happyvagabonds
Exploring the pasture
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- May 18, 2012
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okay... a little background...
we have 3 acres of land, about half is densely wooded (perfect for goats to browse). about 1 acre is open and grassy and fenced in, but the perimeter fence is NOT goat proof yet. the goats have a nice paddock that is maybe 500 sq ft. this is where they sleep and are fed and spend most of their time. i go out every afternoon at around 4PM and bring them out of the paddock to browse until it's time for them to be put up for the night. the 2 kids usually head in on their on at around 7 and i will bring Dolly in at around 8 and then i spend about an hour in the paddock tending to various things like changing water and raking up poops, etc. we also have 3 gardensone is my herb garden and the other two are my husband's vegetable gardens. these are not yet properly fenced to keep the goats out.
so to protect our gardens and to keep Dolly from breeching the unsecured parts of the perimeter fencing, i keep her tethered. i allow the kids to roam free as they rarely go far from Dolly or myself. when we first brought Dolly home, i would just go out and sit there with her as she browsed and enjoyed watching little Bo being a baby goat.
but now the kids are becoming more independent and venturing off on to their own more.
it's also impractical for me to sit there for 4 hours a night and just watch Dolly browse. i have fences to build, gates to build, stumps to get rid of... lots of things to be done. if i leave Dolly's sight, she begins to scream for me to return. the kids totally ignore her.
the funny thing is... if my husband gets her and puts her out... she is totally content to be on her own and he is free to go about the yard doing what he likes.
but if *I* put her out... i MUST be within 50 feet of her at all times and in plain sight or she stops eating and starts screaming.
what do i do?
i put her out there to eat! and her incessant screaming is driving me crazy. i need to get things done, not babysit her.
we do plan to build a second paddock, but we're just not there yet.
advice? comments? suggestions?
TIA
we have 3 acres of land, about half is densely wooded (perfect for goats to browse). about 1 acre is open and grassy and fenced in, but the perimeter fence is NOT goat proof yet. the goats have a nice paddock that is maybe 500 sq ft. this is where they sleep and are fed and spend most of their time. i go out every afternoon at around 4PM and bring them out of the paddock to browse until it's time for them to be put up for the night. the 2 kids usually head in on their on at around 7 and i will bring Dolly in at around 8 and then i spend about an hour in the paddock tending to various things like changing water and raking up poops, etc. we also have 3 gardensone is my herb garden and the other two are my husband's vegetable gardens. these are not yet properly fenced to keep the goats out.
so to protect our gardens and to keep Dolly from breeching the unsecured parts of the perimeter fencing, i keep her tethered. i allow the kids to roam free as they rarely go far from Dolly or myself. when we first brought Dolly home, i would just go out and sit there with her as she browsed and enjoyed watching little Bo being a baby goat.
but now the kids are becoming more independent and venturing off on to their own more.
it's also impractical for me to sit there for 4 hours a night and just watch Dolly browse. i have fences to build, gates to build, stumps to get rid of... lots of things to be done. if i leave Dolly's sight, she begins to scream for me to return. the kids totally ignore her.
the funny thing is... if my husband gets her and puts her out... she is totally content to be on her own and he is free to go about the yard doing what he likes.
but if *I* put her out... i MUST be within 50 feet of her at all times and in plain sight or she stops eating and starts screaming.
what do i do?
i put her out there to eat! and her incessant screaming is driving me crazy. i need to get things done, not babysit her.
we do plan to build a second paddock, but we're just not there yet.
advice? comments? suggestions?
TIA
