I need your experience and advice!

Last week our next door neighbor offered me a bunch of stuff. As soon as we can find a time that works for both of us, I'll be taking the pickup over to gather everything.

I've already picked up some very, very thick plastic sheeting that I'll be using for my greenhouse project.





It is in a tube shape, but once I cut that open it will be about 3 feet wide. I will have to overlap the strips, but there won't be any cost. I'd rather work a little harder than spend a lot of money.

We're getting an old plastic dinosaur sandbox. It will make the perfect wading pool for our ducks. A bit shallow, maybe, but safer than a bit too deep! I'll likely set it up just outside the duck pen, so that when we let them out they can go right in for a quick dip.

There are 4 bales of straw that have been out in the weather. It has been a pretty dry year - they make work OK for the henhouse floor. If not, we'll compost them for the garden. There is also a lot of scrap wood, and possibly even some lumber. If nothing else, the scraps can be used for heat, but we can always find a way to use lumber.

He is giving us several rolls of black plastic stuff. It's sort of like netting, but it's rolled out over an area when you seed it with new grass, to keep the birds from eating the seed and prevent the wind from blowing the seed off before it sprouts. We may use it like that, but I'm also thinking that it would make excellent shade cover for the greenhouse or animal enclosures.

Finally (though I may be forgetting some things and will correct that later), there is some fencing! Some of it is cyclone/chain link, and some is what everyone around here calls 'field fencing'. The chain link is 3 or 4 feet tall, the field fencing is probably 6 feet tall. There is also a gate to go with the chain link. No posts, but that's no problem. I have t-posts galore.

We have a 3 stall pole barn - two horse stalls and one more open stall that was probably used to keep hay. Right now we use the whole thing as a shed, but we are likely building a garage this summer, and I would be able to put some animals into one stall...but they need some outdoor space that will let them get fresh air without falling victim to predators.

So this is wehre I need you, dear homeastead readers! I would like to use the fence for an animal enclosure, but most of it is the shorter chain link fencing. I'm wondering if I could do something like this:

What if I install the chain link, and then do arches up over the top of it with PVC pipe, and then stretch the plastic netting ground cover stuff over that? I've done something similar for our ducks with cattle fencing covered with poultry netting, and then a trampoline mat over the top. It has worked fine and held up well. I generally go around the base of our animal enclosures with large logs, concrete blocks, or something equally heavy to discourage predators from going under. I'm wondering...if I did something like this, would it be possible to raise a pig or two? If not, I am sure I could make it work for turkeys. We have had turkeys before, so I am more comfortable with them. I have minimal experience and exposure to pigs or goats. What say you? I'm fairly certain that I would need more of a fortress to keep goats in, but I am not positive about that. (I'm also not positive about exactly what we would do with goats. Are there breeds that would give us both milk and fiber?)

Yes, I have a lot of questions. You input would be really, really helpful. Please let me know what you would do if you were blessed with similar materials, what animals you would choose - anything you would like to share!

Thanks so much,
-Laura at TenThingsFarm

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