Saturday, May 16, 2009

Separating Boys from Girls

Space is at a premium until the farm is fully fenced and cross-fenced. The acres of lush grass (potential pasture) extend beyond the perimeter fence erected to date. The land within the perimeter fence has limited cross-fencing on it. Each morning I must perform the mental shuffle: how shall I separate the goats, alpacas, horses, dogs, geese and chickens today?

For the most part, the chickens manage themselves. I provide scratch grain in the morning to the free range birds and keep Mama Hen supplied with layer mash and water. The chicks have outgrown their garaged dog kennel and now have a base in the larger wire kennel near Mama Hen; I only provide chick starter and fresh water. They have begun flowing out through the chain link, maintaining cover under the orchard’s pots, a nearby rock outcropping, or simply the tall grass. Mama Hen has her one chick whom she mothers, and is busily brooding over a new clutch of guinea hen eggs—collected from our hens. Thus, the chickens take practically no thought and little time each day.

The geese have come to an agreement with me. During the day they roam free through the back acreage, and in the evening they report to the outside kennel in the woods to receive cracked corn and a safe (locked-in) space for the night.

The dogs have settled well within the perimeter fence. Usually they roam free of the home pasture, but once in a while they prefer it. During long rainy stretches, Molly likes the home pasture for its easy access to shelter in stalls. She seems to like lying in the straw or shavings with little goats around her. Luther prefers to excavate the barn’s inner corridor—especially spots supporting the legs of large furniture items stored there for now. Heidi roams outside, coming into the shelter at the far end of the barn only to eat. She may seek shelter beneath the storage trailer in the heat of the day, but she’s usually close on the heels of her charges and she pays extra close attention to the smallest goats.

The goats were long split between residing in the barn (Nigerian Dwarfs, Little Uns, and new mamas and their kids) and out by (or beneath) the storage trailer. After Mother’s Day weekend, Lucy and Janet have been given the center stall and all goats are now relegated to the more spacious enclosures under the trailer. For pasture the boys generally work down front, tackling the grassy acres to little avail at an ever-increasing (that is to say, they are losing the battle more and more quickly). Big fainter girls roam within the perimeter fence and browse the woods. Smaller goats and those with kids are relegated to the home pasture. Since Nigerian Dwarf goats seem to take pleasure in problem-solving, they have been well-entertained by the sloppy divider fence I slung up when the alpacas arrived.

The alpacas, on the other hand, are willing to be contained by my feeble efforts—usually. At times, after the goats have again demolished my fence by climbing over it until it lies nearly flat, Spencer will hop the “barrier” and go play with the boys. For a time I even let the boys and girls mingle. After all the girls are pregnant, so what could be the harm?

The harm, it turned out, is that Romeo is true to his name. One afternoon when I had the genders mixed together, I thought to stable them all side-by-side in a stall divided by a sturdy goat panel. Romeo refused to be enticed in with the boys. After I had (stupidly) allowed him to enter the girls’ stall, Goldie exploded out of the door with Romeo in hot pursuit. Wholly enamored, he gave serious chase for several minutes, then Hamilton boiled over the goat panel divider in one easy move (for such gentle creatures, they are amazingly athletic). Later, after the boys were settled again two stalls away from the girls and Spencer, Hamilton showed off for me again, leaping easily out into the pasture over the stall door meant to contain him.

For today, the boys have a goat panel grate over the top portion of their stall. Tomorrow, of course, will bring more changes to the pasturing dilemma.

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