When Will They Ever Learn?

Okay, so today we finally let our goats into our Orchard field...and guess what? THEY GOT OUT. Yes, those little naughty goats figured out how to slip into the North Field and then into our neighbor's field...when will they ever learn? The only naughty culprits I know of at this moment are Essie, Gracie, Valorie, Charlotte, and Arthur...there could be more...however they might have gone back to where they were supposed to be BEFORE I went out to move them. If they did, they are quite the clever ones. And what I find even funnier, Gracie and Essie were the first two to leave the neighbor's field...on their own will. I guess they're not as dumn as I thought.:) :) :)...

After I got them all out of the wrong fields I went to see Starlene and her mommy, and wouldn't you know it! Starlene was STANDING on top of her mother as she was laying down in the grass! Starly is so little and practically weightless that it didn't seem to bother Annaliese one bit...you just never know what those goats will come up with next! :)

A Midnight Snack For Mr. Hogi Bun

Last night my sister and I went down to the goats around 11pm to give Spencer his last feeding of the day. As I opened the gate and started feeding him, Hosea without a second thought walked right out of the pen very lazily and headed for the hay bale. I watched him walk slowly over there, just taking his time. In my head I'm thinking, "What is he thinking? It's almost midnight!". But he didn't seem to care a bit. He just decided he was still hungry and walked right out thinking nothing of it. So after I was done with Spencer, I closed the gate and went to get Hosea. I found him, picked him up, and took him to the goat house pen. He didn't seem to mind me holding him or putting him back in the pen for that matter. Like I said, he looked very lazy and innocent as ever. I guess he just wanted a midnight snack.

A Faithful Darling

Today was the first time our Spencer has gotten "out" since Monday...so he was very excited about going outside with me to feed the goats hay. :) The moment the door opened he was out of the house and onto our porch, the cutie! We had a pleasant time outside. He hung around me as I fed the others and got butted a few times by some of them, but he butted them right back, as usual! GO SPENCER!

I also raced him a little while out in the snow (he likes to run with you). Eventually I got tired of that and took him down farther in the field where I walked to the pond while he played on the big cement rocks in our small ditch. He's a sucker for anything to climb on, especially big rocks or blocks...other wise I think he would have followed me the whole way down to the pond. :) But that was fine, he was still close.

When I began walking back up to the goats, he saw me and ran straight ahead with his REALLY quick feet. He didn't even turn back until he got to the pen while I'm still trudging in 6-7 inches of snow! Then he started running back to me -slowly but surely.

After a while we walked back up side by side. He's a faithful darling! :) :)...

Heads In The Fences

Nothing new with the goats. So I just thought that I would post some cute pictures of a few of our silly goats who stick their heads through the fence to get the grass on the other side - or simply want to see what's on the other side. I can't tell you how often we have had to walk out to our field with a bleating goat who got their head stuck in one of those tiny holes they SOMEHOW know how to get through but can't seem to figure out how to get out. There are countless stories that are all pretty similar...simply put - they get their heads' stuck and we come to the rescue. I've never understood  the saying "the grass is always greener on the other side" - 'cause that would be their excuse. And I'm thinking..."Well whats wrong with the grass that's available to you - right underneath your nose, are you just really picky or something?". And the answer to that question I guess is ...YES. Goats are very entertaining creatures I will say at that. :) :) :)...

PRICELESS MOMENTS AND GOOD LAUGHS

These are some great and not expected moments of picture taking of our goats - I think they're priceless! They obviously did not know that I was photagraphing them at the same time they were doing their special "thing" as you can see in these next few photos. I love these pictures since I caught them at some funny moments! I know I've posted a couple of these before, but I thought they deserved another showing since they were great pics! Enjoy - and I hope you get some good laughs!! :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)...

~Staring Goats and Fallen Leaves~

It was CHILLY outside this morning! As I walked down to open the gate for our goats, they all just stared at me as they stood out in the cold weather. I think it's so funny the way they wait for you to come down. It's like they're saying..."We've been waiting!" as they roll their eyes (if they could!) :) The moment they were let out they went straight for the fallen leaves underneath one of our trees that flourishes each year. Goats LOVE fallen leaves...they gobble them down as if they were pigs! (Thankfully they're not!) Essie's leg is doing a little better...she was still babying it a little this morning. I haven't figured out what could've happened, but like I said yesterday...it's nothing that serious. A lot of our goats limp every once in while. They either get into fights or one of the meaner or greedier goats takes advantage of their weakness and hurts them. They're strong though, so I think Essie's fine. :) Here's some pics of Comet - posing as "the staring goat"...Cocoa - posing as the goat eating a leaf...and Cassidy and Essie - posing as the "fighting goats" (or mean ones, whichever you prefer...:):)

~Essie and The Goats~

I opened the goats this morning and found that our doe, Essie, was limping on her left leg. Hopefully it's better now, I haven't checked. She seemed to be able to get around fine, so I don't think it was that serious. (thankfully!) I finally let the goats out into our orchard field...they were very excited about that! They love all the different kinds of grass and plants that exist there. We were keeping them out because the "smarter" ones were getting into places through holes that they weren't supposed to know about. But I thought that today it would be alright. :) They are really funny though. Our pygmies are so smart! Since they're small they tend to get through really small openings like it's a piece of cake. So they find ways to get into our neighbor's field, our clearing in the woods, and into our north field...like I said...they're smart. Our boer goats on the other hand are a lot dummer than our pygmies. They can't figure out the "hole thing" too well. (Thank goodness!) So as my sister says..."Goats are smarter than sheep, but dummer than cows" :) :) :)...

~Goats And Mud~

The weather has been fabulous today...and the goats have enjoyed every bit of it I'm sure! They're all doing great, thankfully! Almost all last week it was extremely wet and rainy...and if I know one thing about goats for sure...THEY HATE MUD! They either stare at it, run through it really quickly, try to find a "safer" route to walk on, or they'll just absolutely refuse to walk through it all together! So their usual pen they sleep in was muddy, me and my sister go down to lock them up one night, and they're all out. Now that's extremely rare to find them outside their pen on a COLD, wet night - but they just wouldn't walk in the mud...which I find rather humorous as I'm sure you do too. :) To make a long story short, we put them in another pen that was less wet and muddy and they were satisfied there for the next 2 nights. :) Me and my sister also cleaned out their "goat house" (where they sleep)on Saturday...boy am I sore! I'm telling you..it's a job! :) But it's worth it at the end once the straw is put down and you gaze at at your completed work with satisfaction.:)