MY GOATS ARE BACK IN THEIR PASTURE TODAY!

It was a long haul. Three days of “goats in the kitchen”. (Sounds like the title for a book!)

 

But they did great all three days.

 

When I finally put them back into their pasture last night, they even seemed a little reluctant to go.

 

(Of course, that could be because it was close to midnight and they were bedded down for the night in their crates.)

 

I turned on the back porch light, ran cold water into their trough, placed a flake of hay in their shed, and then came back to the house, threw the door to the outside open, and opened the doors to their crates.

 

At first, there wasn’t much movement.

 

Then, they decided I was serious about letting them out, so they came out.

 

Three of the four headed directly outside but just stood there, waiting for queen Maggie, who had wandered down the hall to check out the bathroom. (Go figure!)

 

I coaxed her out of there. She returned to the main kitchen area, spotted the other goats outside, and decided to join them.

 

So I grabbed a small dish of grain, showed it to them, and led them to their “goat-y house.”  (They recognize the phrase “goat-y house.”  I use it when I want them back in their pasture; it’s their sign that I’m about to feed them their grain.  They eagerly return, no questions asked.)

 

“Let’s go night night in your goat-y house now! C’mon now!”

 

In they went.  Then they came out of the shed into the sheltered goat yard. One of them had a drink of water. They all bleated plaintively at me, as if saying, “Wish you were here!” for a minute or so.

 

I told them I love them and they were very, very good goats.

 

Then they returned to the shed and started eating hay, so I pulled their crates out of my kitchen, washed the floor, and finally went to sleep at about 12:30…

 

This morning, they look wonderful.  I’m glad they’re free again.  I’m sure they are, too.

 

But at least now I know that if I ever have to do it again, it won’t be traumatic for them.  They figured out pretty fast that I wasn’t fixing to ship them somewhere scary when I crated them. After that, they decided that the Goat Barn in my house ain’t half bad.  Nibbles every half hour, lots of love often, fresh water every time it was needed. No browsing needed. Just wait a little while, and along comes Kris to do the honors!

 

Now I have TRULY SPOILED GOATS.  (Before this adventure, I just had SPOILED goats. Now they’re TRULY spoiled!)