The New Barn
We've outgrown the garage - time to move out & up!
When we decided to jump into the alpaca life, we had no barn on our 10 acres. Where were we going to house them? No problem! We converted our 2-car garage into stalls with doorways and lanes to the alpaca's respective pastures.
That garage served the alpacas well for 6 years as the herd grew slowly but surely.
We cleaned water buckets and hauled fresh water to the makeshift barn every day for them.
We brought sand and gravel in to warm and soften the concrete floor for them.
We scraped out the sand and gravel bit by bit every time we mucked the stalls (twice daily).
We added more sand and gravel to the stalls periodically.
When we realized that YES! we really can raise healthy and happy alpacas, we took the big plunge and ordered the barn! Best of all, our builder gave us a nice discount for a winter build. Sooo, in the coldest month of our winter, January, the project began. The project crew is a real hardy bunch. They've been out there on all but the coldest of days and our beautiful barn will be complete in a couple of weeks. Our work begins when the ground thaws. We'll be putting up the appropriate fencing to tie the whole pasture layout together.
The icing on the cake will be the automatic heated waterers in the new barn. No more hauling 5 gallon buckets!!!
That garage served the alpacas well for 6 years as the herd grew slowly but surely.
We cleaned water buckets and hauled fresh water to the makeshift barn every day for them.
We brought sand and gravel in to warm and soften the concrete floor for them.
We scraped out the sand and gravel bit by bit every time we mucked the stalls (twice daily).
We added more sand and gravel to the stalls periodically.
When we realized that YES! we really can raise healthy and happy alpacas, we took the big plunge and ordered the barn! Best of all, our builder gave us a nice discount for a winter build. Sooo, in the coldest month of our winter, January, the project began. The project crew is a real hardy bunch. They've been out there on all but the coldest of days and our beautiful barn will be complete in a couple of weeks. Our work begins when the ground thaws. We'll be putting up the appropriate fencing to tie the whole pasture layout together.
The icing on the cake will be the automatic heated waterers in the new barn. No more hauling 5 gallon buckets!!!
Tuesday, March 5, 2013