And We Were Swingin'...

Yup. I HATE that song, too.....

But the title seemed appropriate.

I am 90% done with the stalls in the "new" part of the barn. I still need to fasten a few ends and add a few clamps, but I have started to build gates for the stalls. I also have decided on "Half Gates" so that the aisle between stalls is not shut off completely by all those gates hanging open. I also have decided on wood gates, instead of wire ones - for the most part.

I still MIGHT go with wire ones - we'll see.

Either way, a gate needs a hinge. There is NO way I was going to be able to afford enough new hinges (or even used ones) to finish the project, so I decided to MAKE my own.

Today, I cut out the hinge plates and got them ready to install (I'm going to install them in stalls....). These hinges are similar to what you would find on a freezer door, or a refrigerator. They are basically a piece of angle iron with a pivot hole on one flat, and two screw holes on the other flat.

Here is a photo or two:





I am going to TRY to get at least one done tomorrow to see if I like the wood gate. I can also use these same hinges on a wire gate (ones made from a wire cattle/combo panel...). Either way, it will be nice to have permanent gates in there, instead of
a panel tied with twine and baling wire....

The three mom's and their babies camp out at the gate every night to be let into their stalls. They all troop right in, and go to the proper ones. Every once-in-awhile, there is a "side track", but 98% of the time everyone knows where their bed is.

Now the chickens - that is a DIFFERENT story...

Dead Printer....

I don't print a whole lot of stuff, and what I DO print is usually not very complicated, graphic wise. Of and on over the past year or so, my printer has been acting up. It finally decide to pretty much die in the last few days.
Coincidentally, my wife needed a new scanner. She decided that she would get a new printer/scanner machine, and I would get her printer. So - we ended up going to Lincoln yesterday and buying a printer. This, of course, led to re-arranging of her office and my desk. Not a way to spend a Saturday......
On top of this, we had to get new cell phones, so we had to "set them up" today. It's amazing how much useless gizmo's they can get into a tiny box! As long as it makes phone calls, it's fancy enough for me!

I finished my hand auger and hooked it up to the grain bin. I found some auger "flighting" at neighbor's house. Some PVC pipe and fittings, a little welding on a handle, and I now have a new auger that brings corn from and outside bin into the barn. This will get the corn out of the barrels and out of the barn.
My wife's dad has a similar set up in Missouri, but he used the whole metal auger to make his from. I used the PVC to make it a little stiffer and to mate up with my bin easier. Both will work, especially if it is a shorter auger and is hand run.I still have a few small things to do on the bin, but it is pretty much ready to go.
I have put SOME grain in it and run the auger, but won't be able to fill it until it warms up a bit.

It's been cold an windy today. We didn't get the snow that the "Weather Gypsies" predicted. We were forecast to get 2" to 4", and got a dusting. The wind is not nice, but it's better then have it AND snow.

We also had FedEx drop a package off to us on Thursday. After they had left, we realized that it was for my sister-in-law (they live about 1/2 mile from us). As the FedEx truck was turning out of our driveway, I told my wife that they are "probably heading to their house with a package for us". We called my SIL and told her that her package was here and she said she'd stop by to pick it up. We found out today that they DID drop of a package for us at her house!

At least we got the right package to the right people!

Cold and windy....

It's been a rather cold week around here, so far. The wind has been out of the Northwest (mainly) and highs in the lower 50's. Night time lows are down to the mid twenties. With the wind outside, it has been hard to do any "finishing touches" on the OUTSIDE of the barn, so a few things INSIDE the barn have been getting taken care of. Stalls, doors, panels, feeders, and general cleanup have been the rule this week!

This morning, I managed to clean up and sift the last two 5 gallon buckets of milo I got for free a couple of months ago. A neighbor had given us a puckup bed full as he was cleaning it out of his silo. He had planned on dumping it out on the ground. I sifted it through 1/4" screen and then through a smaller screen to get most of the dirt out of it. I had trouble finding a sifter that was the right size. Window screen and normal "kitchen" type sifters were to small (and expensive). I ended up going to Walmart and buying a desk top "in basket" in their office supply isle. It is just about the size of a 9x13 caqke pan and works GREAT. I have been feeding the milo mixed with corn (2/3 milo, 1/3 corn) to my chickens. The rest willbe ground and mixed with corn, wheat and dried bread for feed.

I took my tractor over to my neighbor's house this noon. We worked on cutting the FEL bucket down to a more useable size. I will try to get some photos tomorrow. I have the correct LOADER for my tractor, but the bucket was too large. We also welded a couple of chain hooks to the top lip so it would be easier to hook a chain up to. It sure looks different! I can at least see what is going on in the bucket now - before I could not. The part we cut off weighs over 100#, so it makes the front end lighter. I could tell by the way the tractor steered, that things were different.

A couple of days ago, I used some of the deer we ground to make Salami. It takes a day and a half to make it (it has to sit in the fridge for 24 hours), so it isn't a quick thing. I only made 4#, so it will go quick. I'll need to make more before too long! I could eat a LOT of it in one sitting. I have to "ration" myself, so it stays around longer!

We also got another deer Sunday morning! This one came with the skin on and included the back straps. Skinning is not a problem for us to do, though. This one wasn't QUITE as large as the other deer, but we still got several pounds of ground, and several bags of steak or roasts. My wife also canned another 14 quarts of meat.