my billy is settling down

[picklespickles]

he is starting to get used to the routines around here and settle down. yeah.

he knows that i will stick my hand and head over the fence in the morning to say hi but that he aint going nowhere no matter what. he has learned that the dog gets to run out, but not him. also, he has learned that a little salt or treat in my hand means eat or lick the food, not eat the hand. i don't think he was used to being handfed any snacks before.

i had chosen him over some others because he had a good and gentle nautre for a bilygoat. but the transition has been annoying as heck.

one of those things where you're like can i jsut get through a month til things settle down. but i did. yea.

how do you get yourself through the transitions with new animals of various kinds?

 

[gritsar]

awwwwww I want a goat!!!

Unfortunately that's the one thing the SO said I can't have...something about the grandma (long deceased) hating them and swearing there would never be one on this farm

I used to have one in the 'burbs and he was awesome. As for surviving the adjustment period, I just remember that his antics always made up for the frustrating parts. I know that's not much help pickles, sorry. I wish you luck and just remember, this too shall pass.

 

[picklespickles]

thanks. i know he is going through his rutting period, too. we have about a three second domination routine that he knows i can do at the drop of a hat, so that has helped too.

i am just still getting his yard into shape. he is so different from the girl goats so i have had to do things a lot differently. i knew it would be different but gee. i guess you really can't know.i really didn't understand how he would just literally destroy stuff. not just chew, not just do this or that, but destroydestroydestroy. but then part of that is the rut, i guess.

anyway. as i billyproof the yard, then his antics wont' matter. (i have done a ton toward this). and as he learns how things happen, then he'll hold himself in more. have already been seeing this happen. which makes me haaaaaaaaaaapy.

if you get a girl goat, they are much different and not hard like the boys. or a wether.

 

[ksacres]

what does SO mean?

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
significant other...he's much more than a boyfriend, but he aint the DH yet. We're working on that...he still has some training to complete before he's ready to be used for that!

Pickles...my billy had a tire swing. It was actually my daughters, but Cocoa took it over. Gonna see if I can find a pic of him swinging on his swing. He also had a weakness for unsweetened tea and circus peanuts - those orange, peanut shaped marshmallow things. My Mom got him started on em and then got mad when he would run to check her pockets first thing each morning.
Also, sorry don't mean to hijack your thread here. I was working alot of hours, so I sent my dad the city boy to the co-op to buy some hay for Cocoa's bedding for me. Guy at the co-op wanted to know what kind. Dad, knowing how I spoil my critters, said give her the best, alfalfa. I came home that evening to find that Cocoa still didn't have any bedding in his pen, but his belly was very very swollen.

 

[ksacres]

Oh, I get it, oops! Yes, they must complete many types of training at a satisfactory level before they are promoted to DH! Just ask mine-took him 5 years to make the grade...

 

[lacyloo]

dang take a pick of him and i will show you my boy but mines still a baby but hes buttifull

 

[picklespickles]

i don't consider interesting converstation hijacking the thread.

no camera. i am going to have to get one one of these days. would love to see other's picstures though.

i lvoe the tire swing idea. i had thought of that actually. but did't know if it was ridiculous. seemd liek it might help him get his energy out, though.

have been working so much and not home in a day and half. starting to feel more comfortable in girls goats recovery so could go maybe go back to being gone a couple to a few days at a time.

picked up another hammer today on way home. nailed back up boards on shelter for billy and ifd (that's what my employer calls him.......idiot...f'ing...dog. i guess after having seen me have to buy new glasses after he ATE them, no joke, plus cell phone, plus whatever, she has the right

)

anyway, so had gotten some boards from my old house too, so had a little more to work with this time. so, sturdier, i hope. though of course as soon as i brought new wood in yard, billy went, oh how kind of you to bring me a new chew toy.

am wondering if you can put "no pick" on wood surfaces to keep them from eating?

anyway. so as soon as i had shelter up decent again, billy ran right in. so he does like it. then reattached tarp over entire shelter plus extra footage on entrance side for good measure and also sides of it that ifd had torn down. this time nailed i hope even better into place. i kept the entry low to the ground and on side toward house so less wind goes inside. i stuck my head inside and it was a lot warmer inside than i would have thought. i think wind break combined with tarp works well. it was starting to snow and i would say it was twenty degrees warmer than outside.

eventually, by the end of winter, lol, i'm sure their shelter will be completely destrctive proof. now it is about five feet tall (?) and five feet long. and five feet wide. but since it is triangular up against fence, head room is not five feet all the way across. does that make sense? it goes down at an angle til it reaches ground. actually, that seems to help keep it warmer in there. i think their body heat helps heat it, too.

they like futon in it, i think. always seem to be on it. thinking maybe get more boards later to put on ground so moisture doesn't seep up so bad.

i'm thinking of tire swing thing. maybe could cement pole in ground to attach to? this is the only yard with no tree in yard.

why not. i need to entertain my neighbors with my goats that get treated better than dogs. lol. i could always put clothes on them. lol.

 

[lacyloo]

My wether gordon

 

[picklespickles]

ooooooooooh. how sweet. somebody offered me a couple of wethers the other day, but i am tired of so many changes and am not saying yes to any more offers til the spring.

but geee. how sweet.