So Christmas is over, which is usually very anticlimactic for me personally. However, the imminent arrival of my goats and an unusually warm Kentucky December day have inspired me to goat prep. I have been researching goat ownership for over a year at this point. Sometimes in order to achieve a goal you have to make your steps achievable. I knew early on that ideally I would have more land and a nice goat barn. Let’s be honest, ideally I would be a stay-at-home goat Mom and skip through the daisies with my cute little goats. When making my plans I realized if I waited for the ideal, I would probably never own goats. I started looking around at my current resources and researching affordable ways I could own goats.
My first obstacle that I noticed was housing my cute little goats. Nigerian Dwarfs are one of the smallest of goat breeds, which means I don’t need a big barn. I watched several youtube videos and discovered that pallet sheds could be an option. I am not a “handy” person and have never really built anything. I was really nervous to even attempt building a shed. Once again it came down to “no risk it, no biscuit”, which happens a lot in homesteading. I found some pallets and went for it.
With a little help from the men in my life, I actually built a pallet shed. My type A homesteading husband got involved towards the end. He usually sits back until he can see if I have any hope at all of pulling off my wild and crazy homesteading plans. He always encourages me and rarely criticizes, though sometimes he will say, “No, there is no way we can do that.” This particular time he drove me to some questionable areas and helped me pick up pallets.
However, after finding that my goats are coming soon, I learned that my pallet shed will serve its purpose in the spring/summer months, but my young goats will need a more airtight option for cold nights, especially while they are young. We happen to have a shed addition close to our house that will serve as an overnight option for my goats, until maybe I can have something more permanent built. I didn’t anticipate having baby winter goats, so another golden rule of homesteading is: be flexible.
One of my golden rules of homesteading is: use what you have. We soon discovered that an old unused post in our field made a perfect corner post for our pallet shed. With some effort and sweat we actually erected a shed. I have been slightly impressed with my efforts, as the shed has actually held up during storms and winds. I completed my project for about $50-60, whereas pricing sheds I could not find anything less than $1,000.
I worked today to clean out our shed room and to make our pallet shed more airtight as well. After working an afternoon with more plywood and plastic, I was pleased with the wind reduction inside my shed. I am thinking it will be a perfect daytime shelter for my baby goats to get out of the rain, wind, and cold. I made a youtube video (my first) about the construction of the shed. I now wish I had videoed while I was building, which ties to another homesteading golden rule: you never know when you will succeed. I am including a link to my most recent youtube video. My media manager is working on some more youtube content but he has to take a break to study for his driving permit test. I am getting closer each day to being ready for my baby goats. Coming soon, I will let you know what names I picked out, along with some other homesteading content.
Hettie’s Homestead 
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