MsDeb's Journal - Lookin Out My Back Door

[MsDeb]

I wouldn't listen to your friend, I would give them some hay.

Oh I agree and we plan to very soon. He's got close to a hundred goats and land leased for grazing so I understand why he wants to wait as long as possible. Tracking down the hay, a truck to haul it and making a place to store it where it won't get wet are all at the top of our list....along with finishing the shed and fencing. Our list is getting very top heavy.

 

[Mike CHS]

I think many of us have a top heavy to-do list. Mine kind of looks like an inverted pyramid.

 

[MsDeb]

Tripod and Scotchy's Big Adventure: David got home a few hours before me last night. (Both of us working crazy long days right now.) He said when he got home Tripod and Scotchy were laying in the shade by the back door looking extremely tired and grubby. I had moved their temp pen yesterday hoping to give them a little more grazing area and I guess one of the corner wires came off. I can just see Tripod squeezing through and then maaaaaa'ing at Scotchy (who is about 3 times her size) "Come on! Come out! Let's go exploring!" and her big, not-so-bright companion saying "Duhhhhh, OK Tripod." and squeezing through an opening smaller than his head.
Now there is road construction going on in front of our house and Tripod will always eventually head toward the road. David said they were both dusty and it terrifies me to think how close they may have gotten to the dump trucks and road graders. Hopefully they just kept a respectful distance and watched. David said they were stuffed and didn't even get up to greet him. I wish I could have seen them. I imagine two grubby little kids who have played too long at the park and just want to go home. He didn't have any trouble getting them back in their pen.

Ms Deb's Big Adventure: So this morning I have to get the scheduled fecal sample from Tripod for the vet. Normally they are just crazy to get out of the pen. The trio of older goats were certainly ready to get out of theirs and immediately began grazing. Tripod and Scotchy, on the other hand, didn't care if they got out or not. I managed to get them out and they wandered around not at all interested in nibbling anything. (I did give them some baking soda in case there tummys were hurting.) Meanwhile I'm fighting off mosquitoes because I forgot to spray and don't want to leave Tripod, knowing that if I do, that would be when she would decide to poop. She was mostly just curious why I kept following her. We eventually worked our way back up to the house and I could grab the Off and spray down. FINALLY I get a poop and as I'm bending over with my baggie to get a sample I was suddenly surrounded by 5 goats. "What are you doing, mom?" "Is it food, mom?" "Can I have some, mom?" "Let us help you, mom!" "I'm just going to nibble on your pants, mom!" (That last one would be Scotchy. I think he likes the taste of Off...which might explain a few things. Picture Chris Farley in Tommy Boy and David Spade asking him if he ate paint chips as a kid.)

Anyhoo...hopefully managed to collect enough for Doc to get a good sample. Showered, got ready for work and headed off to vet's office with a baggie of goat poop in my purse wondering if anyone else had started their morning this way. I had called in and was only an hour late and it was so much easier to just say I had a doctor's appointment (technically not a lie) than to explain the whole ordeal to my office mates. I'm sure they would have loved the story but sometimes I feel like I'm becoming the crazy goat lady.

 

[MsDeb]

This was a tough weekend. We had to make some adjustments to our little herd and that involved moving Heidi and pregnant Bridget to our friend's place. They were just not settling in with us or with any of the other goats. (And we have tried every combination over the past several weeks.) It was even to the point that we couldn't let them graze outside the pen with any of the others because they would turn on Tripod and Scotchy. Not that Scotchy couldn't take it. He is as stout as a brick wall and probably outweighs them, but he's such a big chicken he'd run away whenever they came near.
So, as badly as I wanted babies soon, it seemed the better choice to let them go stay with someone who could give them constant attention and hopefully get them a little more used to being with people and other goats. As a first time goat owner with no experience with goat birthing or milking, a goat that wouldn't let me touch her probably wouldn't have been our best start. The good news is that we will be able to visit them, see the babies, and will probably take a weaned baby back somewhere down the line, or at least have that option.
What have I learned? I'm really not sure yet. I don't think I should at this point say I'd never take another adult goat. But, if I ever do, I hope I will be more attuned to our other goats and how it would fit in. For now, we're going to stick with little ones that will grow to get along.
Meanwhile, seriously looking at the milk goat situation from another angle. Have a couple of appointments to baby Nubians. That will give me more time to prepare for babies and milking down the road. Tripod and Scotchy no longer roam the yard in fear. And we'll still have Max around as future baby daddy. He says hello.

 

[MsDeb]

Sometimes it hits me that "normal" grandparents spend hundreds of dollars on things like playhouses for their grandchildren. But the granddaughter seems to be enjoying the goat shed. I guess she'll share it with them when it's done.

 

[Sumi]

Awww

 

[MsDeb]

David got to name her (since she's our last goat and all.) She is officially Hazelnut, although it will likely be shorted to Hazel. The eventual baby daddy is Max and I think Hazel & Max sound like a cute old couple. Did I mention that Hazel is one of quadruplets? And her mama's pregnancy before that produced triplets? Last goat indeed.

 

[Sumi]

Indeed! lol

 

[MsDeb]

Chickens. Once again I kick myself and ask why we didnt start with chickens. At Orchlean's yesterday as we purchased what ended up being ALMOST everything we needed to finish the permanent goat enclosure we stopped to look longingly at the Cape Cod chicken coop that only costs $269. A mere drop in the bucket compared to what we've already spent on goats and goat necessities.
The good news is the goat shed (which costs a heck of a lot more than $269) is so close to finished. Floor and roof coverings and a coat of paint (because it must look pretty) will have to wait for the next available weekend. The fence is done except for the 20 feet short of chicken wire. I sat in grass attaching chicken wire until dark last night praying a snake wouldn't slither across my lap and silently cursing Tripod and her stinkin little Houdini soul, trying to get the bleeping thing DONE only to run out of chicken wire. That would be the reason for the leaning wooden fence panels. We had to get them out of that tiny pen.
So the goats got to spend their first nigjt in their new big home and the ugly old wood panels dont seem to bother them a bit. My fingers are oh, so sore from attaching chicken wire but it still feels so good to look out my back door and see things so close to complete. After a full Saturday and Sunday of busting our butts today...we are doing absolutely nothing. Happy Labor Day!

 

[MsDeb]

And...looking out my back window (because the panels block view from door) I think Tripod and Hazel have finally started to bond! Had to remove Tripod's buddy Scotchy from the little pen yesterday because he kept t-boning Hazel and i was really afraid.he'd hurt her. He is about quadruple her weight. He is happily grazing with the loaner goats and hopefully when we put him back in with the girls things will be better. I'm convinced he was just being mean to Hazel because Tripod was telling him to. The guy has never been aggressive before. By the time we put him back Hazel should be a lot closer to his size and be able to defend herself.