Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Goats...because they are cheaper than a pony!


We have two very adorable additions to the farm named Misty-Anna and Princess! These 5 month old Nubian Dwarf/Oberhasli goats which were given to us by a friend of a friend. She had more goats than she could care for over the winter. We needed them both as weed-eaters and companion animals. Since we lost our old pony Poncho in March the acre pasture behind the hog barn has become a bit out of control. The goats co-exist in a pen in the barn and the pasture with 3 calves.

The girls have fallen in love with these two. They are quite friendly as their previous owners had pre-teen girls that made them as tame as a well loved puppy. We underestimated their athletic skills and intelligence. After a couple quick escapes we reinforced all the week spots in the fencing and pen wall. After the girls told me "the goats can fly!" I knew I was in for a good story. Apparently Princess (the goat with the little white crown) took a running leap off the plank you see in the picture and jumped over the 3 foot wall onto the hay bales on the other side. I guess she needed a snack.

That night they proceded to knock the empty 20 gallon plastic tub off the plank and somehow with all of their 16 pounds of strength they managed to move it right up to the pen wall and voila hay snack. Thankfully they are so tame and friendly they were not hard to catch. They really were not trying to escape and head for the hills, just looking for a midnight snack I guess.

They now have their very own hay bale set on end to jump on, sleep on and snack on. I think they are finally satisfied!

1 comment:

  1. Love it!! Glad they like their new home and were not headed for the hills!!

    ReplyDelete