People always ask how we're liking the goats and if we're regretting them yet. We've been goat owners for almost a year now and love them more and more. Danny is always wanting to give them hugs and they follow him around the yard, frolicking and kicking making him roll with giggles. They've adjusted well and are as friendly as the dogs, quickly becoming beloved pets and making the chickens seem not nearly has enjoyable. I never realized how personable goats are and they love anybody that will give them attention. They've brought us so much joy and lightheartedness and are still the best medicine for a rough day. As with most things they have their ups and downs, and I would be lying if I said they didn't have their annoying habits. The goats definitely prefer to be in the yard instead of their shed or pen, yelling to us the moment they hear our voices. They're honestly better at notifying me of visitors than the dogs. They escaped pretty consistently at first, but Danny has seemed to successfully have them penned in now. They do however, think its great fun to try to run out the gate towards the road, if anyone is trying to pull in or out, and they will just let you run them over before they move out of the way of the car. To save my flowers for the summer, the goats stayed in their pen unless we were out with them. Once most of the garden was done for the season, they've been given free reign. At the beginning, they mostly wanted to eat grass and the occasional leaf in the yard, keeping the patio leaf free. Then they discovered roses and geraniums, which they devour in a heartbeat and was the reason they were not allowed out of their pen in the summer. The lilac bush was nibbled up to goat height and they climbed the limbs trying to get those leaves just outside of their reach, breaking a few. Danny enjoyed the open space they cleared, digging in the dirt with the dogs under the open bush. The goats ate all the crabapples they could reach and, my arborvitae looks like a troll (ugly, bare, with a tiny tuft on top.) Despite an acre and half to roam they choose to annoyingly poop on the sidewalk as a nice "Welcome to the Kelley's." They won't put themselves to bed and have to be herded with a broom in the bitter cold and scratch at the back door like the dogs. They have they're little quirks, we still love them. They're also sweet and social, chasing after us on the four wheeler and jumping on our laps to sit when we're on the patio. They love being chased and played with and could let you brush them all day. Moxie tries to get in the house hanging out by the back door and has managed to get inside once or twice. She hates the cats for some reason, chasing them down and head butting them. Mosley still can't be separated from his sister without crying and he's definitely little Danny's favorite. Danny squeals with laughter every time they take off in their skittish run, hopping and head butting each other. Thet are surprisingly fast for how stiff and unathletic they appear and have great, crafty, little memories. Despite what everyone tells me they definitely don't eat everything, actually I'd say they're rather picky. Chickens will eat anything, inlcuding chicken, and are the better disposals. The goats love all my flowers, shrubs, and trees, but they're not into much else unless it's chick feed. They're even sticking their nose up at their hay, having a certain preference for something we are yet to discover. We're still figuring out what works, changing up their pens and shed here and there, but as with a lot in life, we learn as we go Here's what our current goat care looks like. The Goat ShedDanny cleaned out the shed before we got the goats, filling it with fresh straw. He built a hay feeder our of leftover pallet wood, and built them a stand out of an old bookshelf so they can look out their window. They love looking out and yelling at us and really spend most of their time there when locked up. For the winter the window got closed, but we'll open it soon and see their little faces yelling at us again. The pallet feeder ended up not working out once we got the stand in there. They decided it made a better bed, sleeping in it and knocking if off the wall. They were wasting hay tromping it everywhere so Danny tried to fashion a different feeder. Using old fencing we had, he would it in to a cylinder big enough to hold one bale and placed it on a solid pallet. So far this is working much better. They can't sleep or pee in it and they aren't going through it as fast since the cant smash it to nothing. The Goat PenThe pallet pen has wire mesh lining the inside, since they could actually fit between the larger pallet gaps, and there is an angled chicken wire cage that prevents them from hopping out. Danny changed the gate to opening inward instead of out, and that seemed to be the final thing in keeping them from escaping. They have a pan of water our in the pen along with an old chair, pallet, seesaw, and some stones to stomp on. Danny seems to enjoy their pen and shed more than they do, always scampering in to play as they scamper out. The shed does have a pop door we can close if we want. The Movable PenDanny made them a movable pen out of left over fencing. We just drag it to whatever part of the yard we want them in and attach it to the existing fence with carabiners. They have learned to lift it so one can escape leaving the other in and crying so Danny fashions some wire stakes to hold it in the grass. Other CareTheir care for now has been water, hay, and the occasional hoof trimming, which is an art to figure out. After getting into a patch of poison ivy and giving it to all of us, they got their first bath, and did not enjoy it. They're not nearly as skittish over the dogs and Mosely is quite the sweetie, happy to walk on the leash for Danny most of the time. He calls them Mose and Mox now, preferring Mosely since he's a bit more cooperative, and they enjoy the occasional brushing. Goats shed a lot, so I like to give them a brushing every now and then to keep the amount of hair on my clothes to a minimum. Once a month we buy them a hay bale and drive the four wheeler down to the barn to get it. Danny would go get one every day if it was up to him. This winter we've given them a little big of goat feed from the store, but as spring approaches they'll be back to nibbling grass. They loved nibbling our Christmas tree which we threw in their pen after we were finished with it, and desperately want another. We're making plans for adjustments for the spring, probably fencing all the critters to one side of the yard. The goats appreciate getting room to run, but with flower season approaching I don't want bald gardens. Danny's already changed up their shed again, hoping it will be a better fix with less waste, and we still don't know why they won't eat their hay. I've made notes about what plants NOT to invest in anymore, and am honestly toying with the idea of taking one of them to the garden store to see what they won't eat. As with anything you can choose to look at the negatives or the positives. Some people find our goats annoying and gross and don't understand us at all, but we see the little critters as family. I still can't believe my childhood dream of owning goats actually came true, and we all appreciate the joy they bring us. Danny runs through the yard yelling "play with my goats" as they all scamper about. Elmer gets in on the fun, and even the goats seem to understand Harvey just wants to play chase and aren't terrified anymore. With this pregnancy being so tough I haven't been able to do much of anything and having the little critters to watch has really brought some much needed entertainment. Thankfully husband Danny like them too, despite having to care for all the animals on his own. They really are one of the best gifts I've gotten and have surprised us all at how much we enjoy having them around. Only the poor cats seem to regret the purchase.
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Yes, that's exactly what I mean, we've got two new kids around here. Meet Moxie and Mosley. When we got married, I made Danny promise we'd get back to Maine. That day could still happen, but definitely not for our 5th anniversary like we originally planned, so he got me two goats instead. I've always wanted a goat ever since I was a toddler and I finally have one! The thing is, goats are herd animals, so since we didn't have a buddy for one, we had to get two. We picked the names after things that had to do with our honeymoon to Maine. Moxie - Maine's soda that they think is amazing. We didn't agree but the name was cute. Mosley - After the Mosley Inn which is one of the places we stayed. Moxie is a doe and Mosley is a whether (that's a girl and fixed boy for all you city folk) and they got to come home as a early anniversary gift on Danny's birthday. Just what he wanted, two goats. We loaded a sleepy baby in the car with a cup of oatmeal for him and a cage in the back for goats and headed to Bellefontaine to get our little twins. Once I told baby the goats were trying to tell him stories he wasn't scared at all and was having his own little conversation with them on the way home. They're living in the cat shed (now goat shed), which is really more goat size and the cats seem to prefer living under the chicken coop anyways. I'm sure in the winter we may find the goats and kitties all snuggling together, but Peggy Sue, our chicken, ripped some of Pickles fur out the other day for no reason, so it doesn't look like the cats will be sleeping with the chickens. We absolutely love our litte goats and little Danny loved trying to show them around their new home. He doesn't understand that they don't really obey like a dog and he is always patting his legs trying to get them to come play or showing them how to stomp their feet. He loves it when they jump and is always trying to teach them how. He also loves to get them to sit on the bench. They really do like the bench. It's fun to see them yelling through their window in the morning and they are definitely attached to husband Danny, crying when he leaves and following him everywhere. They like following baby too, which he gets the biggest kick out of and they even chase the four wheeler with the dogs, although I think it's more out of separation anxiety than fun. Mosley is the baby, crying whenever Moxie is picked up or out of sight. To get him to come you just grab Moxie and he will be following behind screaming. He's also the escape artist, usually being the first out of the pen and then is upset Moxie is on the other side. I warned Danny goats always escape, but he said he'd take on the challenge. Right now I think the goats are winning. We let them run free when we're home, which means they're usually sleeping on the back step hoping to sneak inside (it's already happened a few times,) in the garage cleaning cut grass off the mower, or asleep on the bench. They think they're out once they're out of their pen so they don't care to escape through the actual fence. Harvey and Elmer are finally learning to play nicely. At first, both of the dogs thought we brought them toys to chase and needed some training, but everyone seems to be getting along well now. We've all been pleasantly surprised how much fun the goats are and we're all getting plenty of entertainment from them. This is it for animals here. We still are city folk enough to not like sharing our yard with too many critters. 2 Dogs, 3 cats, 18 chickens, and 2 goats; I think we're good.
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