Goat Tower

[Nanno]

Phil's parents visited us last week and Phil and his dad built a goat tower! Well, it's more of a goat jungle gym, and it's awesome! I'll share more photos and details later of how it all came together. Phil also made a time lapse video of the project which he's still working on finishing up. In the meantime, here's me and all the goats and even Daisy dog posing on our new monument!

   

[Nanno]

I'd just like to add that Nubbin is the goat tower queen. She and Finn have this thing figured out, but Nubbin doesn't let Finn share a spool with her, so mostly it's just Nubbin standing up there like royalty and looking down on everyone. On the rare occasion when Lilly bothers to march to the summit, Nubbin high-tails it to the bottom level and stays there because Lilly will push her off. But mostly Nubbin gets the upper levels to herself. She loves those ramps!

[Dave-Trinity-Farms]

That is a great picture Nanno! I wanna see it on a post card come Christmas

[Taffy]

I am NOT showing that to my goats! They'd want me to build them one! What an awesome goat toy! I can just see them running up and down the rams and jumping from spool to spool. Especially the kids! How did you get everyone to pose so well for the photo?

If you send it out as a Christmas postcard you'll have to have Phil insert himself into the picture!

[Nanno]

The best bit is that it was relatively easy to build! For the base, Phil and his dad repaired Cuzco's old wooden shed that blew into the scrub oak last October. I think dragging that heavy broken goat house out of the bushes was the hardest part of the project. They put the pieces back together, reinforced it, then started stacking spools. We got the spools for free from our local electric co-op. They used 2" x 12" boards for the ramps with strips of plywood every 18" for traction. They bolted these to the bottom of the spools by putting two screw eyes into the boards and two into the bottom of the spools. Then they fastened them together by putting bolts through the screw eyes. It's sturdy but easy to take apart, and having the boards fasten to the bottom of the spools makes them more stable and the slopes less severe.

[sydneyjd]

Neat goat toy!!

[Nanno]

So here's a bit of a rundown on how this thing came together. We're calling it "Cuzcotopia".

Phil and his dad, Jim, begin gathering the spools.
   

Cuzco is thrilled that Jim got his old shed back into working condition and goes in for an inspection.
   

Jim instructs Phil on the placement of the top spool.
   

The preliminary inspection.
   

Phil surveys his handiwork. Pac-Man also surveys Phil's handiwork.
   

[Nanno]

I mentioned earlier that Nubbin is the Tower Queen. I did not mention that she is also the Tractor Queen. As those who follow the Goat-O-Rama adventures may recall, Nubbin has a great affinity for trucks. Well, it turns out this gal just likes machines!

While all the other goats sun themselves in the grass, where is Nubbin?
   

Why, on her tractor of course!
   

"Check out these hydraulics!"
   

"Power steering!"
   

"This seat is not made for a goat. Perhaps I can modify it!"
   

Turns out Nubbin was modifying that seat in more ways than Phil cared to discover.
   

Who needs right shoulder support anyway?
   

[sydneyjd]

LOL!! I am sure you all were impressed. Hey!! Maybe that foam helps them make milk because mine don't have foam to eat.
Great photos Nanno and Phil!! Thanks for posting!!

[Taffy]

Naughty goat! Hopefully she didn't get a tummy ache!