{"id":3157,"date":"2011-12-09T14:00:05","date_gmt":"2011-12-09T21:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/?p=3157"},"modified":"2011-12-12T05:50:49","modified_gmt":"2011-12-12T12:50:49","slug":"up-on-the-rooftop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/?p=3157","title":{"rendered":"Up on the Rooftop."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I have always considered light and air to be an essential part of raising animals.\u00a0 When we were producing 350 ducks a year, their barn had 2 covered rooms–one for nesting and one as a brooder room– and the rest of it was open wire roof and sides.\u00a0 After all, the ducks didn’t mind the rain and the main purpose of the barn was just to keep predators away from them at night.\u00a0 But when the duck flock decreased and the goats moved into the large barn, there had to be a roof.\u00a0 Goats don’t do rain.\u00a0 They don’t even do sprinkles.\u00a0 Plus we now had a lot of hay to keep dry, too.<\/p>\n

As usual, the transition from duck barn to goat barn was done with a lot of forethought and planning.\u00a0 We like to be thoroughly prepared for big changes around here.\u00a0 Which meant that on a Friday I decided to move the goats and therefore had to have the barn covered by Saturday.\u00a0 Since Saturday comes immediately after Friday, I made a trip to the local box stores to price various tarp sizes and weights.\u00a0 After all, one should always consider quality as well as price.\u00a0 Then I bought the cheapest tarps I could find.\u00a0 I mean, doesn’t everyone?\u00a0 Why, when you’re purchasing things online, is there even an option of looking at items online in order of “Price from high to low”?\u00a0 Who purposefully wants to buy the most expensive item?!\u00a0 That search option seems like an overoptimistic marketing gimmick to me.\u00a0 I mean, really.<\/p>\n

The Other Half was, of course, against the use of cheap tarps as a roof.\u00a0 Because he could easily put up a real roof himself for cheaper than the tarps would cost,\u00a0 Which is true.\u00a0 If he wasn’t already working on running electric to the barn, spreading mulch in the front yard, replacing the beams in the swingset, retrenching the ditch that runs alongside the driveway to the pond, etc, etc, etc.\u00a0 By “working on” I mean, well,…let’s not go there.\u00a0 Also, he pointed out that no tarp could withstand being under the tree cover without being punctured by branches and limbs and, therefore, leaking almost immediately.\u00a0 I pointed out that I just wanted to experiment with how dark the barn would be when totally covered before deciding if I wanted to roof the entire thing.\u00a0 And the wire was sure to let in a lot more leaks than even the cheapest tarp.\u00a0 By “pointed out” I mean that I waited until he went to work and then the kids and I bought all the tarps, used them to cover the barn while he was gone, and moved the goats in.<\/p>\n

Using the kids for this task was an essential part of the process.\u00a0 Since most of the beams of the barn were only constructed to hold wire, they weren’t strong enough to hold an adult standing on them and spreading out a tarp.\u00a0 But the kids, especially Middle and Little, were capable of scooting around the roof like monkeys, spreading the tarp and pushing wires through the grommets for me to attach to the beams from where I was perched on a ladder underneath them.<\/p>\n

Perhaps one of the best things about farming is how it allows children to play an essential role in the daily chores.\u00a0 Around here we don’t have to say silly patronizing things like, “Oh, how smart you are for going down the slide by yourself!\u00a0 What a brave boy!”\u00a0 Instead we give them a clap on the back on the way into dinner and say, “How smart you were to remember not to accidentally back up off the edge of the roof when spreading out the tarp, to lay on your belly to spread out your weight when moving around on any beams that seemed really shaky, and to keep your fingertips away from the sharp edges of the wire cutter when cutting pieces of wire! What a brave boy to go up and down an 8 foot ladder without even being scared!”\u00a0 And my favorite, “Mommy couldn’t have done it without you!”\u00a0 Which is absolutely true about a lot of things on the farm.\u00a0 Around here you don’t get your self-confidence from story books and cartoons.\u00a0 You get it from helping put the frost cover down in the midst of a 35mph wind bringing in a cold front, using all your body weight to push a hay roll up the incline to the feed room, and, of course, spreading tarps over a wire roof.<\/p>\n

Of course, I do wish Little hadn’t written about it in his preschool journal.\u00a0 The teacher probably couldn’t understand the jumble of letters he put down like “ladr” (ladder), “of” (roof), and “ktr” (wire cutter), but the image of a smiling stick figure on top of a tall building holding a pair of scissors was probably alarming enough.<\/p>\n

Speaking of preschool, that reminds me that all of this is old history.\u00a0 The tarp roof has been in place for 2 years and has finally sprung enough leaks that it needs to be replaced.\u00a0 I decided I really needed a mixture of tin roof panels and clear plastic panels.\u00a0 I just couldn’t permanently sacrifice having some light coming in, particularly over the milk stand.\u00a0 We knew the plastic panels would be more susceptible to cracking from cold and getting smashed by falling limbs, but it’s still worth it to let more light into the barn.\u00a0 Besides, we’re still “working on” running electric to the barn so natural light and a few fluorescents attached to an extension cord are the only light we get in there.<\/p>\n

The Other Half took off all the tarps and managed to get the largest lounging area of the barn covered so that the goats could hang out in there and we could put the hay in and not have it get ruined.\u00a0 It’s actually very attractive and lets in a lot more light than I expected.\u00a0 This section of roof is fully covered.\u00a0 The parts that look clear are actually covered with the plastic panels:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the rest of the roof has to wait until hunting season is over to get finished.<\/p>\n

Hunting season is important.\u00a0 We rely on the ground venison for the rest of the year as we use it in lieu of buying ground beef from the store.<\/p>\n

Hunting season is important.\u00a0 We rely on the ground venison for the rest of the year as we use it in lieu of buying ground beef from the store.<\/p>\n

Hunting season is important.\u00a0 We rely on the ground venison for the rest of the year as we use it in lieu of buying ground beef from the store.<\/p>\n

I repeat this statement to myself every time I have to milk in the rain because that section of the barn is uncovered and unfinished.\u00a0 It is my mantra to ward off evil and hateful thoughts.\u00a0 It doesn’t always work.<\/p>\n

In desperation, the kids and I did reattach some of the tarps when a 3 day deluge was being forecasted.\u00a0 It was frustrating to be redoing work I had done 2 years ago.\u00a0 We were rushing, trying to get it done between when the school bus dropped off and the early setting of the winter sun.\u00a0 Which isn’t a lot of time.\u00a0 But it was worth it.\u00a0 I didn’t get soaked at the milk stand the next few days.\u00a0 And we got to see something awesome from the roof top while we were finishing our work:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s the little things that keep us going around here.\u00a0 Which is good.\u00a0 Because when the rainstorms finally passed we discovered a large branch had fallen through the roof of the kidding barn.\u00a0 Through one of the strong, indestructible tin roof panels.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Sigh.\u00a0 Now we’ll have to fix the roof in that barn, too.\u00a0 After hunting season. (Hunting season is important.\u00a0 We rely on the ground venison for the rest of the year as we use it in lieu of buying ground beef from the store.)\u00a0 But when we remove that panel, we can replace it with a clear plastic one.\u00a0 Since apparently it doesn’t really matter which type of panels you use when you build your barn in the woods.\u00a0 If a branch is going to make a hole, it’s going to make a hole.\u00a0 Imagine all the extra light we’ll have during kidding!\u00a0 Little things, people, little things.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have always considered light and air to be an essential part of raising animals.\u00a0 When we were producing 350 ducks a year, their barn had 2 covered rooms–one for nesting and one as a brooder room– and the rest of it was open wire roof and sides.\u00a0 After all, the ducks didn’t mind the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[150],"class_list":["post-3157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-roof"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3157"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3209,"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3157\/revisions\/3209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}