Thoughts on Goat Ownership

My feelings about being a new goat owner have fluctuated from week to week, sometimes moment to moment. In case you didn't read this post, I'll just tell you, taking on ownership of these goats came along with some angst. I'm still feeling a little angsty. One minute I'm fully committed; the next I'm asking myself why in the world I ever thought I should buy goats, and scheming as to how to get rid of them.

Not get rid of them. Not like that.

Just sell them or give them away. To a nice retired couple in the country, who have a twenty acre pasture fenced perfectly for goats, and a heated barn to keep them warm in the winter.

Those people exist, right?

Yeah, I didn't think so either. That's one of the reasons why we still own the goats.

So, about a week ago, I eluded to the fact that I was a little bit tired, but I was so tired I wasn't even able to elaborate on some of the reasons why I was so tired.

There was one reason, in particular, that was particularly tiring... The goats breached the confines of their containment facility.

Basically, what that means is... The goats got out of the fence.

But 'the goats breached the confines of their containment facility' sounds much more dramatic.

And in that moment, to me, it was.

Why do goats have to get loose on an evening when I'm physically and mentally exhausted, have an entire house to tidy up, and my husband isn't going to be home until late?

It went like this:

I walked outside and saw one of the goats was out.

I put Burley away before he noticed the goat was out and potentially 'eliminated' her.

I caught the goat without difficulty, put her back in the pen with the other one, and blocked off the spot in which I thought she got out.

I stepped outside about twenty minutes later to find both goats out.

I got a little corn, to which they came running, and caught them easily.

But I wasn't sure how they got out of the fence, and the place I had previously blocked off was still in tact, so I knew it wasn't there.

I brought both goats up near the house, tied them up to trees, went in the house and wimpered a little bit as I contemplated all the cleaning up I had to do, compounded by having to figure out how to contain these goats. My children went whizzing by and pointed out, "Hey, mom, the goats are outside the window!" "Yes," I wimpered. "I-I-I-I-I kkknnnoooowww theyyyy aaarrree."

I was feeling very wimpery that evening.

I wanted to crumple onto the floor, throw a fit, and let somebody else figure it out.

I also wanted to put an ad in the paper that I had two goats for sale.

And I also wanted to make myself a mochaccino.

But none of those things were going to get the goats put away and get me to bed at a decent hour. So you know what I did? I told myself to 'Farmer Gal Up'.

You know, like 'man up'?

But Farmer Gal style.

(I'm coining the phrase. Feel free to use it if you want to.)

I'm a real live farm girl, I told myself... I can handle this!

I decided to just start cleaning, and while I was doing so, give some thought to the goat situation. Round about the time the house was starting to look pretty spiffy, I had a solution to my goat problem. I rounded up the kids, grabbed the drill and some fencing wire, and valiantly stated, "Come on kids, we're going to fix some goat fence."

Then we marched out the door and got to work.

(Actually, I got to work. The kids spent most of the evening playing with an old tire and pretending a couple of overgrown cucumbers were their precious baby eggs. But their presence was great moral support.)

I wired boards to the bottom of the goats' pen, all the way around. Then I went and got the goats, put them back in their pen, and they haven't gotten out since.

I conquered those goats.

I couldn't feel my fingertips for two days from twisting so much wire, but...

I conquered those goats.

So the goats stay.

Why? Because at this point we've worked too dang hard to give up.

Besides, who could resist this face?

Comments

[Michelle]

Goats, eh? My sister and brother-in-law actually ARE those people who would take someone's goats if they needed a good home in the country. : )
Glad things are working out for yours, since you live kinda far from my sister!