March 05, 2009

A Weird Goat and Other Random Things

Lacey is a weird goat, she likes to stand up on the fence or on the side of the shed and roll her head around. There is not anything wrong with her, she is perfectly healthy. In fact this behavior is typically followed by her taking off happily hopping and kicking in play. I can only assume she does this because she thinks it is fun, maybe in the same way my sister and I used to roll down hills as children. There was no point to it but we would stand up at the bottom of the hill covered in leaves, dizzy and laughing just for the fun of it, or maybe Lacey is doing neck exercises because she is worried about getting a double chin....who knows, she is a weird goat.

In other news, the corner hay meadow has been burned off, we will see a quick green up of the field after a rain. Hopefully we will put up some good hay for our goats and horse from this meadow and the other hay fields later in the summer.

In other more annoying news I am still waiting on the seeds I ordered from Park Seed. My order was placed back on February 23rd, but for some reason that was never explained to me they waited until March 4th to send them, or in other words over a week for them to get around to even mailing them and charging my credit card despite that I got an order conformation that these seeds would ship "now" in my email the day I ordered them. I was never sent a follow-up email or any kind of communication from them to let me know. I only found out when I called them on the 4th after the seeds did not arrive. The person I talked to did not seem to know much of what was going on and he offered no apologies or explanations other than to say "they usually ship out in 24 to 48 hours". I am hoping they did get mailed out this time and will be here soon since some of them need to be started indoors some time before the last frost and I am anxious to start planting!

Animals on the Farm

Becky asked what animals we have on the farm, so here is a quick run down of them. We have 24 goats right now on the farm, but 14 are bred and due to kid in the next month. We also have 4 Great Pyrenees dogs, 2 lazy, no mice catching cats, and a horse. We have plans to add chickens to the farm this year as well. I will manage to refrain from boring you with a list of all their names, though it isn't easy. (Yes, they do all have names) Thank you for your question Becky.

The goats are unhappy with me today since it was vaccination day and they all had to get shots. If they are unhappy with me today, just wait until tomorrow when the rest of them get their hooves trimmed.

22 comments:

Lanny said...

My goats would do that very same thing. Glad to know that goats are a little strange the world over. So, now we say, "The seeds are in the mail."?

KathyB. said...

I remember hoof trimming day. The goats always fought me on this and I always ended up with a bad back..... Just like us humans, they fight what is good for them. Left to their own devices.....well, they would die from overeating the grain wouldn't they? Silly goats, silly people.

Lacey is just showing her unique personality, isn't that what makes goats so much fun?

Unknown said...

Yep - Lacey is just doing her warming up exercises!

Anonymous said...

24 goats! Wow. That sounds like so much fun. Your farm is so beautiful.

I have a question... or two...Was it hard to train your guard dogs? Do they protect fowl as well?

Just curious.

Mary Humphrey said...

Oh, Jennifer, they will be unhappy, and you will have a sore back after trimming day. I need to do the same.

Pintura Springs said...

Both of my girls do the head twirling thing, I always thought it was a test to see if they had grown their horns back, after disbudding. Or it could be a test to see just how long and dangerous their horns are.

ChristyACB said...

Oh boy do I know about waiting for Park Seed. I ordered 3 things, nothing big, on January 16th, all marked "ships now".

Every month I call and every month they say, "I show this will ship by the end of the month."

They said it again today. DavesGarden.com has a whole slew of new negative reviews for them because this is happening to everyone.

Boozy Tooth said...

I LOVE LACEY! Weird or not, she sure is a cutie. What she'd doing is curious though... just like when horses crib. It makes no sense. I had a horse that started cribbing and it worried me because he learned it from a mare that was pastured close by him who cribbed on a fence post all day, every day. She cribbed so much she wouldn't eat or drink and lost her foal. Isn't that crazy that animals do the things they do? At least Lacey isn't doing anything harmful.

JLB said...

Yeah I get to go out later next week and trim our feet and give a certain girl a dairy clip.
I only have 3 though *grin* haha

I didn't even get my seeds ordered until monday. My hubby doesn't seem to understand garden timelines. So you're ahead of me.

Anonymous said...

Some of our goats do the head thing too!

DayPhoto said...

Silly goat! She looks like she is stretching her neck muscles. We raised goats for years and I must say I just love them! They are so much fun, just like having children all the time, but they never grow into snot teenagers.

Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com

Leasmom said...

Thats too funny. Glad you captured it on film.

Joanna@BooneDocksWilcox said...

she sure is laying it to ya goats, shots and scissors, she better bring ya a bunch of goodies.

Unknown said...

Hey, Alix, a city girl wants to know - what is "cribbing"? I assume your horse isn't cheating on a test, and if he's using a fence - oh, dear! I do have a dirty mind!

Nancy in Atlanta

Susan said...

This is my first time on your blog, I enjoyed it! Isn't it funny how animals have their little quirks? Our sheep used to resent vaccinations, but seem to accept them now, not even running off after they are back on their feet. They do resent their lambs being banded, though, and try to keep us away from their sweet babies when it is time. How do they even know?

Boozy Tooth said...

Nancy - Cribbing is when horses start chewing and gnawing on wood: stall doors, fence posts, rails, boards... anything handy. The experts say horses can pick it up from one another and if it is constant the condition can become very harmful, especially if the horses "huff" or violently inhale while they do it. It's an odd thing to witness. I never knew our horse did it until I noticed his stall door was getting splintered. Boredom can be one cause if a horse is constantly penned up, but our wasn't. To this day I never knew why he started. Curious stuff.

Anonymous said...

One of my goats does this too! I thought she was trying to scratch her back, but seeing as her horns curl back, she can't reach the "itch" and after a few, gives up :)
I have heard this porblem with Park's seeds. It seems to me I also remember reading a new story about how several companies are actually owned by the same "parent" company and this problem is common to all of them. I will see if I can find the story online and send you a link. Here is the link to 'who owns what"
http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/whoownswhat.php
I hope you get them by Monday.

Anonymous said...

If I had patience, I could have sent this with the other comment!
http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/comments.php?compid=3&offset=160

Hopefully YOUR issue will get resolved ASAP!

Anonymous said...

I love to watch the weird ones,they crack me up.Tyra does something similar and then runs off jumping and skipping sideways..Weirdo;)

Heart of a Cowgirl said...

Oh yeah, giving shots to goats...not fun. We've been giving TWICE daily penicillen shots to our Nubian, Gerty (she was the victim of a stray dog attack several weeks ago -- but doing ok now). Love the pics of your goats! Such entertaining critters...

farmlady said...

My Nubian wither, Bart, does this "stretching" all the time. I think it just feels good.He also rubs against the fence and then slides down the hill on his side. We think he is just trying to scratch the itchy spots. The rest of the boys love to play "big goat", rearing up and butting each other. It's just goat play and it's also a great photo shoot.

Digit said...

Looks like Lacey is simply celebrating the joy of life. Maybe I should try that.

I have had the very same issue with Park Seed this year. I am still awaiting the lavender collection and a few others. Soon it will be too late for the annual seeds.