Build a Portable Goat Shed

Since I move my goat pen from location to location around the farm, I wanted to build a fairly light-weight shed that I could move along with the pen.  As with most of my projects I recycled a lot of the materials for this shed from stuff that I had lying around.  I did have to buy four treated 2 by 4’s eight feet long, but the rest of the materials are recycled.  I decided to make the shed four feet by four feet square and about four feet tall.  This is how I built the shed.

First I took my newly purchased 2 X 4’s along with a couple of recycled ones and ripped them in half so that the finished lumber was 1 ½” by 1 ¾” by eight feet long.

Then I cut and nailed together the two sides of the shed. 

The front of the shed is 4’ 6” tall and the back is 3’6” tall.  The base is 48” and the angled piece for the roof is 50” long.  The cross brace is 45”.  Note that the uprights are set in 1 ½” so that after the sides are joined together the shed will be 48” square.

Next I cut several pieces of lumber to join the two sides together.  The front and back pieces on the floor are 45” long.  The front to back brace on the floor is 45” long.  All three cross pieces on the roof are 45” long.  The cross brace on the back of the shed is 6’ long.  This will allow a foot to stick out on each side of the back.  These will be handles that make it possible to loft and carry the finished shed.

For the floor I used some old ¾” treated plywood that I had lying around.  The corners of the plywood have to be notched to fit around the uprights at the corners of the shed.

I wanted to make the shed so that I could keep the goats inside of it while transporting them, so I cut a piece out of an old stock panel to make a fence across the front of the shed.  This fence is four feet wide and three feet tall. 

I used two bent nails and two straight nails to make a simple closure system that the stock panel can be slipped into.

Recycled roofing metal was used to cover the three sides and the top of the shed.

The last thing I did was make a couple of brackets out of some old flat iron stock that I had in the shop.  I mounted the brackets on the front uprights of the shed so that I can slip a 2 X 4 into them and make a carrying handle on the front. 

 

The finished shed is light enough for two people to lift and carry, but because of the distance between the front and back handles it is much easier for four people to carry.  When we don’t have any help around, my wife and I just lift it up onto the kid’s old Radio Flyer wagon a roll it to where we want.

Use Goats to Clear Your Land

A couple of summers ago we had a rash of wild-fires in East Texas and it inspired me to start clearing a wider area around my farm house.  The woods here are thick.  Not only are there trees, large and small; but there are honeysuckle vines, grape vines, and green briar vines growing over everything.  It’s a formidable clearing job.  I recently enlisted the help of two pygmy nanny goats that I bought from a friend of mine.  Joy and Abbey are small little things, maybe 18 inches at the shoulder and they don’t weigh over 40 pounds each, but boy can they eat.  They are the best brush clearers that you’ve ever seen.

Of course I needed to control the area that they clear so I built them a movable pen out of T-posts and cattle panels.  The panels are 16 feet long, so I put in T-posts 8 feet apart and wired the panels to them using tie wire like you would use to tie re-bar together.  I didn’t drive the T-posts very deep because I will have to pull them up on a regular basis.  I made the pen about 16 by 32 feet.  I’ve heard that goats are hard to fence in, but I’ve had no problems with them trying to get out.  Of course they are nannies, so they are not as aggressive as a billy-goat would be.

I had an old gate from a chain link fence laying around so I wired it up between two T-posts to give me access to the pen.

The goats went right to work on the brush.  The pictures below illustrate the method that I and my goats now use to clear land.

Because the goats are so small they can only munch on the greenery to a height of about 3 feet, so I give them a couple of days to get that part of the job done.

This is what I started off with:

And this is after 2 days of work by my goats:

Next I go in with a pair of loppers and cut down all of the saplings up to about an inch in diameter.  For larger trees I trim off all of the branches that I can reach with the long handle loppers, then I sit back for a day or two while the goats clean up all the branches and the vines growing on them.

Now I pull down any vines that are growing up into the larger trees.  This usually results in a big pile of honeysuckle and green briar which the goats seem to love. This pile of vines keeps the goats fed for a couple of more days.

After about a week the goats have done their part and eaten all of the greenery.

When there’s nothing left in the pen but bare branches and vines I go in with my machete and it’s a couple of hours work to cut up the bare vines and throw them and the branches out into the woods.

It’s now time to move the goats to the next section so that I can go in and rake the ground, throw out any rocks, and use my chainsaw to cut down any stumps or larger trees.

The ground is now clear enough to run my lawnmower over next spring.

In addition to the brush I give each goat 16 ounces of 12% all-stock feed each day and plenty of fresh water.  The feed amounts to about $10.00 a month.  Pretty cheap wages for these hard working hands.

In my next post I’ll show you how I made a portable shed for my goats to live in.

Don't Give in to Survivalist Panic Buying

Survivalists (myself included) tend to be a little bit paranoid about national and world events that occur.  We are fairly certain that something, maybe something relatively minor, is going to start a domino of events that will lead to a breakdown in society as we know it.  There is often a strong urge when something comes on our radar to secure survival equipment and supplies that we have been intending to procure but that we haven't got around to yet.  This "survivalist panic" can sometimes lead us to make bad decisions, just like things can lead real-estate buyers and stock market investors to make bad decisions.

I've been at this a long time and I've seen much of it happen before.  I had friends in the late 70's who read Howard Ruff's book How to Prepare for the Coming Hard Times and jumped on the gold buying wagon.  Gold was the perfect investment because it would retain its value no matter what happened to the fiat currency that the government was printing.  Gold prices soared.  Panic buyers wanted to get in before it was too late.  Some people scraped together ever cent that they had, including their savings and retirement, to invest in gold at $600 per ounce US.  Boom! The market collapsed.  Gold went down and down until it reached a low of about $275 in the year 2000. If they held on to their gold until 2006 they finally broke even for the first time in 26 years.  If thy still held onto it until today they have finally doubled their original investment, and it only took 33 years.  Consider this, $1000 dollars invested at 4% compound interest would more than triple in 30 years.  If my financial advisor couldn't do better than 4% he would definitely lose my business.

The second thing I want to address is the recent panic buying of ammunition.  Yes you need to have some ammo for hunting and yes you need to have some ammo for home defense; but hopefully you have been buying a little along the way.  If you have, you probably have all you need.  If you haven't, it will be available again and it will be reasonably priced.  Panic buying, fueled by fear of government legislation, has cleaned the shelves and skyrocketed the price of ammo.  The legislation is dying, the panic buyers have filled their basements, the supply will increase, the price will go down.  It's all just basic free market economics.  Same thing with guns.  Does anyone remember the previous time that the price of an AR-15 went over $2000, then went back down to about $800.00?  I'm not big on assault weapons for home defense, but if you're planning on buying one, now is not the time.

Here's my advice for spending money on survival:

1. Budget an amount that you are going to spend every month.

2. Make a prioritized list of things that you need to buy

3. Buy those things every month and don't give in to panic buying

Remember, slow and steady wins the race.

Make Your Front Gate Secure

If you live in the country you probably have a front gate on your property entrance.  A good fence and a good gate is no guarantee against a determined intruder, but most thieves are looking for an easy mark so a fence and a locked gate will act as a deterrent, especially if your home is fairly far from the gate.

Here are a few tips on gate security that I have learned over the years:

1.  Attach your gate securely to the swing post.  The most common type of gate slips down into eye-bolts or sleeves to support it and allow it to swing freely.  The problem with this is that the gate can be lifted out of the supporting hardware fairly easily.  You can fix this problem by screwing some long lag bolts in above the gate pins so that the gate can not be lifted out without doing a lot of work to remove the bolts.  If you want to make the bolts even harder to remove you can grind the heads round so that a wrench will not fit on them.

2.  Use a very heavy chain to secure the gate.  Chains come in all sizes and all chains can be cut, but some are harder to cut than others.  A heavy chain will defy most all of the commonly available bolt cutters.  A hardened chain is even better.

3.  Buy a good quality combination lock.  You will lose or forget the key eventually, so get a combination lock.  For about $30.00 US you can get a four wheel tumbler lock that you can set the combination on.  This is handy to have because if you are expecting a delivery or having a group of people over; you can set a new combination, give this combination to the person or persons that will be coming over, then change the combination back after they are gone.  This will help you avoid unexpected return visitors.  It's not a bad idea to change the combination once or twice a year anyway. 

4.  Never leave your lock set to (or near) the combination.  Some people will turn just one wheel of a lock when they close it.  They think that this will save them time when they next open the lock.  Thieves know of this habit and will turn one wheel on the lock, one number at a time, reset to the original numbers and then try the next wheel.  This only takes a few minutes and if it doesn't work, they will likely move on to easier prey.  A determined intruder can keep trying and keep trying different combinations of numbers to open the lock, but if the wheels are all turned to random numbers it will take them up to 9999 tries to get the right numbers.  Even if you are leaving your gate open, scramble the combination.  It only takes a potential intruder seconds to stop at an open gate and take note of the numbers that are exposed on the lock.  They can come back later, and if you didn't scramble the combination, they have easy access.

5.  Don't leave your gate open.  Some people only close and lock their gates when they are not home.  To a thief this is like putting a sign out that says "I'm not here.  Come on in and help yourself."

6.  Always leave your lock hanging in the same position.  Another tell-tale about whether you are home or not is the position of your lock.  Some people leave their lock handing on the outside of the gate when they are leaving and leave it hanging on the inside of the gate when they are home.  Again, an astute thief will notice these kinds of things.

7.  Some people buy a home security system sign and place it by their gate.  I have mixed feelings about this one.  If your house is not visible from the road, this sign is an advertisement that there is a house here and that you have something worth stealing.  Without the sign, a passerby doesn't know if there is a house behind the gate of if you're just locking up your cows.  I would suggest no sign if your house isn't visible, and a sign if you're house is visible.

8.  Install an intruder warning system between your gate and your house.  You can purchase an inexpensive, battery operated intruder alert system for around $50 US.  This system uses a light beam to detect motion and triggers a warning beeper in your house.  This will let you know if someone has breached your gate and is headed for your house.  When you are installing this system make sure that you have it set high enough so that your dog won't set it off when they walk down the driveway.  Also make sure that no bushes or limbs will be blown back and forth in front of the beam.

9.  Install a motion activated game camera.  If worse comes to worst and someone does break in, a motion activated game camera will record the event and, hopefully, lead to the apprehension of the intruder.  Position your camera where it is not easy to spot, and make sure that it will record the license plate of any vehicle that enters your gate.

Make an Improvised Wire Saw for Wilderness Survival?

This post is a perfect example of why it’s so important to try out wilderness survival skills in the comfort of your own back yard rather than wait until you’re in a life and death situation to find out that something doesn’t work.  I recently watched a survival show in which one of the participants showed how you could take a piece of wire and twist it into a wire saw to use in a survival situation.  Seemed like a great idea, and I thought it had a pretty good likelihood of working.  I have, after all, seen a plumber use a piece of nylon twine to cut PVC pipe, and this seems like kind of the same idea.  So, I did an internet search on how to do this and I only found one short video on the subject and, even though it did kind of work, I can’t say that the results looked all that impressive.  Strange, I thought, usually when a skill this awesome presents itself there will be a lot of posts, discussions, and videos about it.  Well maybe this truly is a new skill, I thought.  I’m going to see how it works.  So I took a roll of snare wire and a couple of short sticks, and this is what I did: Pictured below: snare wire

First I cut a piece of wire that was about two and a half times as long as I wanted the finished saw to be.  Then I cut a couple of short sticks for the handles.  Pictured below: wire and handles

Next I twisted the ends of the wire together to make a loop.  Pictured below: wire ends joined into loop

 I then took my sticks and stuck them up into opposite ends of the loop.  Pictured below:  sticks inside of wire loop

After a bit of twisting I had a nice tightly wrapped wire saw blade with a wooden handle on each end.  Pictured below: finished saw

I took my new wire saw and went to work on a green sapling that was about two inches in diameter.  At first it seemed to bite right in, but as soon as I got past the bark it felt like the blade was just rubbing back and forth rather than cutting in.  After about five minutes of sawing, I had cut about three sixteenths of an inch deep.  At this point the wire broke right in the middle.  It was very warm to the touch.  A lot of friction; not much cutting.  Pictured below: top, cut in sapling made by improvised wire saw; bottom, broken wire saw

I thought maybe I had picked a particularly tough tree, so I got out my store bought wire saw and went to work.  In about eight minutes I had cut through the sapling.  Pictured below: top, store bought wire saw; bottom, cut sapling

Maybe somebody out there can tell me how to do this.  I’d love to hear from you, but pleased don’t offer advise unless you have done it yourself.  There’s to much false information on the internet because somebody reads how somebody else did something, assumes that it works, and then passes it on as gospel.  I try to never post anything about a survival skill that I haven’t done or experienced myself and this article is a good example of how that turns out sometimes.  So, until I can make this work myself, I am not recommending that you rely on it as something that you can use in a survival situation.  My recommendation is to carry a pocket knife or a multi-tool with a saw blade, and use your snare wire for setting traps.

Survival Saws

A saw can be a really handy thing to have in the woods.  You can use a hatchet and a knife for a lot of stuff, but there are some things that a saw just does better.  There are many different kinds of survival type saws ranging from the very small to the fairly large.  I always, repeat, always have a saw with me.  In the woods, at work, at the grocery store; I have a saw with me.  Now you may thing that I look like a real wingnut carrying a saw everywhere, but the fact is it's not even noticeable.  You see, I'm talking about the saw blade on my Swiss Army Knife.  It's small, but it is so very, very useful.  I use my saw to cut arrow shafts, I use it to cut bamboo for bundle bows, I use it to cut the nocks in arrow shafts, I use it cut out bone needles and fish hooks, and many other things.  Here are a few of the different kinds of survival saws that are available today:

Pocket Saws

As mentioned above there are several different kinds of small saws that can be carried in you pocket at all times.  Several models of the Swiss Army Knife, and similar type knives, have a saw blade attached that is very useful for small jobs.  Many multi-tools have saw blades.  Be aware that the quality and functionality of these blades vary widely.  The Swiss Army knife, for example, has a good quality blade made of good steel.  The blade also functions smoothly without binding up in the cut.  I have a less expensive copy of a Swiss knife that does not work well at all.  The steel is good enough but the spine of the blade is wider than the cutting edge.  This causes the blade to bind after you have cut a little way through a limb.  I would suggest that you spend the extra money and get the real thing.  Multi-tool saw blades also vary widely in quality.  I have a Leatherman that works quite well, but I have seen others that are not so good.  Pictured below:  Swiss Army Knife and Leatherman Multi-Tool

 Wire Saws

I keep a little wire saw in my survival kit.  A wire saw is basically a piece of flexible, heavy gauge wire that has serrations in it.  The wire has a metal ring attached to each end where you can grip the ends and saw back and forth with the wire.  I have cut down some fairly good sized trees with a wire saw, maybe eight inches in diameter.  I have also had wire saws break while in use, so I wouldn't say they are intended for any kind of regular or long-term use.  One thing I can tell you from experience is to not try and use a wire saw by sticking you fingers through the rings.  This is very tough on the fingers.  the best way to use a wire saw is to get a couple of sticks that will fit through the rings and then grip the sticks.  Much easier on the fingers.  Pictured below: wire saw

 Folding Saws

Folding saws work very well but they are not convenient to carry.  They generally need to be carried in a belt holster or inside of a pack.  They are also relatively heavy compared to the saws mentioned above.  The only time I carry a folding saw is when I know I will need it for a specific task.  For example, if I am going out into the woods to cut some saplings or to work on one of my trails, I'll carry my folding saw.  Otherwise it stays in my truck.  Pictured below: folding saw

Belt Saws

There are several different types of non-folding saws that can be carried in a sheath on your belt.  I don't personally own one of these because it's not something that I would carry.  It might work for you if you use a saw a lot.  

Survival Saws as a Component of Another Tool

Some sheath knives and machetes have saw teeth cut into their spines.  If a sheath knife or a machete is something that you carry anyway, why not make it multi-purpose by having a saw blade on it.  The Southern Forest that I live in becomes very dense in the summer; almost like a tropical jungle.  In the summer I always carry a machete when I'm in the woods.  I used a file to cut saw teeth into the spine of my machete so that it can double as a saw.  Pictured below: Two views of my machete with homemade saw blade

I have a couple of little folding shovels that have saw teeth on one side of the blade.  I never carry a shovel unless I know specifically that I will need it, so the saws rarely get used.  Neither of the ones I have are very good as saws, but then again they are not the highest quality shovels that you can buy.  Pictured below:  Folding shovel with saw-tooth edge

In summary, I think that the most practical survival saws are the saw blade on a folding knife or multi-tool, the wire saw, or the saw-tooth back of a sheath knife.  Other types of survival saws are functional but not particularly convenient to carry.

Survival Trapping and Fishing - A Numbers Game

As I have stated in a previous post, it is difficult to survive in the wild by only gathering wild plants.  Unless you can gather nuts or mature seeds it is hard to come up with enough protein to survive.  You will almost certainly have to turn to animal protein to meet your body's needs. 

Hunting, in most instances, is one of the least efficient ways to gather animal protein.  If you are hunting, that's all you can do; and you will probably have only one chance to either succeed or fail.  Fishing with a pole in your hand presents the same problem.  You must remain totally occupied with this one task, and you will either catch fish or you won't.

Traps and trotlines offer multiple chances for success at the same time, and they will work for you while you take care of other tasks or even while you sleep.  The thing about trapping and trotlining is that they are both a numbers game.  If you just set out one trap you might as well go hunting.  If you just set out one hook you might as well stand on the bank and fish.  The idea is to set out as many hooks and traps as possible so that you can maximize your chances of securing food.

Let's talk about fishing first.  It takes considerable cordage to set out a trotline.  If you have fifty feet of para-cord you could cut off ten feet, remove the outer sheath, and have seven, ten foot long pieces of 50lb. test nylon to cut up into drop lines.  If you don't have any fish hooks, you can make fifteen or twenty gorge hooks in a fairly short time.  If you don't have any cordage, then I would abandon the idea of a traditional trotline.  It would take hours and hours to twist up enough cordage to make such a line.  If you have to make your own cordage, then I would recommend that you go with drop lines.  A drop line is just a short piece of cordage with a baited hook and weight.  Locate an area where low trees and /or bushes hang out over the water, and tie a drop lines to various branches.  This won't get you out into deep water like a trot line stretched across the river, but it will get hooks into the water.  You will have to turn up grubs, earthworms, and other insects or larvae to bait your hooks the first time, but if you make a catch you can use fish entrails for subsequent baiting.

Traps can be time consuming to make, but just one trap does not have much chance of securing food.  I think that I would set out fishing lines first, then gather materials to make traps around the fire at night.  The figure 4 deadfall and the rolling snare are both pretty easy to make.  The real time consumption comes when you are selecting locations for your traps and preparing the sets.  I would try and set at least ten good traps, and twenty would be better.  The more you set, the better your chance of making a catch.  If you set baited traps you will have to forage for the initial bait, but once you catch the first animal you can use entrails for subsequent traps.