When Bubbas become Mummas

I know there are a few readers out there in Blogland who have been hanging out for some goat antics.  Remember last year (about this time) Bubba and Bazza took a little holiday on the farm from whence they came...while I took a trip overseas.  Well, when I came back I realised how easy life was without them...sooooo, they never came back.

It isn't a sad story though.  We have been to visit a few times - not that they could care less.  They are happy members of a large herd.  Even though Bazza is a wether (i.e. had his nuts off  - to put it crudely), Rob the farmer loves him enough to keep him. He says he is so 'humanised'...I wonder why?

Bubba turned out to be a bit of a tart and recently gave birth to twins.  One of which she unceremoniously dropped in a puddle.  When Rob found him, he was still alive but didn't survive.  His brother is a whopper. He may be sold for meat at some stage (sad face) or he may be sold on for breeding as he has good 'milking genes' (happy face).  Rob is waiting a little longer before he decides.

Bubba's bubba.

How can something so cute an innocent be the cause of so much trouble and heartache.

Remember the burglary at Hazel's?

Or the Stairway to Heaven escapade?

Ah....the perpetrators may be gone, but the memories linger on!

We're all going on a Summer Holiday...

Who's going on a holiday?

'Hey Sis, if we cover our eyes with our ears, 

we won't have to watch the world whizzing by!'

At the Goat Resort.

Also known as 

'The Farm Where We Were Born'.  

'Hey, waddaya mean? You'll see us in a month?  

Come back, you humans!'

Rob, the man who sold us the goats was,

thank goodness, very happy

to have them back while I am away.

He muttered something about

having to keep Bubba away from the boar.

I hope he is successful,

that's all we need...

another goat...

or two or three!

Poor sooky Bazza, bleated miserably,

as we drove away.

It bought a tear to The Cook's eye...

but not to mine!

I am hoping to fix the fences

when I come back...before

they come back!

Not a single veggie was had!

Nup!  Well almost!  

This winter the humans who live here 

ate some carrots and turnips and had one feed of silver beet

from this garden.

Bloody goats!

In their favour, they are doing a magnificent job at keeping the grass down on the creek bank and on the land between the back fence and the creek.  They are part of our fire plan and have saved us (and the next door neighbour) countless hours of mowing.

But today a fencing man is coming to give a quote.

I am also thinking of cutting down on the size of the vegetable patch and turning that netted area into an orchard.  It will have to be re-netted.  I am thinking dwarf and espaliered trees. With the existing back section, the greenhouse, a new bed on the north side of the greenhouse, and some container planting there will be plenty of room for veggies still.

I have to admit I am looking forward to the abundance of the summer garden!

Goats' undies

The goats have decided that the deck

 outside my bedroom door 

is a much nicer place to sleep than their stupid old shed.

They love to gambol in the moonlight.  

The clatter of their hooves jumping on and off the deck 

and chasing each other around at all hours 

is not really conducive to sleep. 

 When they deign to rest, curled up on the mat, 

they scratch themselves with their back hooves, just like a dog.  

It sounds like someone is knocking on the door.

As you can see from these pictures 

of the door 

and the mat 

and the house wall 

they have been rubbing themselves

to ease the itch of their coat changing from winter to summer.  

So I thought I would give them a good brush.

Look what I got after just a few minutes of brushing.  

I didn't imagine that they would have 

a soft downy under coat.  

The goat version of thermal underwear....

who would've thunk it?

Amazing coincidence!

I celebrated the first day of spring, 

yesterday by waking up the lawn mower
from its winter slumber.

Whilst taking a break,
and admiring the Outdoor Kitchen
(can't stop looking at it!)

and through the window...

Look what I saw!

The neigbours have a goat
that looks just like Bazza!

Oh look!  They also have one
similar to Bubba.

In fact, EXACTLY, like Bazza and Bubba.

What a coincidence!

Contemporary-environmental-art.

Meet.one.of.the.artists.

Some.people.just.don't.understand.art.

So.what?

I.am.a.locquat.loving.philistine!

So.shoot.me!

Recycling

Not.much.goes.to.waste.here....

What.the.chickens.dog.cats.and.compost.don't.get.........

Bazza.and.Bubba.finishing.off.some.tree.prunings.

Goat Karma?

I heard the rooster's alarm call and 

went out to see what all the fuss was about.

There were two dogs...

an alaskan Malamut or maybe a Husky...

whatever it was it was BIG,

and a pomeranian at the back of the chicken shed.

I thought they were trying to dig into the chickens and

hurled a shoe at them and chased them off.

The little dog yapped and ran off but 

the arrogant malamut/husky just strolled away

and looked at me from a short distance.

But when I looked, poor Bubba was cowering bloodied

behind the coop.

Back of her head

She has a tear under her tail.

A thorough inspection didn't find any life threatening wounds.  So 

I have just washed everything and put both goats in the shed to calm down.

Maybe this is goat karma for the vegetable attack yesterday.

Bazza was untouched but has blood on a horn and his ear.

I am sort of hoping it is dog blood!

Like the bloodied water in the bowl,

I am seeing red.

However, there is nothing to do...the goats were

outside the property on public land and the

back gate was open.

I dread to think what damage the dogs would have

been able to inflict if the goats had been tethered.

A garden of shattered dreams.

 In February I dreamed of Winter broccoli.

In March I  shared my dream wedding with you all...

Together we celebrated the fertility of the marriage bed.

Not one single white butterfly 

was able to lay an egg 

and hence not even 

one green munching caterpillar 

worried my babies.

Once it got too cold for the butterflies, 

I took the net away.

Life was all flowers....

and hearts.

T H E N

I   G O T

G O A T E D!

Even the poor garlic has had a crew cut

I can't show you what they did to the peas because...

...there is nothing to show!

A R G H !!!

http://hazel-dene.blogspot.com/2011/06/winter-veggies.html

Hay! That's the last straw.

There was a time when I didn't know

the difference between hay and straw.

Then I thought I did.

Now I am not sure.

'Straw' in Australia is usually from wheat.

It is what is left after they take the heads off.

It is bailed up and sold off.

It makes great mulch, animal bedding and

you can build whole houses out of it...

It has little value, nutritionally, and

can't be used as stock feed.

See...I sound as if I know what I am talking about.

This is wheat straw....

Many people do not recommend it for use in the hen house

because the hollow stems are a haven for mites and lice.

Now this one is hay.

It is made from cutting the dry grass/pasture in Summer.

It often contains grass seeds and doesn't make good garden mulch...

 unless you really like weeding.

Hay is a good source of nutrition for

livestock. There are different types

of hay and it varies in quality.

Goats are quite happy and healthy

on low grade/cheap hay.

This week when I went to the food and grain store 

and bought both hay and straw I was given 'oaten hay'.  

Hay made from oats. However, it looks like straw.

I know this is a picture of the hay, even though it looks like straw

because it has a few oat seed heads in it.

I raked out the goat house, spread the straw and filled up the feeder with hay...I think.  But Bubba and Bazza ate their bed and left the feeder full.

 Somebody is confused.

I hope they don't try to climb into the feeder 

and sleep there...that would really be the last straw...

or the last hay (????).

Quality Control

The Cook cut up some smaller firewood yesterday.

I was feeling a little poorly and was inside.

She commented on how 'curious' the goats were

and came in to get the camera.

The Cook sometimes forgets that the goats are on my payroll.  

It wasn't curiosity... they were under orders and keeping tabs on her 

to make sure she did a good enough job.

  

Bazza making sure there is a full load.

Testing the quality of  the actual wood.

As you can see, Bazza, particularly, is a dedicated worker 

and very thorough.

If you would like to hire these excellent employees 

for a time and motion study 

or to carry out a quality assurance survey 

please leave a message below.  

I cannot recommend them highly enough 

and I will happily post them to you, 

anywhere in the world, 

if you put your request in writing.

Please DO NOT click on the 'livestock' or 'goats' tabs in the sidebar before making your request.

Now a burglary!

We are trying to be philosophical about the fowl fox.
Thank you for all your kind comments on yesterday's post.

However it feels as if we lurching from one disaster to another.

One day this week Rose, 

a blogger I have previously respected

posted some tips on housework.  

They seemed simple enough...even for me.  

So after my shower, 

I left the shower door open, 

and also opened the bathroom window 

to let the room dry and air.

We were burgled!


Well, I will let the pictures tell the sad story!

Casing the joint

Over-riding the security system

Checking the coast is clear

The rest of the gang

'There's nothing worth stealing!

Now...I will have to clean
the hoof prints off the window sill.

Thanks Rose!