Payback .....

For awhile now, those whining, sniveling little goats have been complaining to me (and anyone else within earshot), that the cows have been stealing their food. I've even caught Daisy snitching some through the fence that the unsuspecting goats had mistakenly scattered hay too close to - to a cow (or goat, for that matter...), if it's in reach, it's far game.

For the most part, Stew has been adopted to the point HE even thinks he's a goat. He muscles his way in at the grain feeder, plays "head butt", and even has been seen with his front feet up on a gate in the barn, waiting for me to head his way with a bucket.

I KNOW he didn't pick THAT up without a little help from his goat buddies....

Naturally, those pesky goats think ANY food is theirs, so they complain louder and louder with every passing morsel that goes to someone else. The other day, I had them lined up on the fence by the barn, screaming at me because the cows were getting something THEY weren't. What was this "tasty morsel" the bovine got that the goats didn't?

I was forking some loose - used - bedding out of the barn and into a pile. The pigs with horns figured it was food, so they should get it, not the cows.

I guess they finally got someone to cave to their whims (me). A couple days ago, I decided that, since the cows were being slow at eating the round bale I have set out for them (they like the nice fine-stemmed hay from our pasture better), it was going to waste.

I opened the walk-through gate between the two pens, and let the "rat pack" through. They must have been eyeing that bale, because they made a beeline straight to it, and began their attack in earnest. Maybe it was just a way to get away from Stew...

At any rate, they dove on top of their prey like starving Wildebeests, and began to divide and conquer.



Of course, being a "hay affectionado", Jane Doe decided to start where the hay was the best - right in the center of the bale. She came around to this side after trenching into the other end up to her belly. I guess she couldn't stuff herself in any further, so decided to start fresh on the other end.



The cows DID protest - a little - but I think it was just for show to make the goats THINK they were pulling a fast one. Since the goats are digging into the big bale, the cows get their hay from the barn.

It's a trade-off the cows are happy to live with.