Scenes From Pasture

Since I’m giving Pretzel bottles and she’s frequently in pasture,

Pretzel getting a bottle

I’m getting lots of nice walks out to see the goats.

Pluto

Moose and Casey

Lemuel, 2TC, Purl, Dottie, Jack

the herd

Flora and Pretzel (Jack and Ivy on the stump behind)

2TC and Purl

Frodo and Rosie

Bambi, Zinnia, Jack and Ivy, Pretzel

Glover and Lemuel

It’s pretty nice out there.

 

Weaning

Thursday morning, I moved my bucks back onto the front pasture.

Freddie and Xerxes

I decided Thursday afternoon to wean kids so I could start milking again after everyone got mixed back together.  I shut Perdita up north first.  When I went back out to catch Joy’s boys, she was already out.  I think she climbed the remains of the tarp hut and went over the fence.

Perdita and Astra in pasture

I put Joy’s boys up there but I never did get Perdita caught again because she was standing on top of the fallen walnut tree until dark.  I caught Swen and Olaf and shut them up there so I could at least milk Joy in the morning.

Swen and Olaf

The next morning, Joy’s boys were out.  Seriously?  I swear it has been harder to wean kids this year than ever before.

Greta and Gary, Joy with her boys Olaf and Swen, and Micah

Anyhow, I did actually get to Astra before Perdita had breakfast, so I got a pint out of her.

Astra

Then, after my coffee, I once again weaned the little stinker.  She’s lucky she’s so cute.

Then I decided to go with Ava’s kids.

Geo, Glory, and Gilbert

She’s had triplets on her and she could use the break.  It’s been a hard year on all of the moms with the poor pasture quality due to the drought.

Ava

I hauled all three of them up with Perdita and blocked the hole I think the other two boys escaped from.

Perdita looking for a new escape route

Tonight, I’ll try to get Joy’s boys again.

Joy

After my hands get used to all of them, I’ll think about adding Caroline to my milking.

Chunky and Caroline

Or maybe Cutie.

Cutie with Sylvia and Simone

Eventually I’ll be milking all of them (hopefully in just a few days.)  In another month or so, I can start milking Zinnia.

Zinnia

Maybe I’ll see about training Onyx.

Onyx–love that perfect udder

Bring on the milk!  Time to make cheese!

Once They Moved

Now that I had the moms where they needed to be, that still left me with a couple of problems.  I needed to get Astra on this side so I could milk her.

Astra (Haley in the back)

It was actually pretty easy to just open the panel by the cattle tank and let her come through.

Three generations: Pretzel, Moira, and Astra

Unfortunately, Astra and Perdita had to be separated again because she thought she should nurse her maa again, and Astra let her.

Astra and Perdita

I put her back on the other side with the rest of the herd.

Perdita, Aurora, and Daisy (I think the kid is Tippy)

Then I wanted to bring Dolly over too.  She’s been getting to come in and eat sweet feed everyday, and I wanted to continue that.  But she and Zinnia were being a bit difficult.

Zinnia and Dolly

Eventually, I got her in too.

I also had to do something with the geese.  The moms and babies can go everywhere, but the dads can’t get back and forth.  I decided I would put them away from the new kids.  I moved pools and so far it’s working out.  I think that’s all the moving around I had to do.  Trust me, that was plenty for this round of moving goats.

two of the babies

Now, I get to continue trying to keep track of kids out on the pasture with all that tall, thick grass.  So far, that has been going well.

Joani (back), Moira and Pretzel

The other problem is that the move did not help with Tiger getting his head stuck.

Tiger the second time I had to cut him out

I actually have had to cut him out of the fence twice.

You’ll notice he has duct tape on his horns, but he managed to rip the horn apparatus off.

I do not know what I’m going to do with this boy until I can get him sold.

I’m going to give the kids two or three weeks to be able to keep up with their moms, and then I can move them onto the Back Forty.