What Didn’t Go Well

Like I said, mixing the goats actually went fairly well.  However, they didn’t stay that way.  By the time I got done mixing everyone, I realized Penelope was back with the old ladies.

Penelope in pasture last week

And Ostara had snuck back in with her maa.

Ostara

I put Penelope back, but there’s no way I could catch my bratty Ostara after all the craziness of catching and sorting everyone.  In fact, I never did catch her, so I’ll just have to deal with it if she gets bred.

Ostara, Benji, and Cupid

I got home, the afternoon after I mixed everyone and hoped everyone was where they were supposed to be.  But no, Penelope was back on the wrong side of the barnyard.  This time, I just threw her in with Frodo and…

Frodo and Penelope

Pretzel?  Where was Pretzel?  She was also out with the old ones.

Pretzel

Brat.  How did she get out?

I did add another panel and made sure it didn’t tilt out, so she couldn’t climb it.  Now she’s captured too.

Resting in the food pan

Sunday morning, I got up and saw that Tansy was on the wrong side.  She left Benji and came back to the other side of the barnyard.

Tansy

Luckily, she likes food, and I managed to get her to come into the milk room.  Then I put her back in with Benji.

If only we didn’t always have to do things the goat way.

Enjoying Pasture

Now that the girls are not fighting, everyone can enjoy pasture again.

Maybeline

Bubbles

Chiffon

Popcorn and Flora

Shellie

Tansy needs to have Alice weaned

Moose–No fence it made to withstand that weight.

It helps that our weather is much nicer this week.

The Misadventures of Ducky

I think I mentioned a time or two that I was checking to make sure Ducky was with the herd, but I never actually told the story of why that is necessary.

Ducky hanging with gal pal, Sappho

One evening, I was doing my last check of the herd because I saw on the radar that it looked like a storm was going to hit us.  As I was doing my check, I could see rain and lightning to the west.  But I did not see Ducky.

Then I remembered that Caroline had come up with my milking girls and wanted to come in, but she didn’t have Ducky with her.  It wasn’t a big deal to me at the time because Ducky is old enough she isn’t always right by her mom.

Caroline and Pretzel begging to come in

I checked in pasture again and all of the buildings, and then I felt Caroline’s udder–it was full.  I was guessing she hadn’t been nursed since morning.  That really worried me because any time we’ve had coyote issues, it’s in the morning.

Caroline’s daughter, Ducky

I jumped in the ranger and drove like crazy through the buffer strip and around to the gates into the Back Forty because I was seeing more lightning, and I could feel the rain in the air.  I raced past the llamas on the second hill and started going to the south along the fence.

When I got to the draw between the back hill and the front hill, I kept getting closer.  It’s hard to see all the way to the bottom, and I had to see there because it’s a place the goats like to eat.

I didn’t know what I was going to hit in the tall grass, but I just kept going.  Then I saw a little white body.

I ran to her and was so relieved to see she was okay, just stuck where two panels overlap.  I got her out and didn’t even give her a chance to get her feet under her or have a potty break.  It’s not easy to get a four-month-old wild goat to stay in the Ranger with you, but I hadn’t taken the time to get the big pet taxi.  And, honestly, I really thought she was gone.  But we managed to get down the hill and then, instead of heading to the gate where I came in, I turned and went down the bottom towards the barnyard.  I felt a couple of sprinkles and I turned to go back up the hill that  took us to the lane.  I let her out and she ran back up to be with her mom.

I tell you, the next evening in pasture when I was checking again, she just stared at me.  It’s like she finally figured out what my purpose is out in the pasture.

And she is a smart little girl, because she has not gotten stuck since.