Adventures in Farming #683
Goats on the Road!!!

I’m happily working on my computer when I look out my little window that points eastward and I see Daisy leading the rest of the goats and at least one or two sheep out to to cross the road. I smile and then pure panic sets in! THE ROAD? LOOSE!!! My brain immediately imagines the scene like the picture above and I scream to Jessy in her office “THE SHEEP ARE LOOSE” (And of course feel bad because it’s mostly the GOATS that are loose……) And she leaps to her feet and dashes out the front door to herd and I get to my feet and grab my shoes and a bag of stale frosted mini-wheats (the favorite livestock crack treat of the moment), and bolt cutters and dash out the back door to hollar for Maggie to get the remaining critters back into the garden.

Jessy manages to get them BACK off the road by shaking the little green apple tree by my window and they all run over to start stuffing their faces with this treat. The cars and trucks resume their journey, hopefully pleased with the thought of sharing a funny story with friends and family when they get home tonight.

Maggie has the rest inside the middle yard and the garden closed off. She has seen where they pushed out a section of the garden fence on the east and she has pulled it up and pushed it tight against a chair! Garden is closed for the season, it seems. The little boogers weren’t content with all they had, no….. they had to go and wreck it for everyone else. And I’m pretty sure it was Daisy who made the connection. She’s small and cute and sickly-sweet, just like some criminal mastermind.

“Hey guys, look! You can push under this fence like me! Lets go on a walkabout!”

I have to cut loose a big section of the dog yard fence from the posts so we can lift up the fence and lure the 4 goats and Angus, the sheep, back into captivity. Of course, Daisy and Buttercup rush over to my side, because they love me and they love the bag of frosted mini wheats I’m carrying. Rana and Rafeka consider it a moment, but then, naaa…. they would rather eat the leaves and apples that are all over this un-touched Eden that is the yard in front of the dog yard that we have to mow because it’s not fenced in yet. Jessy grabs Angus because he’s clearly a little befuddled by all the headyness of running with a bad gang of goats. She grabs him by the horns and shoves him under the fence with the skill of a tough life long bull-dodger at a western rodeo. (Can I just say that I’m really impressed at how far my daughters have come in their no-nonsense approach to livestock handling??? Jessy is one tough operator when it comes down to livestock safety… no one gets by her!)

Maggie has the dog yard gate open and is trying to keep the rest of the flock from rushing in. They are baaaaaing and going nuts because they think it’s cruel and unusal punishment that those BAD Hoofies are getting mini wheats when they deserve them FAR MORE for staying in place. I shove the goatie girls in the gate and have to lure Angus with a few more treats as he is on to us about the horn grabbing that he just had to endure. Just as I shove his butt through the fence, Jessy calls that the angoras are behind me, suddenly seperated from everyone and wanting a treat. Mission accomplished… everyone back in the fold.

I was really impressed with our response time on this livestock emergency run. Only about 10 minutes max, everyone safe, and only a few pieces of wire cut to release a part of the fence. No swearing, no injuries, and we’re actually laughing at the whole situation’s end. Are we getting good at this stuff or what! A year ago, it would have been chaos as we tried to herd them around the front of the house or back in the field or down the farm access road in a panic, without any treats or thought of how to get them back in. We are actually getting much better at this all!

Finally!!!

Add better fencing to the garden for next year’s to do list.

Consider chaining Daisy in the paddock for this year’s list.

(haha…. naw, she’s too cute…)