Jealousy And The Spoiled Rotten Goats

Yesterday - before I took my smelly boots on a road trip - I had started re-arranging things in the barn so Mabel could have a nice, out of the weather spot to have her calf.

Mostly, this entailed moving a few odds and ends, building a "fence" and gate, and getting all the old hay and straw off of the floor.

When I got back home - and after lunch - I headed on out to finish. I moved a few boards, then I grabbed my Cob Fork to get the loose stuff off of the floor. Everything was nice and loose, so it moved pretty easily.

**NOTE** A "Cob Fork" is NOT one of those fancy little things people stick in the ends of corn on the cob, it is a big "pitch fork" looking thing, with several tines that are close together. The whole thing is shaped like a "grain scoop" with a long handle so you can dig into a pile of cobs. It's easier to use than a shovel because the tines let it go into the pile better, but you can still scoop a good bit out.

Anyway, back to the story -

There I was, sliding the Cob Fork along the floor, steering the hay toward the back door, and the hill beyond. I was able to slide it out of the door, give the handle a "flick" and the hay would scatter in the breeze to cover the slope.

Of course, this got everyone's attention. The cows came to see if they could get in the back door, and the goats came to see if free food was being handed out.

The bovine quickly learned that it was a false alarm, and I wasn't letting them in, so they returned to munching on a flake of alfalfa they had from earlier. The goats, however, don't give up so easily.

In the first place, they cry and moan about that "Big Goat" they have to put up with. All I hear is "He eats all the food!", "He's a PIG!", etc, etc....



WAAAAAA! WAAAAA! WAAAAA! That's all I hear.

Well, I REALLY got an earful this time! There I was, tossing hay out to those COWS and wasn't giving the goats any! Little did they know, it was sweepings from the floor - all they saw was "food".



They all lined up on the fence to beg for handouts. There they were, acting like it was the end of the world, and they were about to starve, when - not 50 feet away, there was about HALF of the bale they got earlier - just laying there. Even Stew (the "Big Goat") was ignoring it. He probably wondered what the commotion was all about.

Finally, I couldn't stand it any more, so I caved and brought out another bale. I split this one, and made sure the goats got theirs first, and didn't see me give the rest to Mabel and Daisy.

THAT would have just upset them further....

And I can't stand to see (hear) a grown goat cry...