Taking a bucket into a pasture full of goats is a life-changing experience at any time but when we've received 4 inches of rain in 12 hours it is much worse...since goats HATE water they have been inside and haven't had a morsel of food for the entire time it has been raining.
Yesterday evening I was sure that my 16 does and their 30 something 2 month old kids in one pen were probably starving so I was going to be their hero, their savior, and take them a bucket of feed. Of course, as expected, I was immediately mobbed but I had a head start on them since they were having to run from the barn, what a sight to behold! They were spread out like an oncoming army!
I rushed into the feeding pen, ran from trough to trough filling them as I slopped through water and mud up to my ankles, hurrying to finish and throw the bucket over the fence before they arrive because being caught with the bucket is like being a fumbled football..you have huge players attacking from all sides. I was winning...I know I could have made it ...but one of the troughs was set on a small slope...when my shoes hit the ground they just kept sliding...if I'd been a truck It would have required a tractor to get me unstuck but as it was that mud just sucked me down up to my ankles and with the forward momentum halted I was flat of my back in 4 inches of mud before I even knew what had happened...The goats were almost upon me though so I threw that bucket as far as I could...think goodness goats are predictable and they went chasing the bucket that should have contained their feed.
I used that short respite to drag myself back to my feet and holding to the trough like a lifeline to keep from sliding back down that slick slope, made my way safely to the gate carrying a few pounds of mud and a few new bruises with me.
Once the goats realized the bucket was empty they rushed back to the troughs happily munching their way through the bucket of feed...and to add insult to injury, not a single one of them slid on the mud!!!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Taking the Kids to School
It’s a good thing Mary had a little lamb and not a couple Boer kids following her to school. A local early childhood center asked me to bring some goats to visit because the students were studying the letter “G”. They had read a cute story and sang an adorable song about “Gus the Goat”! So, since I was locked in an endless round of bottles with two bottle babies, a girl that was only a week old and a boy that was almost 3 months old, and since they were both well socialized and I was sure they would enjoy being petted and adored by a bunch of children, I said yes. And when it was raining the day we were scheduled to visit I even agreed with the teachers that it would probably be okay, as long as they put down butcher paper to protect the carpet.
But you know what they say, "No matter how good your kids are at home, just get them in front of a bunch of people where you want them to act their best and they will embarrass you every time!"
I somehow had not noticed that my darling bottle boy Redtail who was almost three months old had become quite big and "goaty". All that hanging out with the boys since he's been back in the barn.
A month ago I took him to the vet and he whined to go out every time he needed a bathroom break but put him in a carpeted classroom with 4-year-olds and he forgets that he's supposed to be potty trained. My little darling apparently was extremely frightened of all his little admirers. Now anybody will tell you that goats often have stomach disorders when they are under stress. And we went from goat berries to puddles by the time we were on the way out the door..luckily OFF the carpet!
Now this was not really something he could control and would have been part of an excellent learning experience had he not also decided that they would be VERY impressed by his ability to extend himself! Yep, I mean "that"!! I guess the other billy goats think he is smart and grown-up when he shows them that trick.
Luckily, I put a leash on his collar so I was able to keep him from showing them the other neat things he could do. I tried to hide it by distraction and moving him to another position and the teacher said the children didn't notice or they would have definitely pointed it out.
The little girl was VERY much in her element since she is sure she is a human girl too! Except that she ISN'T potty trained and piddled twice on the carpet of course!
Needless to say I'm praying for good weather next year when I take goats to school so that we can be outside. I guess their misdeeds were much more traumatic to me than to anybody else because the teachers were quite pleased with their performance.
...Just another day in the life of a goat farmer!
But you know what they say, "No matter how good your kids are at home, just get them in front of a bunch of people where you want them to act their best and they will embarrass you every time!"
I somehow had not noticed that my darling bottle boy Redtail who was almost three months old had become quite big and "goaty". All that hanging out with the boys since he's been back in the barn.
A month ago I took him to the vet and he whined to go out every time he needed a bathroom break but put him in a carpeted classroom with 4-year-olds and he forgets that he's supposed to be potty trained. My little darling apparently was extremely frightened of all his little admirers. Now anybody will tell you that goats often have stomach disorders when they are under stress. And we went from goat berries to puddles by the time we were on the way out the door..luckily OFF the carpet!
Now this was not really something he could control and would have been part of an excellent learning experience had he not also decided that they would be VERY impressed by his ability to extend himself! Yep, I mean "that"!! I guess the other billy goats think he is smart and grown-up when he shows them that trick.
Luckily, I put a leash on his collar so I was able to keep him from showing them the other neat things he could do. I tried to hide it by distraction and moving him to another position and the teacher said the children didn't notice or they would have definitely pointed it out.
The little girl was VERY much in her element since she is sure she is a human girl too! Except that she ISN'T potty trained and piddled twice on the carpet of course!
Needless to say I'm praying for good weather next year when I take goats to school so that we can be outside. I guess their misdeeds were much more traumatic to me than to anybody else because the teachers were quite pleased with their performance.
...Just another day in the life of a goat farmer!
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