More Moving Goats

The cold broke just in time for the weekend.  That’s good because I needed the three days of cold (as opposed to brutal cold) to make a couple more adjustments in where goats were located.

Zinnia finally came into heat and got bred, so she and Joy could go back to the main herd.  Honestly, I was also looking forward to going back to milking in my nice warm milk room instead of the garage.

Zinnia

I also hate having goats alone, and Freddie was by himself.  I needed to put him and Xerxes together again.

Freddie

The only question was where and how. I really didn’t think the two mean bucks should get the warmest accommodations on the farm when I have old ladies who are struggling with surviving the winter.

Victoria shivering after the last cold snap ended.

So Saturday morning I decided to trust that Xerxes would just follow me through the barnyard to the north pen.  But I always move bucks when the rest of the herd is out in pasture, and that isn’t going to happen for another six weeks probably.

Myson, Chiffon and Moose–no reason to go out in the snow

I got just a little corn and went to the west side of the barnyard and tossed it around.

Rosie and Tansy searching for the last kernel.

All the goats but Coral and Dolly ended up over there.  I tied a panel across the barn door and just left those two girls.

Dolly and Coral on the east side of the barnyard

Xerxes is such a good boy (As long as I don’t try to touch him)!  He followed me right out the garage door.

He did pause by the little gate into the barnyard because my dog was going crazy barking at him.

Sky

But he decided grain was worth walking past a barking dog.  Then he went right in the north paddock.  He and Freddie acted like they hadn’t been separated for the last two weeks. Thank goodness because I’m tired of fighting goats.

Xerxes and Freddie

Zinnia and Joy followed at a more cautious pace.  They were disappointed they didn’t get grain too, but they got it at milking time.

Joy and Zinnia

Then I wrangled Flower over to the buck room.  She really dropped weight during the last cold spell.

Flower

She was followed by Coral.

Coral

Then I brought Victoria over.

Victoria stopping for her snack in the milk room

The nice thing about the buck room is that it is an insulated room in and insulated building.  While we’re cold, I just shut the door, and their body heat and a heat lamp will keep it nice and warm.  This really is the only chance for Flower to make it through the rest of the winter.

Victoria, Flower and Coral enjoying the sunshine.

I decided to leave Antigone in the Love Shack with the three little bucks because she can’t get stuck in there, and the boys are all three good to her.  Frodo tries to play with her occasionally, but it’s not like he’s being mean to her.

Antigone

And she’s not getting stuck. So, unless I had to move any other goats into the buck room, this was the arrangements until further notice.

The First Moves

The first change I made last week was kicking some of the girls out of the buck room where they were with Xerxes.  The buck room is the nicest facilities for winter, but it’s not huge.

And there were too many goats in there.

Zinnia, LilyAnn, Sidney, Daisy, Xerxes, Margarita, Joy (Ava not pictured)

Especially when you have goats that can’t get along, and, trust me, no goat gets along.

Margarita

I had already swapped Astra back into the main herd after she was in heat and brought Sidney over in her place.

Astra and Perdita (with Wanda in front)

I planned on leaving Zinnia and her daughter Joy with Xerxes to give him company and to let them get bred because they are good moms and I need my milking girls to have kids.  They’ll be able to handle little ones while I’m gone on vacation next summer.

Zinnia peeking into the garage where we’ve been milking

I’d seen everyone else (except Margarita) come into heat, so I decided to move them all back with the main herd on Sunday and Monday before we got stupid cold again.

Ava

I didn’t want to mix goats when it was so cold because I don’t want someone to get pushed around and left outside in the cold. It would not be so crowded and easier for me to haul hay for three goats instead of eight.  And everyone else would just have to wait until it warmed up again. At least that was the plan…

Milking

Because the goats are in their breeding groups, I’ve had to abandon my milk room for milking. Zinnia and Joy are both in with Xerxes.

Xerxes wondering what’s going on in the garage. (Sorry for the bad cell phone pictures in this post.)

I have it set up in the garage.

Joy and Zinnia waiting to get milked.

It’s certainly not my milk room, but it’s better than when I was milking in the chicken coop.

Zinnia

Zinnia has done this before, so it was no big deal to her.

Joy, on the other hand, made me chase her around and drag her in there.  Then she went back to her old tricks of squatting so low that I could barely get my pitcher and hands under her to milk.

Joy

She’s doing much better now.

They are both still giving me quite a bit of milk, so I figure I’ll just keep freezing it since I’m not sure how milking will go next year.