The Goats Were Mad at Me....

Since I closed off the driveway for the goats to mow, they have been dutifully going to work early and often. They will be out in the drive at 7:00 am, and will head out for an evening "snack" around 8:30 pm.

They work for awhile, then go back to the barn to nap, then round two, then a nap before lunch, then back out for lunch, another nap - it goes on like this all day.

The other morning, when I went out to milk at about 7:15, all of the Boer goats were out happily eating away. They always come running when they spot me heading out to milk....always.....

This particular morning, they looked up from all that tasty grass/weeds/trees, etc, bellered to me and......kept eating the grass/weeds/trees/etc.

Usually, it's a "mad dash" to see who gets to the barn - and breakfast - first. I went ahead and milked the other goats - and fed them their breakfast - then let them and their kids out to join the others, who were STILL occupied with the driveway.

I decided that, since they were engrossed with the food in the driveway and didn't come in for their grain, that I'd just not give it to them that day.

All was well in the barn....

Or SO I THOUGHT....

I went out about an hour later to do some things, and found out that they were not well pleased with not getting their grain allotment. I feed the Billies and about half the others separate from the herd. The rest eat at a trough I made from PVC pipe. It is screwed to a small "A" frame and was wired to the wall.

When I walked into the room where I feed them, I found the feeder ripped from the wall, flipped upside down, and shoved across the room and halfway out the door.....

A goat who's missed breakfast, is NOT a happy goat.....

This morning, I closed off the drive again, but they managed to escape before I got the gate closed (a broken wire caused several minutes of gnashing of teeth and chasing goats....). Deb came out and we herded them back into the driveway pen. It wasn't a big deal, they headed straight for the apple tree, the redbud tree, and even eyed the roses before they were turned aside....

One of the first to be captured was Spike - the laid back Buck we have. It's comical to see when he doesn't want to go somewhere. Normally with a goat, you can grab their horns and they will follow you anywhere. They might try to "put on the brakes" and make it hard, but they WILL follow you.

Spike is a bit different. He's part mule. When you grab his horns and start back to where you want him to be, he just goes limp and falls to the ground. He's to big to just carry, so it ends up being a "drag" back, instead of leading him.

I'm just glad none of the others have picked up on it. It's like a little kid throwing a fit and refusing to go somewhere (spanking doesn't work with Spike.....). He just doesn't WANT to, I guess. He figures that going limp is the easiest way to make me work.

Maybe if I didn't skip his breakfast the other day....