As Spring arrives, the flowers begin to bloom, the bees begin to buzz, and the grass begins to grow. We love all these things as they are part of the cycle of life. Most of the land around our house is pretty untamed and we like it that way; however, we like our front yard to stay somewhat trimmed so we can do normal front yard things and to keep the snake population down. Mowing the lawn isn't that hard but we always find it takes double the time we think it will because issues always arise with the lawn mower. If you've ever owned a machine you totally understand. SO, I decided we could use the mini goats to mow the lawn. It's a win win, right? My lawn gets mowed and they get a nice little snack outside the confines of their fenced in home.In my mind I had this picture that I would go get the goats and they would joyfully follow me to the front yard and willingly go on their leashes and eat happily in harmony in the front yard, enjoying the green grass and freedom. THAT picture did NOT happen! At least not at first. My experience was hilarious and probably a lot like wrangling twins.
I got the stake and twisted into the ground and hit rock (we live on a giant rock). I moved two feet over and twisted again and hit pay dirt. I packed the dirt in around it and set off for the goats. I leashed both goats (they're leash trained and wear collars all the time so I can grab them easily) and DRAGGED them to the front yard (we haven't practiced the leash in a while). I attached each of them to the same stake and sat on the front porch to make sure they did ok.
Tank (my billy goat) is ENAMORED with Fancy Pants right now (breeding season) so he took advantage of the fact the she was on a leash and couldn't get away. It was a nightmare for her and I was reprimanding him for taking advantage of her. He finally stops and finds that he can reach the front porch. So he jumps up joyfully to the front porch and poops EVERYWHERE. He's so happy and starts tap dancing and pooping all over the porch. I pushed him off the porch and swore that if he didn't start behaving that he was going home (they hate to be separated). He didn't care one bit and called my bluff on that one. He went over the the stake in the ground and started head butting it from each side to loosen it and pull it up from the ground. Then he head butted the water bowl and dumped it out so Fancy couldn't get any. I got tired of fighting with him so I took Fancy's leash (which is actually like a 20 foot rope type thing) and attached her farther away from the stake, took up the stake, replanted the stake FAR FAR away and leashed Tank off by himself. They had just enough leash to touch noses and both reach the water but that was it.
Fancy went on with her day enjoying the snack and gratefully grazing her area. Tank tested the radius of his leash for like an hour before he gave up and started eating, rolling in the dirt, and sunning.They mowed my lawn to a perfect length and I took them back before dark. Instead of walking them back on the leashes, I grabbed a bucket of food and started running. They followed me in hot pursuit in hopes for what was in the food bucket. They were rewarded with the feed when they safely entered their fenced in home.
Next time, I'll separate them to start with and get a different water bowl for Tank because all he does is head butt it and knock it over. I also won't leash them to walk them to the yard but use the bucket of food approach instead. They did a great job at being goats and I learned a lot as their human. I can't wait to try it again without all the mayhem.
Disclaimer: We were home all day and left the window open so we could keep an eye and ear on them in case something went wrong. I would not feel comfortable leaving those two hooligans unattended. Also, goats regulate their temperature with water so we made sure they had hydration the whole day. They eat anything that fits in their mouths so remember to remove any yard ornaments you don't want eaten. They will eat your entire flower bed so keep them away from that.
