newton's the goats journal

[NH homesteader]

We don't need a hunting license here to protect our livestock. Farmer up the road called Fish and Game about a coyote problem, they told him to shoot it.

If we hear the coyotes too close, we'll go outside and shoot a couple rounds. They don't like that.

 

[newton the goat]

Great that you got to see your friends at the Museum!!!!! Love the pics, yep a trio of likable goofballs.

Coyotes!!!! You have any hot wire up? I would get on that ASAP even if it is just a relatively short fence outside the chicken area. In fact, put it a just foot outside, they won't be able to jump it without hitting the existing fence and would hit the hot wire on the way over or landing Fry their noses a time or two and maybe they will look for their chicken/goat dinner elsewhere.

Thing is the coyotes haven't shown any interest in our chickens or newton.... but they are packing around the sheep's fencing which scares me. I want to put up hot wire around the outside of the fence but that means getting another solar thing which is easy. But putting posts in frozen ground, is hard. Though it's warming up it isn't that warm yet

 

[newton the goat]

The next few days are days of getting up when the sunrises and not stopping until it's dark. We have started building the second enclosure for our sheep, goat , and potential cow lol. So far we have one side up and another side started. Our neighboors live in a little townhouse just off our property, and ended up being very rude to my family so as our little passive revenge, we put our fence line as close as legally allowed to the neighboors property. They still live a good ways away from us but they keep dumping garbage on our property claiming it's theirs.... so now we will have animals on it and there is nothing they can do or claim about it!

their property is passed that tree and the previous owner of our property actually planted trees at his property mark in a straight line just to prove it!

 

[newton the goat]

Today we finished putting up the final posts for our new fence (60 posts in total) and are putting the actual fencing up tomorrow (YAY!!!) As well as installing the new gate so we can enter and exit with the quad and a trailer so we can clean out their shed and transport the gross stuff out and take it to our pile on the other side of our property or even just bring in building supplies to fix their shed.

Today one of our mama's have developed and issue with her eyes, we are thinking it is just a scratch on her eye but there is a possibility it is pink eye . So tomorrow morning I will be going in there with my dad to catch her and hold her while I get a closer look and attempt to get some pictures. Hope it isn't pink eye and I hope it isn't a bad eye injury no clue how she would have scratched her eye though since we don't have anything sticking out of any place, but maybe she scratched it on a branch or something . I hope she is alright. ...

I find it absolutely hilarious how difficult it is for my family to get the sheep in at night if I'm not there. My dad will call me or tell me about it when I get back about how dumb my animals are and yet I find myself laughing to myself because all I have to do it call out to my ram, who will greet me at the gate and then walk into the shed and the herd follows me . Meanwhile my dad and everyone else who has tried just chases them around their building and then around the field, eventually failing and waiting for them to go in on their own accord .
The sheep while we were out putting in the posts were in the middle of the field watching and grazing, my dad called out to them and one raised up its head then decided not to bother with him, and went back to grazing My dad then looks at me and tells me to try, so I call out to them and all of a sudden all of them race over to me like I have a bucket of treats ... lol my sheep know who they like lmfao.

I hope we can finish the last few steps of putting together the field. Wish me luck

 

[Bruce]

Prey animals don't LIKE to be chased! I bet you are the one that does have treats way more often than anyone else. The alpacas will come to the gate when I show up hoping for pellets but they will hang back if my wife is there because they don't see her nearly as often.

 

[newton the goat]

Prey animals don't LIKE to be chased! I bet you are the one that does have treats way more often than anyone else. The alpacas will come to the gate when I show up hoping for pellets but they will hang back if my wife is there because they don't see her nearly as often.

It's not nessecarily that I have treats, I just go in there and sit down somewhere and eventually they are grazing around me, plus the reason why Ramsey is so attached to me it I give him a nice hardy back scratch and I brush him occasionally too because if I don't he looks all scruffy . He really likes it too which is the funny part

 

[newton the goat]

This sunday we finished pounding in all of the posts and then added the fencing we bought at a farm auction. Everything was going well until we got to the last bit of wire cow fence to unwind, the last three feet of it is in shambles and will have to be somehow mended or replaced *sigh* Well I'm happy with how we were able to get so much done in two days (60 9ft posts in the ground and fencing up ).

We are still waiting on the goat but she is showing signs of pending labor (we are hoping). Since we have had lots of sunshine and warm days we let her wander around at will, knowing she won't leave the area around the house, so far her favorite sunbathing spot is the deck off my room. And when she lies down you can see the size of her belly

She's getting along, and we discovered that she knew how to open the food bins, out of the shed they went. (No more midnight snacks )

Our flock of sheep is growing well, our little issue with our one moms eyes turned out to be pink eye, and after trying multiple things a family friend suggested we try a natural tea and gently apply the liquid the eyes and use it to clean around them, after two uses we have already noticed a difference, her eyes are a lot more open and are already losing their red coloring. though it's not something I would normally turn to, it worked so I'm happy!

The lambs are starting to compete with size!

They are steadily losing their winter coats making them look patchy and I just want to brush them out, only problem with that is only two of them like being brushed the others avoid it like the plague so I don't force them... lol

With the warmer weather we get happy birds. They love chasing down all the mice that are flooded out of their holes in the snow melt people claim chickens are vegetarians but if given a choice mine are full blown carnivores! One of our girls got extremely muddy in her hunt of the little rodents

Besides the great mouse hunt my birds are happy and basking in our nice warm sunshine out here.

somehow I caught them all in their marching poses...... my chickens don't like staying still

 

[luvmypets]

Can you try to get sn udder pic?

I love all of your animals! Makes me miss our hair sheep!

 

[NH homesteader]

Newton's udder looks huge!

Chickens are definitely not vegetarians! They love eating rodents.

 

[newton the goat]

Heres the udder picture lol its tight now, but under all that hair I can't tell if it's shiny or not, the bride to be predicts it will be before this weekend