Official SS Goat Thread

[FarmerDenise]

That is nice! Thanks for posting that.
I will be making one soon. Now I have directions. I also showed it to SO. So now he'll know what I'll be building.

I told him a 17 year old built it. He was impressed!

 

[deb4o]

BB, great job!!

It looks alot like the one DH built for me.We also used 4x4s for the legs,mine are 18 inchs high, cuz I have a 18inch stool I sit on,and he used the same feeder, but found out this weekend he needs to drill holes in the bottom of it,for the rain to drain out, as mine sits out of doors and filled with rain on saturday. Mine also was built out of lumber we had around so no cost, only labor, which H supplies for free, or the cost of a few brownies lol

Libby is a beauty.

 

[freemotion]

Beautiful stand! Libby looks like she likes it!

 

[freemotion]

For the sake of all of us that do not sprout grains can someone describe how to properly do it and the benefits.

Thanks

bob/Maine

Hi Bob! I sprout barley, oats when I can't get barley. The reasons I do it are for the improved digestibility, natural probiotics, gets rid of anti-nutrients found in all grains, and increases protein levels, excellent for producing milk or babies, or for growing strong babies during and after weaning. Great for chickens, chicks, and egg production, too. Turkeys like it as well. Wonderful for maintaining older horses in good condition, too!

I have a series of buckets and a sump hole in my basement. I drilled many small holes in the bottom and a couple of inches up the sides of all but one of the buckets. The holes need to be smaller than a grain or the grains will lodge in the holes and block the flow of water.

I fill the undrilled bucket with grain about 3/4 full and fill it with water. I add a glug of whey when I have it, or none if I don't. If I get behind on my soaking, I will add a glug of ACV to speed things up. I do the first soaking for about 24 hours.

Then I dump the grain into one of the drilled buckets and let it drain. Then I flood it with water until the water gets to the top of the bucket, and let that drain. I will rinse this once or twice a day until it I see sprouts just emerging....a small white bump at one end of the grains. This is when I start to feed it. I feed from this pail until it is empty, rinsing it daily as usual. Sometimes it will get roots and a small grass blade. Still wonderful! I always smell the grain before dumping it into feeders, and visually inspect it for mold. It is extremely rare that I have to toss a batch....actually, it has been a long time. I only lost batches in the beginning....sometimes a batch of grain comes in with some dehydrated mold in it that grows when sprouting. If I suspect this, I use the ACV in the first soak, and generously.

Meanwhile, I have started another bucket soaking, then another rinsing/draining. Depending on how many animals are getting grain, I will have two or three pails going at once.

Hope this helps!

 

[deb4o]

FM
Thanks for the infor on sprouting,I have been waiting for your answer since I read stano4o's post.

So Iam going to start a bucket this week, here I go--more projects!

 

[freemotion]

I forgot to mention that the smell will change throughout the process, and also depending on what you add or don't add.

If you add whey, it will start out smelling like sweet, fresh yogurt, then will go through a sour stage (good bacteria, don't worry! aka probiotics!) and then will get a fresh, grassy smell.

If you use plain water, the smell will be very faint, but similar to the above.

If you use ACV, it will smell like ACV at first, then barley will get a very beery smell. Still good. Then it moves into the grassy smell if it is allowed to sprout to the root stage.

 

[Blackbird]

Hi Deb - I replied to your email, I hope you got it. Do you have pictures of your milk stand to share with us?

Denise - Isn't your step-son 17? Hopefully I didn't make more work for him


Now I just need to paint this thing - how about rainbow colours?!

 

[deb4o]

BB- got your e-mail thanks bunches.

alast no pix of anything from here, stupid dial-up just doesn't do it.

I painted mine with white exterior paint, since it will be outside, and DH put a ramp up it so LaLa won't have to worry about the step up--spoiled goat!

We have been practicing getting on and off it.She does that just fine but just really doesn't want to be milked, but I got new hobbles on saturday, as my homemade one didn't work to well, so tomorrow I'll be trying it again.

I have stick-to-it-ness and I will prevail.
Cheese making is in my future, I just know it is.lol

 

[lupinfarm]

Merle the milking stand looks fab! I'm too lazy to work on mine LOL, maybe on Thursday... the only day I seem to have off this week.

 

[Blackbird]

Merle the milking stand looks fab! I'm too lazy to work on mine LOL, maybe on Thursday... the only day I seem to have off this week.

You can come over and paint mine then. My mom liked your rainbow and fringe trim idea.