~~~~~When I was young, we had sheep on our farm in Ohio~~~~~

But (for at least) the past twenty years, we have had dairy goats…

I’ve already explained my old rationale of not wanting my children drinking Posilac-laced, store-bought milk…………….(it’s worth a computer search—–it really is.)

Don’t get me going on my Monsanto-rant.

………………….Round-Up, GMO’s, Agent-Orange…………………..

Nobody wants to hear that again……………….

 

 

That company just begs for it………………I’ll throw Bayer Corporation under the bus too…………….(they bought Monsanto about a year ago).

 

 

Their potential clandestine, sub-basement research frightens and boggles my mind.

But…………………I digress……………..

Where was I?……….

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Dairy Goats are butt heads.

Always have been………

Always will be……….

They know it.

I know it.

Everybody is in agreement………………..goats are craftier than sheep.

Much craftier………….

We should all be happy that they don’t have opposable thumbs.

 

They would misuse them and not apply them for anything good or productive.

At present, none of the does are in milk.

We have a number of Hurricane Irma babies who will be going to market or in our freezer………………….a herd-reduction is certainly in order these days.

 

I really don’t know how many goats we have.

They are hard to count, when they keep milling around.

 

 

I’ve been trying to clean the stall that Claire (Clydesdale mare) will be using.

The goats take that opportunity to make it a play-day at my expense.

They keep running through the open door of the stall, tripping on the shovel and stepping on me.

They jump in and out of the wheelbarrow……………..over and over and over again.

That game doesn’t seem to get old……………………ever/never.

 

And with their cloven-hooved-cavorting…………….they repeatedly tip over the wheelbarrow that I am trying to fill…

Now, THAT gets old!

 

But I’m almost done.  I figure I have two more wheelbarrow loads to remove and then I can start putting in the special bedding I’m going to use for Claire.

 

I going to try something different.

 

 

I’m putting in a base of a minimum of 6″ to 9″ of sugar sand.

I got the idea from a rancher who does this all the time with their horses and she say it works really well.

That way the sand will keep all the moisture (pee) wicked away from the surface (and Claire’s hooves)………………………..it will be similar to scooping out a giant litter box.

She will have a very dry stall to rehabilitate in…

……………….that’s my plan anyway.

I’ve also measured and I’m about to order the necessary timber to use in the repair of our new/used shoeing stock………………my local, neighborhood sawmill to the rescue, once again!

I love that place.