What They Do In Pasture

This time of year, the goat don’t really go too far out in pasture, but there’s plenty to do on that first hill.  Obviously, they eat, which means I can cut back on their hay.

Pretzel with a corn leaf

Ostara nibbling grass

They rub against the fence.

Moose

Aphrodite

Ava going for the chin scratch

They scratch their horns/faces on the shrubs.

Victoria (she has picked up weight, but still needs a bit more)

They scare innocent squirrels.

Venus eating while the squirrel runs

Wondering why he’s been invaded and hoping they don’t eat the walnuts.

They might do a little fighting.

Hilda was rubbing on Wanda but decided, since her horn was already there, she might as well poke her.

They wear off a lot of energy! That’s a good thing.

Warm Weather Means Barnyard Brawls!

Wednesday was warm.  It started warm and got warmer as the day went on.

This sunshine brought warmth and melting

After a blizzard, and another snow shower and ridiculous cold for a week or so, the warm weather had the goats ready to get out of the barn.

Daisy and Zora in front; Popcorn and Sidney in back

But they had nothing to do out there, so that meant they decided to fight.

Tansy and Chiffon

Purl and Popcorn

Seriously.

Hilda and Athena

Aphrodite and Pluto

I kept trying to separate them.  Finally, I decided to feed them a bit early to try to distract them.  It did help, but there was still a lot of brawling.

Athena and Trace

Pluto, Aphrodite, and Hera

There were some minor injuries.  Trace had a bleeding horn.  I had to rescue several goats because Athena was being brutal.  Someone went after Wanda. I didn’t see who, but I did see her going through a big snow drift. Later, she was limping a bit.

Wanda

That means I was not about to throw Victoria and Dolly into that mess.

Dolly

Victoria

Hopefully, I can let them out soon.  I really want to have a break from goats in the garage, and they would be happier back with their kids.

Improving Weather

Well, Monday’s weather was an improvement.  It started with a new blanket of snow–about an additional inch.

freshly filled with snow overnight

Later in the day, the weather brought a lot of sunshine.

It was even enough to start the snow melting from the barn roof and leave us with icicles.

2TC, Chiffon, and Onyx’s back end

There was less wind, but it was still really cold.

Cupid and the goose braving the cold to nibble some leftover hay before I fed them.

But if you could find a place out of the wind with the sun shining on you, it was pretty not horrid.

Aphrodite

Maybeline

Caroline

It hovered around 10°F for most of the day.

Chiffon hoping to be invited in the milk room.

But it was an improvement, and doing chores wasn’t quite so bad.

Purl eating hay outside

I’m still climbing over the dutch door with a couple of bales of hay because I have no desire to shovel that huge drift in this cold.

The birds have a big drift in their doorway also.

Everyone is still hanging in there, but I am worried about Mr. Peacock.

Overall, chores were a lot easier today.

She decided this new snow was better to take a snow bath

2TC eating hay; the rest of the bale behind her was still waiting to be spread out.

I still can’t believe how much snow blew into the barn.

Flora

I still have my girls in the garage.

Dolly and Victoria finishing up the sweet feed

Pretzel, Heidi, and Ostara sharing a tub of hay

It’s worked well to have Xerxes and Antigone together.  They get along well, and it’s much easier for Antigone to get enough to eat.

Xerxes

Antigone

Frodo and Penelope are happy to snuggle together.

Frodo and Penelope snuggling together

Everyone is starting to thaw out. And we’re really supposed to start warming up now.