In our case, the grass is truly greener on the other side: of the fence that is. Our average herd size is 23-26 goats. With baby season being almost complete, our herd size is up to almost 50. Although the babies are small and most are still nursing on their mamas, they are like little eating machines. They not only find sustenance on milk, they are also eating grain, hay and grass. In order to give the pasture an extra boost, we have petitioned it off with temporary fence to keep the little grass guzzlers from annihilating the pasture. We really need to reduce our herd size but with the pandemic, people aren’t really shopping for goats.
As with everything, we have to learn to roll with it. We have quite a bit of electric portable fence we used when Eric was raising chickens. It works well for most livestock and we thought we may as well utilize it. The grass is getting very green and beginning to grow quite a bit in some sections of the yard so we ran the portable fence and took the goats on a field trip. They were in green grass heaven! The mamas were content to munch away the day while the babies were thrilled to have a new area to explore. Although the day was brisk, we spent a lot of time outside with the goats just watching them and hanging out with them. Goats are very social animals and I believe ours are friendlier and more polite than most, so we really enjoy each other’s company. Truth be told, it is nice to get outside and away from well-loved faces that have become oh so familiar in the last few weeks. I adore my family but talk about up close and personal 24/7. I kid, I wouldn’t want to be in midst of a national pandemic with anyone else…except maybe Danny Pino or Patrick Stewart!
As with most challenges, there is a silver lining and a lesson to be learned. It is a challenge to have so many goats and I know we will find good homes for the majority of them but until then, we get to spend quality time with each other and creatures that really do bring us a ton of pleasure. We spent the day in the sunshine, our cheeks are wind burnt and we have that good feeling fatigue from being outside in the fresh air. We are all ready for bed and I am sure will sleep soundly and sweet after a day well spent. I hope you have the kind of day that allows you to sleep soundly and sweet as well. As always, stay calm, stay safe, and wash those hands!