The last time we milked, three animals put their dirty hooves in the milking pail and we returned to the house with an empty metal bucket. But we did end that episode with a full field of animals behind a locked gate--which was no small feat given the runaways.
This time, my milking partner secured the rope around the milking stand headpiece and held the goat's feet while I milked.
(She also produced a little pickaxe from her pocket and dug small tunnel-like holes beneath the milking stand feet as an added safety precaution to ensure those goats weren't goin anywhere...)
OK, that part didn't happen. I got the snaggle horned white goat half milked before she rammed her horns against the headpiece and we had to let her go.
The next goat let me milk her out completely. My friend took the goat back to the field and it darted off with the rope still around its neck. Attempts to recapture the goat and get the rope failed. (We still get points for having the goat behind the fence this time).
A grain bucket lure-shake only brought all the animals in stampede, so that idea was dropped with the bucket --as one of the goats stood on its hind legs to reach the container my friend held above her head.
Then we thought about h-a-y...just in case the animals were like children and had a reaction to hearing the word said aloud...
We brought in a bale of timothy hay, separated it into succulent sections in the large metal trough and watched the animals scooch each other aside with horns and hips to secure a better feasting angle.
I snatched the rebellious goat's rope when he looked around for a more profitable opening and the wrangler removed the rope from his head.
We win! Another victory! Thank you, Jesus!
No comments:
Post a Comment