Queen Mum's Dancing in the Rain

[Ms. Research]

I will do what I can.

Hoping you and your goats are out of that situation soon. Just remember Queen Mum, you can only do so much. Unfortunately they are not your goats, and unfortunately I have found through life experience you can't change people, no matter if you can show them, educate them on their bad goat management. Only can change yourself. And it seems the change is you moving soon, selling the goats you can before the move, and taking your remaining goats and going to that new place with kind people.

Again, hoping you and Houdini, Mama, and the rest are out of that bad situation soon.

K

 

[Queen Mum]

Ms. Research,

You are SO right. That is precisely why I am moving. I can't change these people and I can't afford to feed their animals for them. (If I could, I would.) So I can only do what I can while I am here and move and then when I am gone maybe I can do something from afar.

This morning, I offered to give one of my bales to the LL for his goats because he is out of hay and he turned it down! He said he was just going to give his goats pellets for the rest of the week until he can afford more hay!

I went out and fed my goats. I was so happy to see them looking fatter and better fed today. They are in separate quarters and have separate feed. They are healthy goats. Their coats are thick and soft and they have a nice fat layer to keep them warm. I took the not so fresh coastal hay out of their hay feeder and put it in a big bag and I gave mine some new coastal in their hay feeder. My boys started pigging out.

I took the coastal that my goats were snubbing in their hay feeder and took it out to the LL's goats (the paddock where the other goats had died) and spread it out for them to eat. They were so hungry. But they got to eat. I put some in the upper pasture. There's another dead goat up there today.

Today I'm going to take my boys to the lower 40 to browse.

 

[jodief100]

 

[Queen Mum]

BTW, Mama and Brownie are already at the new farm. I MISS THEM! But they are so happy there.

Two down and 4 to go...

 

[fortheloveofgoats]

Houdini has been hard at work trying to find new and ever more clever ways in and out of his little paddock. Since the boys joined him, he's really getting creative. He LEAPS up on the pallet which is 5 feet high and sails over the fence into Snowflakes pen. He doesn't like it over there because it is MUD city. So he tries to sail over her fence.

Since that doesn't work, he's been trying to get out by sneaking out the gate to her paddock. Alas, it doesn't work. So he was lying in wait for me to come looking for him last night. Fortunately his collar has a bell and the minute he moved, the bell went 'jingle, jingle' and the jig was up. He was most disappointed. He ran up the pallet, sailed back into the paddock and laid on the milk stand ALL night sulking. This morning, I affixed a piece of flexible fencing over the pallet so he can't jump up there. He was none to happy.

On a sadder note, I went out to look over the goats in the lower paddock. About six or seven of them were missing. I thought maybe the landlord had moved them. HE had not. OMG, OMG, OMG, a sick feeling came over me and I went down to the internment area and there they were. When I went to Oklahoma, we had a hard freeze.

I have no idea how they all died but I suspect exposure. They had a barn but it has no hay in it and no insulation it's just a three sided corrugated enclosure. The goats were just not ready for winter. They just didn't have enough body fat to keep them warm. I sat down and cried and cried. I don't know what to do. I wasn't here. Was the cold too sudden? Is it that the landlord wasn't paying attention? Or is he being neglectful. I tried to tell him weeks ago that those goats were too thin. He's not feeding them enough. But some of the other goats are plenty fat enough.

I don't have enough money to leave tomorrow or I would pack my goats and leave. NOW.

Oh my gosh, so sorry to hear that. It's sad that their are people out there that will animals starve and not properly take care of them.

 

[Queen Mum]

Oh my gosh, so sorry to hear that. It's sad that their are people out there that will animals starve and not properly take care of them.

This one didn't starve. He died of the usual. Urinary calculii. I'm pretty sure of it. We've lost almost all of the bucks that way. About 10 in the last three months.

 

[fortheloveofgoats]

Oh my gosh, so sorry to hear that. It's sad that their are people out there that will animals starve and not properly take care of them.

This one didn't starve. He died of the usual. Urinary calculii. I'm pretty sure of it. We've lost almost all of the bucks that way. About 10 in the last three months.

Oh sorry, for thinking that. I thought that because you said the land loard wasn't feeding them right. I am sorry about the loss though. 10, you poor thing.

 

[elevan]

Oh my gosh, so sorry to hear that. It's sad that their are people out there that will animals starve and not properly take care of them.

This one didn't starve. He died of the usual. Urinary calculii. I'm pretty sure of it. We've lost almost all of the bucks that way. About 10 in the last three months.

THAT comes down to your arse of a landlord's feeding practices.

 

[Queen Mum]

The boys and I went for a walk today to clear our heads. Trump Card, Ian and even Houdini got to go too. I cornered Houdini so I attach a rope lead to his collar.

Oh the shame of it. A rope. He was pretty cranky when I put it on him and backed up and lept and jumped and pulled. But surprisingly he didn't wail and moan like he usually does. He didn't even throw himself on the ground and act like I was choking him. I used a long rope so he acquiesced and eventually was having a great time because it got him out of the paddock.

He is pretty smart and figured if I was walking and he wasn't pulling and acting snarky, then he was getting to go somewhere. He was actually prancing! And wanting to run ahead and explore! He got kind of worried when we got quite a ways away from the barn. It was out of his comfort zone even though the other goats were with me. He started to whine and act like a baby. He wanted to go back. He wouldn't browse like the other boys so we had to go back early. Ian and Trump Card were a bit miffed. But it was Houdini's first trip out so, we went back. He practically skipped.

At the end of every walk, I always give my goats a brush down. At first he was shaking like a little leaf and trying to run away. But he relaxed eventually and stood still 'tolerating' the brushing. And then next thing you know he was sort of liking it and didn't even realize that I had removed the rope. OMG, the look on his face when it dawned on him that the rope was gone and I was still brushing him. It was kind of like, "What do I do now? If I stalk off the brushing will stop. Maybe if I pretend the rope is still there she will brush that itchy spot." He pretended for a minute or two more and then walked casually away.

Next time I think I will take Jelly Bean. She looked pretty disappointed when she got left behind. She doesn't have a collar yet. She's still pretty shy.

I love my goats, even if they are livestock.

 

[marlowmanor]

Will you be taking Jelly Bean when you move so Houdini has a lady friend?