It’s breeding season! Just a few months ago, Big Mac was a sweet buckling snuggling on my lap and drinking from a bottle. Now he thinks the does in the barn are the most interesting creatures on this planet and is a “highly-motivated” buck! He’s kept in a separate pen that theoretically should prevent him from breeding his sister…or his mama…or whoever is available. But yesterday he was getting out all day long! I couldn’t figure out how that was happening…so I just waited and watched.
We keep an Aldo Leopold bench in most of our pens. The goats love to stand on them and we love to sit on them as we socialize the kids. Big Mac, however, has found that this bench is his ticket for escaping from his pen. I am always amazed at the grace and athleticism of goats—watch him as he gracefully sails over the pen so that he can spend time flirting with his girlfriends.
By the way…after I figured out how he was escaping I moved the bench to the far corner of the pen. He jumped from the bench in the corner to the hay feeder and then scrambled out over the top rail of the pen—not so graceful this time. That might have been too much work—even for a highly-motivated buck. When I go out for chores I’ll see where he has ended up. There’s always some excitement happening at Bluebird Ridge Farm!
Bluebird Ridge Farm 