Let me just say this before you read on: no animals died. I hope to never have to post about that, unless it has to do with processing chickens!
Mistake #1: When you get goats, someone always warns you that they are escape artists, but you never think your goats would dare escape! That was until Akea spotted Sugar, the one-year-old female, making her way toward the house on Saturday evening. Perhaps she was hoping to join us for dinner? I caught her fairly easily with the dog collar I had bought that day, but not before she had spotted her reflection in the sliding glass door at the back of the house. She stopped, backed up, and then promptly began rearing, ready to charge "the other goat!" Tragedy was averted, and as I walked her back, I wondered how on earth she could have gotten out of the electric fencing. But after returning her to her family, the way of escape became clear, as she promptly gave it a go again. Akea had to drag her out from under the shed.
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| She escaped under this shed, as the portable electric fence had stopped at either edge of it. I promptly re-positioned the fencing to run in front of the shed. |
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| And just to give you an idea of her size, here she is with Akea, who is seven. Yeah - she's the incredible shrinking goat. |
Mistake #2: Since Byron has had some other responsibilities lately, I've been moving the cows to fresh pasture frequently. He usually has everything set up for me, but this time, he told me that I had to move some loose fencing outside of their pasture, which I did...but apparently left it within easy bovine reach. You know that saying about the grass being greener on the other side of the fence? Let's just say that the expensive portable electric fencing is chewier on the other side of the fence:
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I'm shamelessly linking up with the Homestead Barn Hop #60. Because I don't want it to happen to you!
Thanks for the heads-up. Farm animals are a lot like some boys I happen to know.
ReplyDeleteAnd boys can be just as destructive!
Deletemy sister once told me about a moose tearing her electric fence and letting the pigs out...her lesson was to always make your fences strong enough for the biggest animal out there as well as the sneakiest one in there.
ReplyDeleteGood point; it's frightening that the moose got past ELECTRIC fencing!
DeleteWe've had a few mishaps in our animal ownership too. Usually involving the goats. You hear all about the care of goats but not so much about fact that they can tear down a fence if they want to, learn to enter the house via dog door, or ran the "goat in the glass door" so much they crack it....At least so far the electric fence is holding. For now.
ReplyDeleteOh, my goodness - sounds like it's never a dull moment with goats! I'm curious to see how your electric fencing holds up. Don't let the battery charge die, right??
DeleteWe've recently moved and the new doe/kid pasture is 4 strand electric fence. I really thought that given all the fence trouble we had at our old place (including jumping a 4ft chain link). But they haven't tested it. Partly because the pasture is bigger and there is much more green and partly because of the electric putting out 8000v. We test it weekly and weedeat the fence row to keep it from grounding out, but I am really happy with it.
DeleteDo you rotate them to fresh pasture at all? If they start to test the fence at all, that could help mitigate escapes. Our steers will start trying to find a way out if we don't move them often enough, but goats don't seem as picky with the forage, which is a good thing. :)
Deletethanks for giving me a laugh and making me feel better about our latest mistake! We bought a mob of steers, and everyone told us that they tend to break fences, but we didn't think that OUR steers would to that! 2 days and 2 broken fences later, we hope they get used to the property soon....
ReplyDeleteI hope so, too! Farming is a lot of trial and error, isn't it? A farmer we know had a couple cows who would break out and go up to the corner store!
DeleteOh me, so sorry. I have a saying around here-"You can either laugh or cry. And I try to laugh because crying gives me a headache!" :)
ReplyDeleteAmen to that!
DeleteOn Monday my chiro told me this crazy goat story. This bottle fed baby goat went through the dog door, up the stairs, and jumped into this woman's bed (with her in it!) and started peeing! So hey, it could be worse, right? ;-)
ReplyDeleteWell, that settles the question of whether or not we should put in a cat door! (We don't have dogs but were considering one for the cat.)
DeleteAlthough I probably don't update it as often as I should, I fail at everything, too. You can read about my failures here... http://www.homesteadfailure.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteThanks for being honest. I started my blog about my failures because it seems no one writes about those.
It's an important aspect of anything we pursue. I tend to get discouraged, too, by bloggers that seemingly "have it all," even if they claim otherwise. Keep it up, though - we all can learn from each other!
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