2005-01-12 - 12:58 p.m.

A New Year-Lesson learned

Quote for the day: When you make a mistake, don't look back at it long. Take the reason of the thing into your mind and then look forward. Mistakes are lessons of wisdom. The past cannot be changed. The future is yet in your power.
-Hugh White

Every day is a new day here at the farm; it�s a new learning experience. I read posts from the homesteading sites, goats, sheep, chickens ect�and there is always a few that have been doing it for years that think they are experts at it. There way is the only way.

They will flat put down any suggestions someone else may have. No one is an expert, and if you call yourself an expert and don�t open your eyes to new suggestions then I would rather not hear from you. A person doing something for years willing to take suggestions or at least look at them I am willing to hear your advice please!!!!!!

For a few years now we have been working with electric moveable fences. AT the other ranch husband had to clear a place to put it, and then he set it down, it worked pretty good. Husband did this I never saw him do it. A couple of times coyotes would knock it down but I imagined they yelped a lot before running away.

The fence needs some mending here and there since we moved to our new place, and we thought the batteries weren�t working, so well when our troublemaker Harley the goat keeps escaping. I could never catch her either so we changed batteries.

She gets out then they all follow the rest of the herd. I just couldn�t understand how she was getting out, and to make matters worse she would head straight for my moms plants, and only do it when we were gone. I felt for a couple of weeks like having barbeque goat.

So today while trying to put our new lamb back in with them I saw how she did it. She touched the bottom of the fence with her nose then pushed with her horns and pushed out. The long grass on one side of the fence is long so she looked for the parts where the grass was thick and long. She would dig a hole through the grass to find the bottom. Stupid goat! Or should I say a smart goat?

I called up hubby hoping he would answer. The only thing I could think of was to mow at those places. It would have been a lot of work and most of my morning was gone already. Unfortunately there was no gas in the mower and I had to find out where hubby put it. He told me instead in the red barn there were stake grounders, he had them scattered about on the floor. So that�s what they were used for! They looked like tent stakes to me.

So I put them in on the places I knew she was trying to get out and was delighted to see her get her nose shocked a couple of times that her lip would go up towards her nose at the surprise shock. Yes darn it I was delighted to see her in a bit of pain. Darn goat used up most of my morning with her escapes. I deserve a little satisfaction.

Unfortunately again there were only a few of these stakes and I might still have to mow but not as much as I would have at the start. She�s going to find those openings I just know it, she has nothing else better to do then look at the other side of the pastured which is always greener, and so goes my morning with the farm animals. I wish we could just sell the goats.

They don�t sell very well here, alive or as just meat. If I ever do have goats it will be a Nubian they give good milk unlike these Spanish goats who the only purpose they have so far is to be a pain.

dreams - Husbands death for the day