October, 2021
October 2021 was a crazy busy month for me, the goats, and the dogs. The top priorities on my do list consisted of moving netting, moving goats, building a new barn pad, processing firewood, and cleaning out barns for winter. Oh yes, I almost forgot; Getting 11.5 inches of rain in a 48-hour period!
The goats finished up their work in the creek near the 8 th fairway, so I prepared the next set about ¼ mile up Lake Wildwood Dr. off of the 11 th fairway. Last year, I trailered the goats from the 8 th to the 11 th fairway, but it was tricky and I was dreading it. The golf path is too narrow for the stock trailer tires and there is no shoulder. Secondly, I have had to pull in and backup all over the greens to loadout the goats. The greens tend to be wet there and I made a few ruts. (FYI, golfers and golf course managers don’t like ruts). I walked the distance between the two greens up Lake Wildwood Dr. and timed it. It takes about 3 minutes to walk. With my data collected, I asked Jim at public works if we could block traffic and drive the goats. He was all for it and told me we could actually detour traffic around that section. So, with the help of my trusty Border Collie Captain, and my friends at public works, we prepared for the longest goat drive in Lake Wildwood’s history!
It was still dark the morning of the great goat drive. After checking the fences and putting out some feed in the new location, we all met at about 7 am. With my bucket of grain in hand, I disconnected the netting near the road and we were off! Captain worked the goats like a champion, getting them all out of the old pen, off the green on the other side of the road, and following me up the Lake Wildwood Dr. Being a much further distance to travel, I noticed some distinct differences in how the herd moved. They didn’t pass me up as they have done on shorter goat drives. I think this was because the entire drive was up an incline and the goat’s aerobic conditioning is not what you might imagine. Apparently, walking around all day eating does nothing for your jogging ability. Also, I think they got a little nervous, causing them to bunch up closer together and really watch what their shepherd was doing. Things were going great! The goats stayed on the road, they didn’t eat anybody’s landscaping, and all but 3 goats went through the opening of the new grazing set and found their grain. No problem, I thought.
Captain can easily get around those 3 goats and move them through the opening. To my surprise, Captain was gone! I whistled for him and whistled again. It seemed like forever until I saw him running up to the fence. I sent him around the 3 strays, got them in with the other goats, and closed the opening. Captain has never quit on me before when working goats. He lives to work livestock, so I couldn’t imagine what had delayed him. My friend Gary, who volunteers his time helping me with the goats was bringing up the rear, leading Sam (the goat’s guard dog). Gary saw what happened and filled me in on the rest of the story. Apparently, Captain was working hard right up to just before the end of the drive. Then he smelled something just off the road that stopped him in his tracks. Whatever it was, he just couldn’t leave it until I whistled for him. It’s the first time he has ever quit on me. Captain knew he had made a big mistake and that I was very disappointed in him. Despite my dog’s distraction, I would still give the great goat drive of 2021 a 9 out of 10 score.
As the goats were now happily eating away in their new grazing area, I was trying to get some infrastructure projects done. The goats require shelters in the winter. They are one of the few species of livestock I’ve seen that will seek out a barn as soon as it starts raining. They can survive just fine in light rains with tree cover, but as they say on Game of Thrones “Winter is coming”. This requires me to clean out the old bedding and manure still inside the barns from last year. Because of the extreme heat during the summer, I always put this project off until it cools down a little. I actually enjoy this job, but this year, I had a lot more to clean out in three different barns. One barn I can use a tractor in, but the rest require a shovel and a wheel barrow.
While earning my degree in Sustainable Agriculture, I learned in both my soil scienc and plant science classes how important organics are. This bedding material the goats produce every year is wonderful as a soil amendment. Animal waste, properly applied improves soil quality and is the only measurable, quantitative, proven factor in the organic foods movement. Using organics absolutely improves the earth’s soil. In Rough and Ready, it covers up a lot of rocks too!
Kidding season starts in January and once those little guys start popping out, you can run out of room for all of the goats fast. To prepare, I’m building a new 18’ by 24’ barn. This new shelter will have a 6’ overhang to protect my squeeze chute/scales from the rain and sun. The remaining 12’ by 24’ area will be a shelter for the does and their new kids for a few weeks just after their kids are born. Then the mothers and their kids will be moved to another larger pasture location where they can roam and access another barn. These improvement projects are considerable investments in time and money, but necessary for the health and survival of the goat herd during extreme weather conditions as we experienced a few weeks ago.
That concludes October’s excitement with goats. I will do my best to have another article about winter, preparing for kidding season, and the work on Minnow Way. For more information go to my website and send inquiries <HERE>.