Today was the first day that we let the flock out into the salad bar pasture, to the east of the house, up near the road.
I will admit, I was a little nervous to let them out there, because that pasture’s fencing is a little bit weak in places. Maggie and I spent the day before searching out any weak spots and wiring it up. All the older critters watched with eager anticipation. They remembered the salad bar pasture. And they were ready.
We got it all nice and tidy, and decided it was time. Any issues would be only concerning the lambs and maybe Daisy, since we’ve patched and patched this fence up before. Some of the lambs are pretty good escape artists, but thankfully, they just wander a wee bit before their mommas bellow them back to the fold.
The grass in there is lush and beautiful. They wait at the gate like eager diners at an all you can eat salad bar. It’s why we call it the “salad bar” pasture. It’s kind of funny… they will line up even when they are not allowed in there, gazing in at the delicious grazing, just calling to them. Cody even paws at the gate and tried to figure out HOW to get in there, but he can’t.
So they wait.
Today was the day. We let them in in the late afternoon for a few hours, to just start grazing it down and to be able to keep an eye on them. So far, the only bad critter was Daisy. She is just scrawny and little enough that she can squeeze through a 4 inch square in the fence!!! Even Buttercup can’t do that any more.
So if she squeezes through, Buttercup starts bawling like nuts and we know the little wort has escaped. Thankfully, she’s only done it a time or twelve…
I think I might have to put on a collar stick yoke when she’s out there. Basically, you just put a little think stick, like a piece of bamboo or maybe just a little sapling, through her collar. A little duct tape and poof! No more escaping goat. She can push her head through the square a bit, but then as soon as her “stick yoke” hits the fence, she can go no further. Apparently, this works well. Some folks will duct tape it to their horns, but hers are teeny. We’ll see how she fares the next time they are let out there. I might just not let her back out until she’s bigger. She and Buttercup do okay out in the back pasture together.
Duke kitty decided to come and watch us as we watched the flock graze and of course, he had to use the most difficult manner of doing such… climbing the little courtyard tree, leaping up to the garage roof and walking across to the other side. Cats… shesh…
I just love how the evening light bathes the animals… it’s so beautiful. No wonder photographers call it that perfect hour, that special time… It’s so beautiful.
Cody is finally shed of most of his winter coat! Thank goodness! It was like brushing out a wooly mammoth!!! I swear there was MORE hair than pony under neath his fuzz! He needs a good bath and I might just do that tomorrow or the next day. He stays pretty clean once I give him his quarterly bath. He doesn’t like it a whole lot, but tolerates it. He looks cleanish in this picture, but I assure you, he’s dusty and dirty if you try rubbing any of his coat.
Rafeka is hoping that Jessy will take more picture of him. He’s becoming a bit of a photo-ham!
Actually, he is just becoming such a sweetheart. He’s really settling in nicely, finally. I think that over the winter, we just were not outside as much as the spring and he wasn’t totally sure about us all. But now? Oh heck, he’s right in your face and looking for attention and treats. He and his sister follow us around all over the place. They are very well behaved for being goats. I get a kick out of Rafeka, especially. He has learned how to stand up tall on his hind legs and grab tree limbs and wonderful leaves! He never did that until this last week or so. Of course, his old home had been stripped clean of trees (there were over 20+ goats in the pasture) and since he’s been here it’s been winter! He is such the gentleman… he will leap up, grab a branch and hold it down for Rana and the goatie baby girls. They nibble as fast as they can and then he finishes the tall bits before letting it slip away. Maggie is going to be pruning a bunch of our trees soon and will be giving all the leafy cuttings to the goats! Happy goats!!
Duke is sitting on the back shed of the garage, looking over his kitty ranch empire.
I read in some book a good time ago, that cats like high places, even big cats, to look out over their domain. That cats have “ranches” that they lord over, and consider their own little empires, complete with livestock (birds, bugs, rodents and such). I do believe this is true because all our barn cats do that. They seek the top of the buildings to watch and survey their estates.
It makes for neat pictures…
But all good things must come to an end, and when the skeeters started to bite too much, and the sun was dipping low, it was time to put the hoofies in the night paddock and say goodnight.
Everyone knows the routine… perhaps too well! I used to have to call them, but now, they know and lay in wait for one of us to walk out to the poultry barn and dip into the big silver trash can for a bucket of sweet feed. Or lamb ration. (We recently switched to a lamb feed that is less sweet, but still a nice little crunchy treat for everyone. Sweet feed is good for the cold seasons when they need a little extra caloric intake to keep warm. Now, they just need a little bribe to go into the paddock at night. And the lambs are starting to nibble on the feed as well, so that’s good for them to be on a feed that works for them. I need to make a little creep feeder for them… something that they can get into but the bigger animals can’t. I got an old crib in the trash today… I think I might use that! Just remove a few slats so just the little guys can wiggle in and get some rations! We’ll see how that works out!
(Old cribs are AWESOME around the farm! This is our second one to find and we will make good use out of it!) (A nearby town had their large item, unlimited trash day today and we’ve scored a couple super good things from driving about! And buddy, we were not the only ones!!! We got two filing/office cabinets… two play equipment slides… a neat old vintage suitcase… a crib, a headboard, a swing rope with a big swivel hook… a cabinet… and some decent wood scraps. And we were being picky! Love big item trash days!!!)
Well, Tuesday and Wednesday had a lot of errands and just day to day stuff in them… we didn’t manage to get much more done than that. We did squeeze in a spa visit for Blue… she got de-trashed, vacuumed and her bi-annual car wash! The poor thing takes a bit of a beating as the only Windhaven farm vehicle, so it was nice to give her a good hour of our time and get her looking spiffy at the coin wash. We even paid the extra 50 cents for strawberry fresh scent spray! Hahaha… we felt a little fruity for a few hours afterwards and I did have a huge craving for strawberry shortcake! We’ve still got a month or so before strawberry picking time, but we’ll be ready for sure after riding around in our fruity car! Since we’re not getting much straw or hay anymore (like none?) I think Blue will stay a wee bit cleaner until fall!
(By the way… just LOVING that we don’t need any more straw or hay now… my feed bill at the half month mark is only $70!!! Instead of the normal $150 or more! Just loving the spring and all the lovely grass for SURE!!! Now if I could just get the chickens to eat only grass! Can’t wait till we get our fodder system working and our worm barrels! We will have some very happy hens in no time…
But that’s another post…
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