The Stockade

We woke up this morning to another gray, drizzly, 55 degree day.  It was our fifth in a row and none of us were amused.  And then just after lunch, the rain slowed to a stop, the sun came out and it warmed up to 70 degrees.  Emily, our oldest, rightly suggested that our weather has become bi-polar here in the last days of May. 

But that isn't unusual for those of us who live in the Northwest.  It's why we have so many shades of green in our gardens.  And lately, we seem to have a lot of mud--especially in our goat yard.  Those little hooves are amazing soil compactors and combined with our recent wet weather, their yard is a soggy mess.  And in turn, the muddy soils are so soft that their hooves don't wear down as quickly as they grow.  Which means we have to trim them more often.  Which is a bit frustrating for both us and the goats.

So even though we trimmed hooves about a month and a half ago, I noticed that they were badly overgrown again, and today became hoof trimming day.  Before we had a little stand to lock them into, the job would take three of us:  One to hold the goat, one to trim the hooves, and one to keep a bucket full of treats to keep the goats happy during the process.  This way of doing things though really hurt my back.  I would be bent at odd angles working on little goat hooves for too long and as I am getting older, this started feeling like a bad idea.  So I started researching goat stanchions.  They are meant for use in milking goats, but I had read that they were an invaluable tool for securing them for things like hoof trimming, or shots. 

I am grateful to be married to a guy who loves to build things.  I think part of the reason Brian agreed to the goats in the first place is because he was excited to build the barn.  So, when I showed him some pictures of stanchions, he went to work building one for us.  And now the job of hoof trimming is much easier.  It takes two of us now--one to trim and one to provide for treats.  When we lock their heads in the gate though, we simply think of the contraption as the stockade for it really looks like they have been put in the stocks.  

The crazy part is that we have two goats who are anxious to get in the stocks so they can have an almost unlimited supply of treats, and two who we have to capture.  Silver and Lily are of course the easy ones, while Blackberry and Sweet Pea have to be captured.  Blackberry will literally hide under the bench in the barn when he senses that we are about to get him.  He is getting huge, but he will slink into the corner and become absolutely silent, hoping that we won't find him.  And oddly enough, once he is in the stocks, he is the easiest goat to work on.  Sweet Pea is so little, and honestly not very bright, that all we have to do for her is give her a treat and then pick her up.  She always seems so surprised that we were able to grab her!  And her hooves are still so tiny.  

The sunshine and blue sky of this afternoon were absolutely glorious after the five consecutive days of rain.  And so after all of the goats' hooves were trimmed and they'd been given a dose of worming medicine, we decided they needed another field trip.  We let them roam around the yard and eat the salmon berry bushes that grow along the edge of our woods.  They are getting to be brave explorers so the field trips are getting more adventurous.  Today Silver and Lily went into the garage.  The door into our house was propped open, and yes, they found their way inside.  So for a short time we had goats in the house!  But at least their hooves were clean.