A barn! A barn! We have a barn!!

I am really pleased and excited to say that finally, after more than a year of needing one, we finally have a barn for Lucky Nickel, Tucker, and Twilight.

I am so relieved that this winter they will have a proper structure to shelter in, rather than my little hoop house made of a cattle panel and a tarp!  The guys who built the chicken coop for me were able to put this up over 3 days.  Now we are just waiting for the roof panels to come in, which should be in the next few days.

The barn is made from rough-cut lumber, which is ideal for an outdoor building and is very sturdy.  It is 10 feet square and has two very sturdy doors which lead to each compartment.


One side is for Lucky Nickel, who insists on bashing everything with her horns and generally intimidating the sheep. The other side is for Tucker and Twilight, who are calm and peaceful and just want to be left alone to eat their hay in peace.

The barn has two lovely windows (on the sheep side) which are 3 by 3 feet, and 4 by 3 feet.  They open and have screens, which makes for great ventilation.


Because they were low enough for Lucky Nickel to reach when she is on her hind legs, the builders put a cattle panel piece over the outside of them, and some boards on the inside, so she cannot break the glass with her horns.  It is very difficult to find cattle panels around here, so I am glad I had one for this purpose.  The other one will probably become part of my garden set up.


Each compartment has a hay feeder area that was also made with cattle panel pieces.

One for the sheep...

...and one for her highness.

Nickel's is smaller than the one for the sheep, because she is a little portly and there is only one of her, whereas there are two sheep and they need to put some weight on.  Now, they will be able to eat without Nickel constantly charging at them and chasing them around. Do not let this innocent face fool you - she can be a bully!

I have enclosed the critters in the barn tonight as a test to see if Nickel will try to jump over the centre wall.  I hope she won't.  If she does, some additional boards will need to go up.  For now, the sheep are eating peacefully...although somebody is trying to see if the hay is greener on the other side of the wall.

 What if they have better hay than mine?

In her younger days, she would have been up on that middle wall like a shot, and over onto the other side.  These days, she's not quite so agile.  She is 7, after all!

Munch munch munch.

I went outside and looked back through the window.  I can see she's thinking about whether she can make the leap.

Everybody's in their place for the night!  And I will sleep much better this winter knowing that they are safe and cozy every time we have a big snowstorm.

My next objective will be some decorating.  I haven't decided if I will do name boards on the doors, or a 'barn quilt' decoration for each door, or what.  It will be fun to get creative with it.  I'll update when the roof goes on.

Bunday Blog Business

I am very pleased to be able to blog to you about my new custom-designed furniture piece.  It is befitting a bun of my status to have custom-designed furniture, don't you think?  The male hoomin bean (MHB) decided to take on my order (well, it's not as if he had a choice, but let's make it sound like he did) for a specialized hay buffet and integrated restroom facility.  What a fine craftsman he is!

The hay buffet is a very important part of my daily life.  It gets my digestion going and that helps me think deep thoughts and contemplate my plans to dominate the universe.  Until this point, the female hoomin bean (FHB) has been providing the hay buffet in an empty tissue box.  Her logic (a wee bit faulty, but she does provide the hay, so I'll try to be nice) was that the hay would mostly stay contained in the tissue box, and this would keep things tidy.  I laugh my rabbitty little laugh in her direction.  Did she not realize that I would amuse myself by repositioning my hay box as and when I please, and that I would leave a long trail of unfinished hay pieces as I went?  Seriously, no floor is complete without a good scattering of hay.

Well, the FHB and I do not see eye to eye on this matter.  Something about hay clogging the vacuum hose and not having time for this mess and blah blah blah...


So, the MHB and I had a business meeting about it, as we do from time to time, and we decided....well, I decided and he agreed....that I should have a custom hay buffet with integrated restroom facility.  The integration was necessary because although I am inclined to use the HB- mandated restroom box with fluffy litter, sometimes when I am very engaged with my hay buffet, I forget.  Well, after all, I am a bun with many important things on my mind.  The restroom box fits into the wooden frame and can easily be emptied by the slaves HBs as needed.

As you can see, the hay buffet is clearly designed to offer me maximum access to my favourite hay, while tending to keep it all in one spot, to appease the FHB.

Bits of hay that fall out, or that are dropped while I am eating, fall into the integrated restroom facility. Furthermore, I can be completely focused on my hay buffet without having to remember to go find the restroom box.  It's already right there!

I have carefully explored my new furniture and I did taste it, but I have decided I prefer the hay to the wood. The MHB put a nice hinged lid on the hay portion, for frequent refills.  This also makes a good perch from which I can survey all the kingdom that is mine.

I can eat from the top, if I want to.

I can also keep a watchful eye on those shady guinea pig characters.

I can do my stretching routines to the left...

...and to the right.  It's very sturdy and doesn't topple over when I do my exercises.

All in all, it's an excellent addition to my domain.  Thank you to the MHB for making it.  Until next week, as always, keep your ears clean!