This year we have been wanting to expand the goats pasture to they have more room to run and more area to graze on in the cool of the day. So to that end we set 22 posts and bought a large roll of woven wire fence. Yesterday I went out and started to string and starch the new fence. We left the ends where it will attach to the current fence open until the electric fence insulators are installed and the fence wire is strung. There are a total of 8 insulators on each post 5 hot wires on the outside two hot wires on the inside and one alone the top. Also there is an equal number of ground return wires. Hopefully it is not too hot this week I will start to install insulators on Monday and by the weekend we hope to be able to open up the new pasture for the goats.
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Well this was interesting, when I was moving the last of the manure from in front of the goat barn. I made an interesting discovery. I found eggs! But not your normal eggs, these were snake eggs. A black snake was in the area recently and we beleave that she laid these eggs. So I collected them and placed a small pile of manure near the gardens beds and placed the eggs in there so they can hatch. You may ask why? Black snakes eat rats and mice, so they are very handy to have around. We will keep you posted on what we find.
Our rooster is very sweet, since he is, he got to stay. When he finds something good to eat he calls his hens to share it. He will always let them eat first before he takes some for himself. You can always tell when he finds something good by the special call he makes when he finds good eats.
Well we had a nice folding shelter for the goats in the pasture area. The key word here is had! I got home from work and the heat was unbearable, thunderstorms were on the way. Normally we will pull the tarp off the shelter before a storm, this time we had a very bad blond moment. We did not pull of the tarp and nor did we close the goat’s front door. So out in the blinding rain I went, I got the door closed. The wind was howling but the barn did not even let out a creak. The shelter was not so lucky, it was reduced to a pile of twisted metal. There was no hope of repair so off to the junkyard it goes!
Michelle is now making ice cream with goat’s milk. It is a soft serve type, she uses a small ice cream maker that you freeze the bowl and then puts the mixer in to stir it as it freezes it. It is so good, she uses yogurt to make it, it is so rich and creamy. It is the best ice cream you will ever try.
As the sun was setting tonight all the goat were out in the pasture. They were playing king of the hill on the rocks. It was so amusing to see five goats try to stand on the rock pile, each one trying to knock the other off.
Since we have had enough rainfall this year the wild flowers are blooming nicely. The hill near the goat barn is splashed with vibrant color. Yellows, blues, purples are everywhere. It is so nice to see, what can we say there are not words that can really describe what our eyes can see here!
Well, the corn is up so it is time to side dress it. What that means the corn is high enough that you can tell it apart from a weed. When it gets to that point it is time to spread the goat manure next to the plants. Goat manure is not hot like chicken and can be applied directly to the plants without burning them. We use the spent hay and goat “berries” next to them. We piled around the tomatoes also and both are doing very well now. In a few weeks, we will side dress the other side of the corn.
So that we can provide cool water to the ducks and chickens, we have set up a water fountain. The condensate discharge for the air conditioner is on the back side of the house. We placed a pan under this to collect the cool water that drips from the air conditioner unit. So on the hottest day the ducks and chickens can have cool water to drink.
As the day comes to a close the sound of gun fire rang out through the hills. There was no need to worry, it was just someone doing some target shooting on their back 40. Out here guns are another tool on the homestead. We do not get excited when we hear gun fire. It could be someone plinking at cans, dispatching a varmint or getting ready to put food on the table.
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