Screeyapping
Cloudy, 69/35, Fair to Change. Yesterday was yard day. Fertilized and seeded that with the anticipation of 100% chance of rain today. Looks like a gentile rain falling now, so the weatherman looks right. I also threshed (???)sunflower heads yesterday using a screen over a bucket. Good fall type weather thing to do. A couple of hours work got about 10 gallons of seed. I separated the best seed and it will go into the ground next spring. The rest will be mixed with corn for the goats this winter.
I threw thesunflower heads into the feed trough to see if the goats would eat them. They didn't seem too intersted right away, but I'll go back tomorrow and see whats left.
One of the things I really need to change around my place as the herd gets bigger is our barn layout. Years ago, it seemed to be a good idea to put the barn near the middle of our property. That was before we had goats…. And way before we had a lot of goats!! Now everything I do at the barn has to be done before the goats realize I’m there. Most of the time I can make it; this weekend I didn’t.
I got up Saturday morning and drove the ol’ truck through the gate into the pasture. My first stop is at the chicken coop to get their metal feeder. It’s the tube type with a pan underneath. It works out pretty well for our 4 layers we keep year round. Well I head to the barn, with the feeder and 150 lbs of chicken feed to unload, and low and behold there are twenty of my best friends waiting for me at the barn gate.
Not a problem, I open up the gate a little to let Sam the goat dog in so she doesn’t get terrorized for the next 15 minutes, then I throw the bags of feed over the barn gate and into the barn. After the three bags of feed are in, the goats, always curious, have they’re heads through the gate into the barn looking at the feed. I wade through with the chicken feeder and toss it gently over the gate, hoping it was far enough out of the goats reach…….unfortunately it wasn’t……
Somehow one of the thinner goats stretched through the fence enough to get her head in the tube and drag it towards her. Another goat seeing her prize also jammed her head into the tube and tipped up the feeder. Well, the two goats were stuck in the tube. At first, they were happy until one of the others, not getting any food, decided to back up and let those two have it!! I jumped in there to break it up.
Now, let me set the scene for you. There are twenty goats outside the barn, most with their heads through the gate trying to get to the spilled chicken feed. Two of the goats have there heads through the gate and stuck in the chicken feeder tube. They can’t back out because the feeder won’t go through the gate……..Meanwhile, Sam decided to have some fun from the inside of the barn………
Sam is turning into a fine dog. She’s eventually going to get entirely out of her puppy phase, but she’s getting better every day. One of the things God did not bless our dog with was a manly bark. Really, she has no bark at all. She starts out with a screech that eventually turns into a yap. For me, the sound is painful. Kinda like the sound of a dentists drill going into the first layer of tooth enamel without any pain medicine. That kind of annoying incredible pain….
Anyway, Sam realizes the goats are stuck. They have dislodged the pan, so only the tube is left of the feeder. Sam walks up to the other end of the tube and looks inside, sees the two goats heads in there and lets out a SCREEEEEYAP!! This drove the two goats crazy. And they tried desperately to get out. Sam, seeing how bad this was annoying the goats let out a few more “SCREEEEEYAP---- SCREEEEEYAP---- SCREEEEEYAP”. Oh the goats were suffering….. I was suffering…… something has to be done quickly.
Well, trying to move 1400 pounds of goat meat away from the gate is an impossible task. The only think I could do was wade in through the goats and climb over the gate. With three surgeries on my right leg from various athletic injuries in the past, climbing is not one of my favorite things to do. Its really not my favorite when while I’m climbing, I forget where the barn beam is when I go to swing over the gate. Thank goodness I had that 1/8” of an inch of fabric from the John Deere Hat to protect me.
Finally inside the barn, I shut Sammy up and try to get to the two goats that are stuck. They’re not only stuck together, but they’re horns are caught on the upper lip of the tube. Finally, I got one loose, and successfully fended off another who wanted to take her place before freeing the can from the other one.
I stayed in the barn and fiddled around for a while. The goats eventually got bored and moved on. After we finished, Sammy jumped in the back of the truck and as I was closing the tailgate I said “We sure had a busy morning didn’t we girl”
“SCREEEEEYAP” (oooooh, I have got to find a way to change that bark………)
I threw thesunflower heads into the feed trough to see if the goats would eat them. They didn't seem too intersted right away, but I'll go back tomorrow and see whats left.
One of the things I really need to change around my place as the herd gets bigger is our barn layout. Years ago, it seemed to be a good idea to put the barn near the middle of our property. That was before we had goats…. And way before we had a lot of goats!! Now everything I do at the barn has to be done before the goats realize I’m there. Most of the time I can make it; this weekend I didn’t.
I got up Saturday morning and drove the ol’ truck through the gate into the pasture. My first stop is at the chicken coop to get their metal feeder. It’s the tube type with a pan underneath. It works out pretty well for our 4 layers we keep year round. Well I head to the barn, with the feeder and 150 lbs of chicken feed to unload, and low and behold there are twenty of my best friends waiting for me at the barn gate.
Not a problem, I open up the gate a little to let Sam the goat dog in so she doesn’t get terrorized for the next 15 minutes, then I throw the bags of feed over the barn gate and into the barn. After the three bags of feed are in, the goats, always curious, have they’re heads through the gate into the barn looking at the feed. I wade through with the chicken feeder and toss it gently over the gate, hoping it was far enough out of the goats reach…….unfortunately it wasn’t……
Somehow one of the thinner goats stretched through the fence enough to get her head in the tube and drag it towards her. Another goat seeing her prize also jammed her head into the tube and tipped up the feeder. Well, the two goats were stuck in the tube. At first, they were happy until one of the others, not getting any food, decided to back up and let those two have it!! I jumped in there to break it up.
Now, let me set the scene for you. There are twenty goats outside the barn, most with their heads through the gate trying to get to the spilled chicken feed. Two of the goats have there heads through the gate and stuck in the chicken feeder tube. They can’t back out because the feeder won’t go through the gate……..Meanwhile, Sam decided to have some fun from the inside of the barn………
Sam is turning into a fine dog. She’s eventually going to get entirely out of her puppy phase, but she’s getting better every day. One of the things God did not bless our dog with was a manly bark. Really, she has no bark at all. She starts out with a screech that eventually turns into a yap. For me, the sound is painful. Kinda like the sound of a dentists drill going into the first layer of tooth enamel without any pain medicine. That kind of annoying incredible pain….
Anyway, Sam realizes the goats are stuck. They have dislodged the pan, so only the tube is left of the feeder. Sam walks up to the other end of the tube and looks inside, sees the two goats heads in there and lets out a SCREEEEEYAP!! This drove the two goats crazy. And they tried desperately to get out. Sam, seeing how bad this was annoying the goats let out a few more “SCREEEEEYAP---- SCREEEEEYAP---- SCREEEEEYAP”. Oh the goats were suffering….. I was suffering…… something has to be done quickly.
Well, trying to move 1400 pounds of goat meat away from the gate is an impossible task. The only think I could do was wade in through the goats and climb over the gate. With three surgeries on my right leg from various athletic injuries in the past, climbing is not one of my favorite things to do. Its really not my favorite when while I’m climbing, I forget where the barn beam is when I go to swing over the gate. Thank goodness I had that 1/8” of an inch of fabric from the John Deere Hat to protect me.
Finally inside the barn, I shut Sammy up and try to get to the two goats that are stuck. They’re not only stuck together, but they’re horns are caught on the upper lip of the tube. Finally, I got one loose, and successfully fended off another who wanted to take her place before freeing the can from the other one.
I stayed in the barn and fiddled around for a while. The goats eventually got bored and moved on. After we finished, Sammy jumped in the back of the truck and as I was closing the tailgate I said “We sure had a busy morning didn’t we girl”
“SCREEEEEYAP” (oooooh, I have got to find a way to change that bark………)
posted by Brad Bachelor at 4:49 AM
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