Fred
Fred. It seems as though all of our time in the last fortnight has been taken up by our Boer buck goat Fred. He’s been getting a little pushy. I don’t know if he is getting aggressive or if he thinks he is playing around, but he is getting dangerous. The bruises that we have been getting from him are not good. We have tried thwarting him by putting a bucket over his head, but that didn’t work. We then tried a dog training collar, a little zap with the stern words ’NO FRED” seemed to work until the batteries in the collar gave out because of the cold. Now we are trying a water pistol filled with white vinegar aimed at the face when he starts up. So far that is working.
To top it all off, Fred has also become an escape artist. We don’t know how he’s been getting out but we have been spending all of our free time either getting him back in his fence or trying to fix the fence where we think he was getting out. First we thought he was jumping over the fence so we made the fence taller in all those parts, but that didn’t hold him for long. Then we reinforced the gate because we thought he was climbing through the panels, but that didn’t last for long. Then I saw him walk along the stone wall, then he was out, so we tore done parts of the stone wall that he could get over, but that wasn’t it either. Then I saw him crawl under the fence. It wasn’t easy for him, but damn if he wasn’t going under, not over as we had thought. So we have been closing up the tiny little gaps where we think he was getting out. So far, in the last 36 hours he has stayed in. Lets keep our fingers crossed that this is it. It wouldn’t be quite so bad if he wasn’t eating my trees and shrubs, but the fact that he has balls…I just don’t want any unplanned pregnancies happening.
The chickens are certainly happy with the longer days. They have started to lay again, anywhere between 1 and 6 eggs! I am so happy to be getting fresh eggs again. I am also happy the days are longer. The sun is rising at 6:45 in the morning, and this morning it was light at 6:00. That and it is still light when we go out to do evening chores. No more having to carry a lantern to see where we are going!
I’ve been starting seeds inside, I transplanted some lettuce in the greenhouse yesterday, and soon will be able to really pick the salad greens that have overwintered. They are really starting to grow now that the days are longer, soon I won’t have to be buying any salad greens at all….that makes me really happy, longer days, fresh eggs and my own salad….
