Eeeewwwww!! That has to smell SOOOOO nasty!

I go to Pierce college and they have a farm there. I work mostly with
the pigs and goats.I can totally understand the situation, cause when
you get attached to the animals, you don't want them to go to the meat
market. I feel bad that Sandy, one of the baby goats could become
dinner for someone. But at the same time, how could someone live in
those conditions?

There are three people that are hired to work on the farm, and the
rest is done by the students. There's so much to do, that the goat
pens hardly get cleaned out at all. They get their hay, and the
remainder that doesn't get eaten just lays on the ground. The goats
go to the bathroom wherever they stand, and then next feeding occurs,
and more hay gets on the ground. So in a sense the goats walk on this
giant compost heap. We're having a Farm Walk in April where the
public can come and see the animals. I've told the farmworkers that
we need to clean out the goat pens, and he always says "I'll get
around to it."
So last Friday I decided to take matters into my own hands. I got a
wheelbarrow, a rake and a shovel and started picking up all the stinky
hay on the ground.

I've done about 12x6 foot section of the pen and i'm not even half
done. The hay was two inches deep by the entrance, and twelve inches
where I stopped. So there's all the hay, and then it drops straight
down to the ground. Every time the goats pee the ammonia trickles to
the bottom of the stack, so the deeper you go, the stronger the smell
gets. Last Saturday I was so excited, because I finally hit the
concrete bottom.

My friends say I should be done in a few weeks. I wear a mask because
the smell is quite powerful. There were so many ammonia fumes in the
air, I was afraid my hair was going to get lighter. And that's because
this pen hasn't been cleaned in about a year. I can't imagine what
this guy's house and yard must smell like. Eeeewwww!

I'm hoping that one of the staff members will get the hint and find
the time to come over with the bulldozer and clean the damn pens out
before we open the farm to the public.

Kristi