The doe came over to join my little herd by going under the fence here:
Until then, his pygmy doe will be visiting with the herd here.
Showing posts with label fences. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fences. Show all posts
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Morning Surprise!
I went out to feed the animals this morning and got a bit of a surprise.
See the wee pygmy goat in in the back there? That is my neighbor Franks wee goat. He has two, see?
The charming doe with the lovely beard who is currently on MY side of the fence and the little buck on FRANKS side of the fence.
The doe came over to join my little herd by going under the fence here:
Wang has been mooning over the wee doe for weeks. She was pregnant when Frank got her and she kidded yesterday, however the tiny kid only lived about an hour. Sometime during the night, she managed to burrow under the fence. My little herd welcomed her and shared their hay and Wang and Geordi have been cuddling up to her.
Frank just left to go bury the kid and will be back later to retrieve the doe. We will be doing some fence work on both sides today.
Until then, his pygmy doe will be visiting with the herd here.
The doe came over to join my little herd by going under the fence here:
Until then, his pygmy doe will be visiting with the herd here.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Goat Rodeo, Oh My Aching Bones!
It is actually Sunday morning here, but I am still up as my arms hurt, my legs hurt and my fanny hurts! A couple of cups of spice tea and an aspirin or two and I should be right as rain.
How did I get into such a sorry state?
Well, Saturday morning, every single goat we have decided to stage some sort of coup.
Maybe current events in Egypt and Libya inspired them I don't know!
Started out normal enough....
0600, fed goats and took them from their pens out to the *outer pasture* (what we call the main part of the 1 acre yard that is fenced off from the back yard). Leave baby buck Geordi in pen (I will milk his mama in the afternoon)
0615, Geordi (the baby buck) has somehow gotten out of his pen. Put Geordi back in pen.
0625, Geordi is out again! Chase him around back yard and finally get him back in pen.
0645 to 0700, watch Geordi out window to see how the little goat Houdini is managing to escape. Gape in amazement as Geordi gets a running start and jumps up on the gate and then scales it and flings himself to the ground outside the pen.
0715, Get the Darlin' Man up, explain the problem. He helps get Geordi back in pen and then watches the escape maneuver himself.
0730-0800, Geordi is put back in pen and Darlin' Man and the Boy get some scrap lumber and add an extension to the top of the gate to thwart little Geordies escape plans.
0800, 0830, Breakfast, suddenly interrupted by the sound of goats bleating in the back yard. Now, Gabrielle (Geordi's mama) and Champagne have somehow found a way into the back yard...yet the gate is still closed and latched! How the heck......?
The next few hours were spent chasing goats, falling on my backside (Gabby goat zigged when I thought she was going to zag!) and trying to figure out how the blasted animals were getting on this side of the fence!
The adult goats were definitely a lot more crafty than little Geordi (who became a bleating cheering section for his mom!) and didn't make their move to sneak into the back yard until we returned to the house and things had calmed down considerably. Finally, we spotted Gabrielle digging UNDER the fence!
Goats dig?
GOATS DIG!?!?!
Yes, yes, apparently goats can dig quite well. Gabrielle had figured out that our soil is sand and sand could be quite quickly and efficiently be dug out of underneath the bottom of the fence and then a quick *wriggle through* and she was on the other side.The sand would sorta flow back into the hole she dug, so we didn't see it!
The rest of the day was spent resolving the problem, which involved extra long tent stakes being used to hold down the bottom of the fence AND cinder blocks being lined up all the way down the fence line at the bottom.
So, pounding tent stakes, dragging around cinder blocks, etc, made for a tired me by the time dinner rolled around .Right after dinner, I had to milk Gabby and return her and the other goats to their pens. The attempted coup was over, apparently, as all the goats were now docile and cooperative.
Immediately after dinner and milking, I fell asleep on the couch while the kids and the fella cleaned up, bless 'em.
But, now, I am wide awake and feeling every ache and pain from the activities. I am waiting for the aspirin to take effect and sipping a favorite vanilla chai tea to relax.
I learned a few things today...wee little goats can jump and climb higher than I expected...adult goats can be tunneling experts...I can't run as fast as I could 20 years ago...and falling on your fanny can hurt several hours later!
How did I get into such a sorry state?
Well, Saturday morning, every single goat we have decided to stage some sort of coup.
Maybe current events in Egypt and Libya inspired them I don't know!
Started out normal enough....
0600, fed goats and took them from their pens out to the *outer pasture* (what we call the main part of the 1 acre yard that is fenced off from the back yard). Leave baby buck Geordi in pen (I will milk his mama in the afternoon)
0615, Geordi (the baby buck) has somehow gotten out of his pen. Put Geordi back in pen.
0625, Geordi is out again! Chase him around back yard and finally get him back in pen.
0645 to 0700, watch Geordi out window to see how the little goat Houdini is managing to escape. Gape in amazement as Geordi gets a running start and jumps up on the gate and then scales it and flings himself to the ground outside the pen.
0715, Get the Darlin' Man up, explain the problem. He helps get Geordi back in pen and then watches the escape maneuver himself.
0730-0800, Geordi is put back in pen and Darlin' Man and the Boy get some scrap lumber and add an extension to the top of the gate to thwart little Geordies escape plans.
0800, 0830, Breakfast, suddenly interrupted by the sound of goats bleating in the back yard. Now, Gabrielle (Geordi's mama) and Champagne have somehow found a way into the back yard...yet the gate is still closed and latched! How the heck......?
The next few hours were spent chasing goats, falling on my backside (Gabby goat zigged when I thought she was going to zag!) and trying to figure out how the blasted animals were getting on this side of the fence!
The adult goats were definitely a lot more crafty than little Geordi (who became a bleating cheering section for his mom!) and didn't make their move to sneak into the back yard until we returned to the house and things had calmed down considerably. Finally, we spotted Gabrielle digging UNDER the fence!
Goats dig?
GOATS DIG!?!?!
The rest of the day was spent resolving the problem, which involved extra long tent stakes being used to hold down the bottom of the fence AND cinder blocks being lined up all the way down the fence line at the bottom.
So, pounding tent stakes, dragging around cinder blocks, etc, made for a tired me by the time dinner rolled around .Right after dinner, I had to milk Gabby and return her and the other goats to their pens. The attempted coup was over, apparently, as all the goats were now docile and cooperative.
Immediately after dinner and milking, I fell asleep on the couch while the kids and the fella cleaned up, bless 'em.
But, now, I am wide awake and feeling every ache and pain from the activities. I am waiting for the aspirin to take effect and sipping a favorite vanilla chai tea to relax.
I learned a few things today...wee little goats can jump and climb higher than I expected...adult goats can be tunneling experts...I can't run as fast as I could 20 years ago...and falling on your fanny can hurt several hours later!
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