I’m in the Wasilla area of Alaska, and my barn burned down Saturday night, Dec. 30-31, 2023. One friend told me she could think of worse ways to end a year, but not many.

I had 16 goats counting the newborns, 2 of which were born the 30th. I put a heat lamp down to warm the newest ones, and should have stayed right there. I know goats and heat lamps are a bad combination. And now I’ve proved it. Hindsight ftw.

Seven goats made it out and sheltered in the old sheds I’ve been using as dog shelters for my 2 guard dogs. The seven are doing okay. Of my 2 chickens one made it out and is bedding down with the goats. She’s lonesome but ok.

My barn was a simple 20x20’ square space, uninsulated, with a 10x20’ storage room on the back, a loft with hay stored in it, and a shed chicken coop on the south side. I had deep litter bedding in the square space which was composting just fine and put a lot of warmth into the room. But not enough to keep the water pan from freezing at 10F and below. And not enough to keep a newborn goat kid’s ears from freezing at 0F outside temperature.

At this point I don’t know what the new barn will look like. It will be insulated and only one story, but that’s as far as I’ve gotten so far. There are going to be some trips to the dump with burned debri before I can start to move composting and burned hay off the gravel pad. So much work. One project at a time!

Thank you for reading my story, for your donation to the future of my farm, and for sharing my GoFundMe effort. ❤️