Time for a Chicken Coop (By: Jim)

Our son, Jason, moved off his farm land this month. He offered up his chickens and equipment. We did not have a chicken coop, nor a place to put one, so I ordered one from a family who builds them for a living. As soon as I saw the coop, I realized it was in need of many modifications to work properly. It weighed about 400 Lbs. and could not be moved by two adults. I bought three wheelbarrow wheels and made a frame for them to to ride in. The four doors had no trim support, so I redesigned them to weather seal the side hen boxes. The side screen windows were open, so I made storm shutters for both sides. The chicken coop was roofed and weather sealed the day before the chickens were picked up. Jason gave us an automatic feeder and automatic watering cups, so the chickens are pretty-much maintenance free. He also gave us a solar light system, which causes the chickens to lay throughout the night. We are averaging 13 eggs a day from 18 chickens. The cost for feed is very low because the chickens are eating left over feed from the goats.

This picture shows the automatic feeder box to the left of the chicken coop. The black pole on the right side of the chicken house is a solar light system. We just started on our yearly garden. I will report on that next month. Between the Goat milk and meat, the Chicken eggs and meat, and the garden, We are EATING THE QUALITY OF FOOD THAT GOD INTENDED FOR US TO EAT, and our health is improving daily. The FDA should be ashamed of themselves for pushing chemically treated food and destroying the health of so many people.

My dad's lathe (by: Jim)

1940's oil can made in USA

Dad's name tag still on his tool box

1953 South Bend, Model A, machinist lathe: Needless to say, it has been many years since I have run a metal lathe. So many that it seems like memories of someone else’s life. Back in 1962, my Dad’s machine shop was doing a good deal of business, and the lathes in Dad’s shop were much bigger then this one. Dad bought this lathe years after he closed down the shop.

When Dad’s bypass surgery went bad, it was a shock to everyone. Dad had planned to be in the hospital only a few days. The shop was a mess, because Dad had unfinished projects he planned to complete after his surgery. Due to the poor medical service in San Luis Obispo County, the family spent the next seven years caring for Dad and dealing with the medical system. Dad’s shop was pretty much ignored. Tools were either rusting where they sat or disappearing one at a time. The lathe was cleaned a few times, but it still suffered from neglect. Every time I looked at that lathe, it brought back so many memories. Then, I noticed the rust, something Dad would have never allowed on his tools. When Dad passed away, I asked Mom for the lathe. Not that I needed a lathe, but I did not want to see it disappear and I did not want to see it neglected anymore.

I brought the lathe to Oregon in several pieces. There were several boxes of rusty calipers and attachments that had not been used in over thirty years. I recognized many of the tools from back in the sixties when the machine shop was going strong, but I had never seen them so dirty and rusty as they had become.

I built a table for the lathe. The top was made from antique 4x12’s from the 1950’s, and the frame from new 4x4’s. When I finished the top, my wife wanted to use it for a dinning table. Some people laughed at the fact that so much detail work was put into the table finish. It may have been foolish to spend that much time on it, but the work was my expression of how I felt about it, plus I wanted to show my mom that the very best care was given to Dad’s lathe.

Day by day, week-by-week, and month-by-month, I took the lathe apart. Each part was cleaned to bare metal, polished on a buffer and painted. Thanks to the Internet, I located parts list and diagrams to assemble the lathe back together. Surprisingly, there were a couple parts missing, but replacement parts were located. The drawings showed many parts to have leather washers. These washers dissolved years ago, and I could not find them anywhere. I then asked myself, “What would Dad do?” I went down to the Goodwill Store and I bought an old leather belt. You remember, the kinds that were really made out of genuine leather. Using metal washers as a pattern, I cut out the leather washers and they look like factory made items. All circular control wheels were polished out to look like chrome. The lathe was painted original gray, but I used orange for the trim instead of the original black.

Dad did not like polished out tools. He was very picky about tool maintenance, but being pretty was not one of his requirements. In fact, when Dad saw a pretty tool he said it was a sign of an owner who had too much time on his hand and screwed up priorities. I am sure if Dad saw his lathe now he would say it looked like something bought from Home Depot. The colors chosen were to match my other machines, which were bought at Home Depot. I spent four months on this project in honor of my Dad, but I polished it out for my mom. I wanted to be able to tell her. “Look Mom, perfectly taken care of, just like I promised.  

Building An Adjustable Goat Stanchion (by: Jim)

We looked at several goat milking stands and we talked with several goat owners about how they came about choosing their stand(s). The information was very useful, but we had a special problem. We are raising two different sizes of goats. Our stanchion  needed to have an adjustable head lock, and the front needed to have an adjustable feeder. None of the commercial stanchions  provided these qualities, and all of the commercial stanchions were ridiculous in cost.

With the help of local breeders, I came up with the approximate size. I made our stand a little taller then most, so Jean would not have to bend down when milking, or trimming the goats hooves. The pictures below show how the feeder is adjustable by pulling the Oak pins on each side and moving the feeder to a higher, or lower slot. I chose Oak for the pins, because the Pine pins kept flying apart on the lathe when I was turning them.

ADJUSTABLE HEAD LOCK: I made a metal locking device and attached it to the handle of the headboard. I then cut slots in the cross-member for the lock to fit in. I cut a slot every inch to accommodate all sizes of goats. Once again, the Pine was a failure. The cross-member broke out between the slots every time I put pressure on the headlock board. I replaced the cross-member with a Hard-rock Maple board and the slots were as solid as steal.

This project was sanded with fine 320 sandpaper, and all edges were rounded off for safety of the animal and the owner. Hopefully, these pictures will give other owners new ideas of how to build a completely adjustable Goat Stanchion. This is just one way to do it. With the help of other Goat Breeders, I am sure this stand can be improved on. The important issue is that we all provide input to help one another.

OUR GOAT BARN ( by: Jim)

GOAT BARN: When you only have a little over one acre, you have to plan out every new development. The main Goat barn was no exception. Goats like to drag their bodies along a fence line, so the fence had to be secured on top and bottom. With limited resources, I decided to use the woodshed for the stable. It is directly across from our side door and away from neighbors. There is easy access and a clear view from the house to watch for predators. The woodshed was only a roof held up by four fir tree posts. I made a frame for the siding. Home Depot wanted too much for their siding, so I made a deal with a family who runs a one-man Ceder mill. He cut me seventy 1X6 boards 6 feet long. They are truly one inch thick and six inches wide. Jean and I set the fence post and strung out the fencing. We then stapled the fence every six inches to top rails and bottom rails. We stapled the siding to the walls and put in an automatic watering system. After adding a few extras, like a bench for the goats and a window to access the feeding bins, we had a new goat barn.