Farm Animals
Kids At Heart
We walked quite a bit this weekend around our property, and of course the goats go with us. They are so fun! When the sun shines and there’s lots of good pasture to eat, their energy picks up and they have a blast. This video shows what they love to do best ~ good thing we live on a hill!
Goat Hay Rack
I presented Jeff with two hay rack plans: one off the internet and one from the book, Natural Goat Care. But they were just ideas to get Jeff’s creative juices flowing. We figured we needed a hay rack, because otherwise the goats would eat their (expensive) alfalfa hay in a big bin in the center of the barn. Most of it would end up on the floor. After Jeff thought awhile, he decided to part ways from the plans and do it his own way.
Goats
Now that we’re moving into winter, have the goats into their final home, and are preparing ourselves for breeding, I thought I’d do an update post regarding the sweet loves who are now part of our family.
In The Nick of Time
We worked from sunup to sundown Saturday and Sunday, and then from noon to past dark on Monday, to finish our barn. Or at least get it done enough to keep the animals dry and shelter the remaining water and electrical work ahead of us.
Paisley’s Progress
Even though these pictures won’t show it, things are going better with Paisley. The first five minutes of milking is always pleasant and peaceful. Paisley eats happily. Then, for whatever reason, she decides that she’s done with milking. Well, I’m not done yet, so I don’t let her off the hook.
Paisley
We’ve been up and down with Paisley, one of our milking goats. She’s an edgy goat. We never know what will set her off. When she goes off, she does things like this – get spooked easily (from sounds, unfamiliar people or animals), try to sit down while I milk her, generally be uncooperative during milking, be uninterested in food, buck and kick during milking, and/or not come readily to the barn for milking/feeding. Frequently, all these things happen during the same milking hour. But I do love her and I want her to fully settle in here. She may not, though. She’s more than 3 years old and probably this is her personality. Which beg the questions, is temperament passed on through breeding? I really don’t want any kids like her! There’s so much I could say about her and the recent ups and downs. I’ll try to categorize.
Sally Scratching Her Bottom
Just for fun, I have a video to show you today. I took it this morning during the milking time. In addition to our Nubian milkers, we have Nigerian Dwarf goats (who we do not milk). One of them, Sally, is a butt-scratcher. She will find the most curious places on our property to give her bottom a good scratching. I’ve been trying to remember to take the camera with me outside, the greatest purpose for which is to catch Sally scratching. And this morning, I caught her at it. So here she is – meet Sally!
Wild Turkey Hens and Chicks in the Barn
This video shows the wild turkeys – hens and chicks – who are sleeping in the barn at night. They hang out on the property alot during the day, too. We often find them with the goats. This morning, when I went to do the milking, three hens and just as many chicks were still nesting in beds of hay in the milking area. There is lots of dropped hay on the floor and I guess they think it is pretty comfortable.
Lonely (Hungry) Turkey Hen
This wild turkey hen in this video doesn’t have any babies. She hangs around and even comes in the barn during milking to scrounge for spilled food. The goats are notoriously wasteful – and this hen has figured it out! She’s scared of me. If I come in the stall where she is, she will run in circles, frantically, looking for her way out.
Jail Break
The last two weekends’ work has broken us out of a jail of our own making. Because our animals were free-ranging over most of our property, we had (until now) put up temporary cattle panel/t-post fences right around the perimeters of the pole barn, temporary barn and house. Every time we went in or out, we had multiple gates to open and close, poop to try to avoid, and animals to keep from jumping on us out of curiosity (why do goats always think you’re carrying food?). We’ve got some big projects to accomplish this summer ~ plus we were fed up with animals lounging on gravel instead in green pastures (does that make sense?)! So we put up a temporary fence that casts a wider net all around the people areas ~ driveway, barns, and house ~ locking the lovable creatures out and giving us some more room! That’s why we feel we’ve just been set free. 
Here are some pictures of all the work and fun we had doing it.
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