Land Ahoy!

Up until now, the goats have been limited to the area of our yard I’ve fenced off for them, which is no small portion (about 5,000 square feet). Bigger than our house, certainly! We knew that the back portion of our property was partially fenced, but were under the impression that the entire back section was incomplete. WE WERE WRONG! After traipsing back there to take a look at exactly what it would take to finish fencing it in, we discovered that instead of about a 300 foot gap in need of fencing, it was already fenced in, but with two 10 foot gaps where somebody had apparently cut away to allow a 4 wheeler or something through. One side still had the flap of fencing attached, so we simply closed it up and tied it back together with some wire we had on hand. We would have been able to do the same with the other gap, had it not been for the fact that a tree had fallen on that flap of fencing. Feeling a bit cheated at having come so close to having a useable pasture for the goats but having the prospect snatched from me at the last minute, we dejectedly walked back to the house, which is no small feat in and of itself. It’s a veritable jungle back there. As we approached our yard, we discovered a stack of old lumber the previous owner must have secreted away in the bushes, and what do you think we found there? A roll of field fencing!!!! We could not believe our good fortune. So, we grabbed it and turned back around to go patch up the remaining hole in the back fence. Twenty minutes later we had a pasture. WHOA! At this point it was getting dark, but we still opened the gate for the goats and told them to run and be free! Which, of course they did not. They moseyed at best. But within minutes they were gobbling up anything in sight. Tierra was particularly happy to have some new bushes to practice her acrobatics on. She spends a good portion of her time standing with her front legs on a tree stretching her long neck out to eat the good stuff on top. Here’s some pictures of their grazing ground. The back fence line is somewhere in the general vicinity of the farthest line of trees in this picture. This is taken standing in the goat pen, looking toward the back of our property.

Here’s a picture showing some of Tierra’s common acrobatic moves to get to the choice leaves that everyone knows reside at the top.

And the best part about the addition of the new pasture? I CAN LOCK LUCY AND LOUIE OUT WHILE I MILK! Those two have been a constant pain in the butt while I milk Tierra. I’ve had to pour them each a bowl of grain outside of the milking area, then run over and milk Tierra before they finish eating. This worked for about two days, until Louie decided he didn’t want his food, he wanted Lucy’s. So, he’d stop eating his and go chase Lucy off hers. She is too intimidated to go eat his, almost like he’s marked it. So, she comes and bugs Tierra for hers. I don’t know how 50 lb Louie is more intimidating than 125 lb Tierra, but he seems to be in Lucy’s eyes. So, then I started pouring Louie his bowl, and putting Lucy’s grain between my knees while I milked. This worked for about 2 minutes each time, then Louie would come over and I’d have to play offense over Lucy with my legs, milking Tierra at the same time. NO LONGER! Now I lock those two rapscallions out in the pasture with one bowl of grain for Louie, milk Tierra at my leisure, and then go hand feed Lucy her ration. *Whew*