Pen Party!

 

We did this.

The old pen was the most rickety, piecemeal affair.  It had about five different kinds of hardware cloth and a gate that had to be tied shut with a leash and various hook clasps and bits of wire.  It was a big pain because various parts would constantly shift.  It could never be closed exactly the same way twice. 

New farm resident Kim brought with her eight fence panels and sixteen concrete tiles.  Two of the panels have gates: one narrow for person entry, and one wide which is useful for moving all of the goats in or out.  We discussed the best way to utilize these.  The panels could be installed vertically (five feet wide) or horizontally (six feet wide), except for those with gates, which have to stand up the tall way.  We discussed our options.  The old pen was 40 feet long, and varied from 14 to 17 feet wide.  With a maximum of 46 linear feet of new fence, what would be the best layout?

I decided the best thing would be to have all panels oriented the same direction.  I thought that would provide the most stability.  To do this using the permanent wall and no old material, the optimal arrangement is thus:

The biggest amount of space is 10'x20', only 200 square feet.  Quite a reduction, but some internet research led me to believe that pygmy goats only need about 15 square feet each, so it would be sufficient for eight goats. 

This arrangement would require moving the playhouse back about seven feet.  Nicky declared this was really not an option.  Too well attached to the ramps, too big and heavy.  So we had to deliberate about some other arrangement.  The fence posts could not be inserted through the tubes of the panel, so the concept of strength due to all vertical orientation was moot.  And since we were already taking everything everything apart, we could reuse some of the old fence and do it neatly and cleanly.  The final decision was to use three panels on the north side, five on the west, and old fence to the south, with the existing house wall on the east.  Now the pen would be 17 feet by 29.  Perfect.

First wall finished, with the glorious and easy new door

We did meet at 4:00.  We picked up the goats from the Conservatory (it is Goat Week again.) The goats went to Civ's yard for snacks while we worked on the pen.

Posts were driven and panels were tied.  Tiles, nice and hard for the goats to grind their hooves on, were brought in.  Nicky almost cried with joy the first time she tried the new door.  And the pen was finished, drinks were had, and things were good.