In the midst of the building, normal life continues, or what has become normal since moving onto 
our property. Having moved to a location where we have lots of room OUTSIDE (not so much inside!) and we are not renting, the desire of Farmer Girl was to have goats, chickens, and myriad other livestock. We have stopped after the two former ones. I draw the line at cows and pigs! So, she acquired three Pygmy Goats last fall named Trumpkin, Bentley and Kiki, and, more recently, 24 chickens!
our property. Having moved to a location where we have lots of room OUTSIDE (not so much inside!) and we are not renting, the desire of Farmer Girl was to have goats, chickens, and myriad other livestock. We have stopped after the two former ones. I draw the line at cows and pigs! So, she acquired three Pygmy Goats last fall named Trumpkin, Bentley and Kiki, and, more recently, 24 chickens! The goats are adorable although somewhat mischievous. Farmer Girl is disappointed they are not "milking" goats and won't pull carts for her, but she enjoys them. The Chef built a pen for them with a little house. We still have to worry about predators as we do have coyotes, coons and eagles (although I think they 
are bit much for eagles!), BUT Farmer Girl gets them in their house most nights before dark when they are at most risk. They are very anxious to get out come morning. They eat hay and enjoy grain with molasses as a treat. One day, while we were inside we saw them running across the yard. Farmer Girl assured us she had locked the goat gate. We weren't so sure because we were certain they couldn't get out on their own. HOWEVER, we discovered that Trumpkin, our dominant male, was able to stand on a log, hang over the fence, and use his nose to undo the latch! The Chef then added another lower lock that he can't reach. That seems to be working :)
are bit much for eagles!), BUT Farmer Girl gets them in their house most nights before dark when they are at most risk. They are very anxious to get out come morning. They eat hay and enjoy grain with molasses as a treat. One day, while we were inside we saw them running across the yard. Farmer Girl assured us she had locked the goat gate. We weren't so sure because we were certain they couldn't get out on their own. HOWEVER, we discovered that Trumpkin, our dominant male, was able to stand on a log, hang over the fence, and use his nose to undo the latch! The Chef then added another lower lock that he can't reach. That seems to be working :) They do like to get out and run though so we try to do that once a day or more. They love to graze on the fresh grass and run up and down the dirt piles. They even get inside the house foundation, but have a bit of trouble getting out. At first, Farmer Girl was afraid they would run into the woods and we would lose them. They were a bit hard to catch at first, BUT now all she has to do is shake a bowl full of grain and they come running, sometimes almost knocking her down. They have been a lot of fun to have around and they all have their own personality. Trumpkin, the brown one with the white spot, is dominant and uses his horns (which came back after be de-budded) to push his way into others and into things! Not so nice. Bentley is easygoing, 
but does fight back although his horns came back, they fell off again so he is more defenseless. Kiki is a little frail and the lighter colored of the three (we de-wormed all of them because she weighed so much less than the others) and gets left behind a lot. She always catches up and is very friendly. She is the one Farmer Girl will show in fair this year.
but does fight back although his horns came back, they fell off again so he is more defenseless. Kiki is a little frail and the lighter colored of the three (we de-wormed all of them because she weighed so much less than the others) and gets left behind a lot. She always catches up and is very friendly. She is the one Farmer Girl will show in fair this year.
We'll save the chicken story for another day! God bless, Ellie~
Cute goats!
ReplyDelete