who gets bred to who but I don't want to start a war between the boys. I just need them bred. I did not want to wait this long to have milk again.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Holy Cow - awesome that you put that up all by yourself. Amazing what a determined woman can accomplish! I think it looks great!

Good luck getting all those does bred.

 

[Hens and Roos]

very cool that you could get it put up by yourself!!

 

[Bruce]

REALLY tall! Looks to be 7'+ where the roof starts. Do you build the roof first then put the legs in? I can't imagine most people would have a ladder tall enough to do it the other way around. Definitely a 2 man (or one woman!) job.

 

[CntryBoy777]

The things we do for our animals....and go thru....looks superb, just hope they enjoy it....and Jumanji gets the job done for ya....

 

[Mike CHS]

You probably posted but I don't recall what is left to do before you can get licensed. Is that to-do list getting any shorter?

 

[babsbag]

@Mike CHS The to-do list should be to-done, we will see what the inspector says. I do have to get the lab approved by a technician from the State and my labels approved and maybe printed, we will see how my printer does on them. I am so close it is really frightening, not sure what the next step is.

@Bruce the directions say build the roof then lift one side and put legs under it. Well a few problems, one...it was only me and it is heavy, and two I was building around a holding pen with a ramp in it. So I put up the legs on one side, put in one rafter, and then put in the legs on the other side and then the center. I have a 16' orchard ladder and yes, I used it, I got very creative on ways to hold the rafters and getting them in the connectors, and said a lot of prayers. You see the orange strap? It was tied off to my truck at one point as everything wanted to lean to the downhill side. (DUH!!) The canopy is 6'6" at the side but I have 2' leg extensions on the down hill side. Then I had to put all those cross bars in. Another one of those what was I thinking moments.

To put the cover on you run a length of pipe through a pocket and tie ropes to it and throw the rope over the frame and pull. That is the same way we did the big hoop barn except then we had about 6 people pulling on the ropes. The cover went on pretty easily, it isn't exactly perfect and they don't give you any extra on the ends for the overlap. When DH is here and it isn't raining I will get on the ladder and "encourage" it to get a few wrinkles out while he is ratcheting down the cover.

Now to get the does to walk about 50' from the barn to the corral in the rain might still be a challenge. I really don't want to build a covered walk way for them.

 

[CntryBoy777]

Next ya will be putting in a conveyor belt so they can just ride, like at airports....ya could always stick patio umbrellas in PVC pipe holders for them.....
Good Luck with the inspection and Hope all goes well...

 

[Bruce]

I really don't want to build a covered walk way for them.

I guess you just don't care very much about the happiness of your goats!

Another one of those what was I thinking moments.

Clearly you were thinking:

They have you put in the collar ties AFTER you've raised the roof???? 10' off the ground? Wouldn't the whole roof be easier to lift if they were already in place to keep the rafters from spreading out? The strongest shape is a triangle but it isn't a triangle without all 3 sides. I think, given a reasonable number of helpers, I'd even put the tarp on before raising the roof and that would only be a question of weight.

I am so close it is really frightening, not sure what the next step is.

Um,

1. milk goats
2. pasteurize milk
3. bottle milk
4. put labels on bottles
5. sell milk

!!

 

[babsbag]

@Bruce Putting the tarp on is easy, throwing the rope over the frame took me a few tries. All those years of playing softball paid off so at least I don't "throw like a girl". And yes, they have you put the collar ties on after it is raised, and they also don't give any clue as to where they are to go. I would have liked for them to tell me that they are 'x' number of inches from the joint instead of dangling 14' in the air and wondering if I have them even; moving that orchard ladder alone is not easy so I move it as little as possible. Fortunately I have a good eye for distance so my first guess of "looks even to me" was spot on, but still, they could have told me it was 13" from the joint.

And your list of what to do next looks so simple. I passed the test; no more boring reading to do.

The dairy and the processing plant are actually to separate licenses. The dairy may be certified next week after she tests my water, I design a way to drain the tubing I use for transferring milk, I get the correct charts for the chart recorder, and get water to the trailer that has the bathroom in it. All of that is easy.

The processing plant has a few more things to do. But mostly she wants to see how I am going to clean the pasteurizer and I have to get a cover for a 2" port in a lid that I won't be using on the bottler. And last but not least, get the labels approved and the lab. Almost there.