Well, the really cool thing about Southern lawns is that, if you leave them alone long enough, they repair themselves.
*sigh* I'm loosing my touch. (Warning: Hi-jacked by Em)
- Thread starter Chickengal505
- Start date
It's that kind of stuff that made me get rid of Lily's ponies. I talked her into selling them, and getting goats and sheep.
Sheep are great.... But how do you keep a goat inside the fence? (The right fence) 
That's the kind of stuff that put Betsy in my hands in the first place! Her previous owner had her and Syd in a pasture, but they kept getting out and roaming the neighborhood, and they were the dickens for her to catch. One day, she finally had enough, and she called everyone she knew and asked, "Do you want a mule?" I was the first person to say "yes," and I have never regretted it. I wub that little longear.
But I'm with Alaskan. My goats have been infinitely more difficult to keep confined than the minis are. With a little training, you can order a horse away from a gate, or away from you, but a goat respects nobody, and the moment your guard is down, there they go! You don't even need to turn your back; they'll knock you out of the way! They go over, under, around, or through,; there's a good reason I call mine my "pointy-headed problem children." Even the ones without horns love to beat their heads on things. I used to think horses were destructive, but pound-for-pound, goats are much worse. As for sheep, well, I hope yours are better, but the only ones I have had any experience with were so flighty, if they had gotten out, we might be chasing them yet.
What a great exercise program. -sheep chasing-
Oh I never had a problem with the horses getting out...they were just...horses. I'll let you all in on a little secret...I am ever so slightly over protective of my kids...and my daughter is ever so much a farm kid. She isn't afraid of anything. I kept picturing one of those danged horses getting into an uncooperative mood, and kicking her in the head. It literally was not the horses...it was the Queen. The Queen *might* be slightly paranoid about her kids. However, I've made it this long and none of them have had a broken bone or stitches, so I guess I'm not doing too bad eh?
I hear you on the horses - one of mine, Syd, used to attack people in the paddock (it's why we call her Syd, the Man-eating Mini). She tried it on me . . . once. BIG mistake. High spirits are all very well, but there's only one "boss mare" around here, and that's me. As Rick Gore says, horses are expert people trainers if you let them be; the trick is not to let them.
But one of my goats is very lucky that she didn't wind up "speaking Spanish," as a friend of mine used to say. Goats have a pecking order too, and this goat thought she outranked BB2K. From the time she was a toddler, I had to stay close when she was in the goat pen, because this goat would follow her around and knock her down if she got the chance. By the time BB2K got - oh, about 7 years old, she had gotten pretty tired of it. One day, when I was lunging one of the minis, BB2K was in the paddock with me, and Moon was following her around with her hair up (a sure sign of a goat looking for trouble). Well, trouble found her instead - I gave BB2K the lunging whip, and told her, "If that goat comes after you, you get after her! Don't let her move you, you move her out of your space." "I don't want to hurt her," she said. I said, "honey, have you seen the way they treat each other? Trust me, nothing you would do could even come close. You don't need to chase her around, but you need to make her understand that pushing you around isn't allowed."
When a nasty little game suddenly stops being fun, a goat can catch on mighty fast.
But one of my goats is very lucky that she didn't wind up "speaking Spanish," as a friend of mine used to say. Goats have a pecking order too, and this goat thought she outranked BB2K. From the time she was a toddler, I had to stay close when she was in the goat pen, because this goat would follow her around and knock her down if she got the chance. By the time BB2K got - oh, about 7 years old, she had gotten pretty tired of it. One day, when I was lunging one of the minis, BB2K was in the paddock with me, and Moon was following her around with her hair up (a sure sign of a goat looking for trouble). Well, trouble found her instead - I gave BB2K the lunging whip, and told her, "If that goat comes after you, you get after her! Don't let her move you, you move her out of your space." "I don't want to hurt her," she said. I said, "honey, have you seen the way they treat each other? Trust me, nothing you would do could even come close. You don't need to chase her around, but you need to make her understand that pushing you around isn't allowed."
When a nasty little game suddenly stops being fun, a goat can catch on mighty fast.
When a nasty little game suddenly stops being fun, a goat can catch on mighty fast.
This is an animal husbandry principle that works on many species - humans included. When nice does not work, kick ***.
Oooooo, Sour! I like it when you talk tough.....
Do it again.
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