Horse And Goat Heaven!

In the middle of my pastures is a very long, narrow area we call "the middle". It is 120 feet long by 16 feet wide. We put 16 foot gates at each end so we could use this area as turnout, or for separating a horse if we need too. Last spring, Fritzy had an abcess, so we had to block off a section to put her in. Than my sis's boy had an abcess last fall, we had to do the same thing. Unfortunately, since we don't have a real barn, this is all we can do. We let the grass grow as long as possible, than when it's ready, we shut the gates and turn out the horses and goats. Tonight was the first night we turned them loose. Usually, once we let them out, they run and buck for around 5 minutes or so. They didn't do that tonight. I was quite surprised. They just jogged out and went right to eating. I was hoping for some good video to show you, but that was not to happen tonight. I am sure they will eventually run out kicking up their heels!



The horses always start eating on the end where there isn't much grass, I actually think Brandy prefers eating the shorter grass.



The Aussie's start out guarding the lower gate. In a couple minutes, they both move to the upper gate, than Sadie moves back down to the lower gate. Bailey stays at the upper gate. Now both ends are being guarded for any activity that would put their herding instincts on high alert.



Rowdy decides his hay is better than the tall, lush grass. He doesn't come out for awhile. Although, he does eventually decide the grass is greener on the other side.



Fritzy is loving every minute of it! She starts to slowly move her way up to the longer grass and the clover.



Now this is what I would call goat heaven! Some of that grass is taller than Ralph! I believe we have one happy goat here!



Brandy is still working on the short grass. She never really made it up to the tall stuff.



We love to hang out and watch them all graze. As we were doing this, my OH said that there was a dove in the boys shed. I had to really zoom in to get this picture. The dove knew I wasn't far off and I didn't want to scare it away.



Look who we have here! It's Domino! He is coming out to make sure everything is under control.



All of the goats make it to the upper gate. I think they are really enjoying their turnout!



Bailey is still guarding the upper gate. What a good dog!



I wonder who this is?



Domino thinks he has everything under control. "I got it! I really got it! The goats are back in their dirt pasture! I got it all under control!"



We decided to order Fly Predators this year. We haven't done this yet and haven't heard a whole lot from people if they work or not. The flies are so bad here, as they are everywhere. A little over a month ago, we received our first shipment of 10,000. Once they started to hatch, my OH went and released them. We also put up other fly traps. We use the traps that you add water, there is an attractant that brings the flies to the trap and than the fly can get into it and can't get out, so they die. They work really well, but when you have as many flies as we have, you can't kill them all. Every day that the sun is out and it warms up, the fly population is so bad, I can't even stand to be out with the horses! I can't even tell you how many times I have been bitten by some type of fly, than my arm swells up.

Here is our 2nd shipment of Fly Predators that came in the mail yesterday.



I just received them, and if you look inside my pink circles, you'll see some hatched Predators. They are really small, they look like an ant, but way smaller than an ant. Once you see about 10 of them hatch, you can release them on manure piles throughout your horse pasture. My OH will be releasing this batch tomorrow morning.



While we were out watching the horses and goats graze tonight, not one single fly was on my horses face or bodies, ok, only one fly landed on Fritzy's butt. I didn't get attacked by flies, they weren't anywhere to be found. I know a fly lives approximately 28 days, which was around the time we released the first batch. We put up the traps to kill the adult flies. I don't see a single fly. Is it just us or do these Predators really work? I think they really work. But I will keep you updated. I am very interested in when the temps soar above 80. Today was in the 70's and no flies. Hmmm......

If they do control the fly population, you can bet I will be ordering these every single year! Let me know if you have ever used them, and what results you received. I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences with the Predators!