Here We Go 'Round The Mulberry Bush....

Well, it's taken me a MONTH, but the new "Heifer Pen" is done enough to be used. I still have to mess with 2 or three gates and move some "things" that I've "collected", but I met my deadline, anyway!

Friday evening, I decided to let the dairy goats out into it to see what they'd do.

Stupid question.....

EAT.

They all came wandering in through the gate, looking at this, grabbing some of that, browsing around until they saw the Mulberry Tree. That's when it was an "every man for himself" (ok, every LADY..), mad dash to see who could pick the most leaves.



This particular tree was a small sapling only 4-5 short years ago. It had sprouted right next to a stack of rafters we had tarped over - waiting for the barn to be built. I remember chopping it off at least 3 times before I forgot about it. By the time I got back to it, it was 6' tall and 2" thick, so I decided to let it grow.

I figured that the field it was in would eventually be a goat pen, and it would be munched. Little did I know, it would be too BIG to munch by the time I fenced it off.

Now, I figure that I will just let it grow. It will eventually give some nice shade for the pen. It has grown to be about 20' tall, now, so the goats can't get to the top. I watched them happily munching away this evening for about 10 minutes. When they started, the center of the tree wasn't visible. When they finished, you could see all the way through.

They're pretty good at thinning out the leaves.

Another hope of mine, is that they decide to clear up a lot of the weeds that have overtaken the area. I wasn't sure if they'd eat them, due to the age of the weed. At least ONE of the bunch is taking on that job -



Rosie is all too happy to see how many she can do in.

Come Sunday morning, the goats will need to contend with the new arrival - the Heifer....

I am gonna go ahead and introduce them and get them used to each other. There is a LOT of good grass under the weeds that the goats don't eat. Maybe, between the cow and the goats, they can get the place looking better.

Of course, not EVERYONE was thrilled to see the goats.



This rooster circled around behind the goats, grumbling and carrying on. He DID NOT like the goat invasion of HIS property! The last I saw of him, He was stomping off toward the chicken coop, still grumbling and muttering.

I don't know what he's gonna do when he sees the cow....