At the time I got Sunshine, I picked up a couple of weaner kids with a similar tan coat coloring to hers.
They were bigger than I expected, and when we came to load them up, they were anything but tame. “You will have to tether them for awhile till they settle.” was the farmer’s advice. Hmmmm. I hate tethering goats, but he was right. Flighty animals are nothing but trouble. They’re hard to handle, and their kids are going to turn out the same, and their kids also. The learning process just has to take place.
We put their bodies into sacks and tied them up round the neck, and they sat in the back of the Ute looking disgruntled.
On my way home I called on my neighbour who is truly wonderful. He took one look and when I asked for his help in getting them set up, he agreed immediately. He found a brand new, strong dog-collar and a long dog chain for one, and I knew I too had a brand new dog-collar and a very strong chain I had had made up for Ben and never used.
I had decided to put them in the house garden, where the grass had regrown a bit after Natasha. I could also keep a very good eye on them there. So we drove over home and I took the Ute up to the shed and backed it up to the top gate of the garden. We selected two new, strong metal fencing standards from the shed (this was before I started using them all up to mend fences), drove them in and tackled our first goat.
She was half way out of her bag and looking ready to take on anything, so I hopped in the back of the Ute and managed to move her to where we could both get hold of her. We got her collar on, carried her down and fastened her to her standard. The second kid was a little easier to handle, and soon they were taking stock of their new home.
At first they spooked at every move, rushing to the full length of their chains and flipping onto the ground. I didn’t even show my face for 24 hours. After that I quietly came and went through the garden as per normal, so they could see plenty of me. And I threw them feed, which at first they ignored, never having eaten anything but grass. I began to feel a bit happier when at last I peeped out of the window and saw both of them sitting chewing the cud – that’s always a good sign.
Dawn and Mozilla were in the paddock immediately above them and they soon realised they were in good company. Moz was just starting to come into season for the year so no doubt they thought he smelt rather nice. I certainly do – I have to admit I always enjoy the smell of bucks when they first come on heat. It’s later in the season that the smell gets strong enough to knock an army over.
Dawn, Mozilla and Rheema
To help things along, I fed Dawn and Moz there daily in a big feeding trough I moved into the paddock – just a bit of feed to get them used to me being around them again. I was sure the new goats were getting used to seeing me with the others, too. I knew it would be awhile though before they realised that what I put out was edible: I’d had that problem before.
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Tags: dog chain, dog collar, goats, management, metal fencing