Change is soooo difficult, isn't it?.... be it breaking your morning coffee habit, quitting smoking, going to a different church, not being able to do something that you love to do.....there are a plethora of changes we have to make and a few that we are forced to make....some affect us deeply, some not so much, some are a mere annoyance.
With the birth of the baby goats has come a change that is most unwelcome to this chore girl. We had the girls in a fence that consisted of four wires which did not have to be juiced consistently because they learned to fear it. The milk stand was located directly outside the "gate", so, in order to milk Annie, I would just open the gate and she would hop up on the stand and stick her head through the hole to get to the grain bucket. (Okay, I said she would just hop up on the stand...that was simplifying things a bit....as you know if you've read any previous posts, Annie has been prone on occasion to making me wait for her) At any rate, the milk stand was located beside the shed that housed the feed. There is a nice little shelf in there where I would sit my milking pot until I was ready for it..everything was all handy. Notice I am using the past tense here.....
I am using past tense because things are no longer that handy. sigh..... and such is farm life. :) The babies decided that their favorite place to relax every day was under the milk stand....which is located OUTSIDE the fence. I was willing to turn my head on that rebellion and hope that when they got a bit older, we could turn the juice on and they'd quit. However, I looked out the window last week and saw Annie in the backyard. That just ain't a good thing, folks! The time had come for a change. Darn it....
We moved my buck up to the upper pen ...which isn't as big as his previous one. We moved the girls and babies into the buck's old pad... it, too, is smaller than their previous pen. It was getting late last Thursday night when we got it all finished sooooo my husband says, "Why don't you and the kids intro the goats to the juice (electric fence) tomorrow in day light."....yippy skippy...color me excited...just what I LOVE to do....shock goats. sigh...
Anyway, the next day was a busy one for me.....groceries, libraries, etc.... When I returned home, I noted that no one had tried to escape! Yay! Which made me think maybe we wouldn't have to turn on the fence after all....I was happy! :) However, as I began feeding and watering, it became painfully obvious that the goats were going to need a little reminder. As I was toting my five gallon bucket of water uphill, I notice something peculiar....my buck isn't in his pen....hmmmmmm.....where *could* he be?? I look around and finally see him.....up on the milk stand, eating Annie's grain. So, I walk over and try to close the head part to pin him...only his head is smaller than Annie's so he slipped out....you didn't think it was going to be that easy, did you?? I found a leash and began sweet talking, chasing, and trying to lasso my goat. sigh.... He's so darn cute and I swear we are friends...but he was not liking the leash. He doesn't wear a collar so I was trying to rope him....LOL.....
Finally, he went into the shed to eat some grain and I shut us up together....and roped his poor little head....and walked him back to captivity.
Following that adventure, I got to go back and put the leash on Annie's collar to lead her to the milking stand. I have to tell you that flip-flops get no traction on pine needles. NONE. The goat is relatively big...and on the way to the stand, she noticed some tasty green pine needles that she longed to nibble....so, she pulled me down the hill ...I was skiing on flip-flops. Yeah...that was fun..... Ummmmm....anyway, I got her back to the milk stand...and *f-i-n-a-l-l-y* she got up on the stand...I milked her and sighed and thanked the good Lord that another day of choring with change was over.
I mentioned to my husband over the weekend that perhaps it would be better if the milk stand was located inside the pen...that way, I wouldn't have to get her out to milk her and thus, would not be participating in any summer skiing. So, yesterday, we hefted the milk stand up and carried it to the girls' pen. Today, I must admit, I was a bit excited to see how it would work. Word of advice.....don't go into a goat pen with two lactating females carrying only ONE bucket of grain. I learned that ....today. I was going to hang the bucket for Annie on the milk stand, get her tethered, and then give Sugar (mother to the babies) her food. NO SUCH THING WAS HAPPENIN'.....both girls wanted that grain and aimed to make sure the other didn't get it. (Might I add that Sugar has horns...... you do not want to get in the middle of two does fighting over the bucket YOU are holding when any horns are involved)....anyway, I kept trying to get Annie on the milk stand while keeping both of their heads out of the bucket. Finally, Annie put her front feet on the stand and stuck her head through the hole to reach the bucket. While her head was in, I closed the piece of wood that keeps her in. Of course, now I have a dilemma.....her head is in .....her front legs are up...but the back end is still standing on the ground. And the back part is the part I've gotta milk...... Guess what I got to do??? I got to go around and pick up the back of my goat and put her on the milk stand. sheesh....I'm just not sure I get paid enough.......
Anyway...the milking got done...I have no other choice, do I?? I must say that I am not particularly looking forward to the milk stand part tomorrow. Plus, as an added bonus, my buck, who loves to play, stand up on his back legs and act as tho he's butting me, has decided to do a little leg butting with a higher degree of intensity. Maybe it's the smaller pen getting to him??? He gave me a fairly rough nudge today on my knee....I think he's trying to tell me that he doesn't care for change..... I'm with him... LOL :D
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