New Goat Pasture!

We have been talking about putting in a separate goat pasture for a couple years now. I have been wanting to get the goats out of the horses pasture for a long time. Actually a couple years ago, we had put in another pasture, and we had the goats and horses separated. Than my sister was going to care lease her boy, and I told her she could keep him at our house, so that required putting the goats back in with my horses. So finally we just went out and bought the fencing to get the goats into their own space. The only reason for separating them is for feeding purposes. The goats and horses get along great, actually so great that they are very attached to each other! But we overfeed to make sure everyone gets enough hay. Having 4 goats and 2 horses together can make feeding difficult at times. To see how feeding goes around this little farm, go here to check it out!

While I was away for the Pony Cousins Stampede, my OH started to put the fence up, then he got sick and took a few days off. On Thursday, we went out to try to get as much of the fencing done as we possibly could. My goal was to have the goats turned out into their new home by Saturday. Our neighbor came over to say hi, and he helped my OH unroll some of the wire fencing. Thanks neighbor J!



We went back out on Friday to finish the fencing. We only had a couple sections left to do. Than we had to get the hoses situated so we could run water to the new water trough.

Soon enough my dear Fritz, you will eat in peace!



Brandy usually eats alone, sometimes she gets a goat to share with her. Maybe she is practicing for when the goats are in their own pasture?



The crazy Aussie's just love it when we work on projects outside. Bailey usually goes off and entertains himself. Here he is hunting grasshoppers, or....... snakes? Hopefully just grasshoppers!



Sadie is our little helper. She typically doesn't leave our sides. Which can be a pain in the butt! She gets in the way often. Here is my OH trying to give an air kiss to Sadie, but I think she beat him to it! She's been such a sweetie lately!



Careful OH! We know how accident prone you are, so don't hit your thumb with that hammer! My OH almost had a couple accidents. Once while climbing over the fence, and the other time he almost fell over backwards trying to put the fence clips on. I swear I should just leave the video camera going all the time! I bet I'd get some real good "accident" footage!



Sadie finally went off to chew on a stick.



Once the fencing was complete, the water trough was filling up, I opened the gate and let the goats out! They walked up to their new pasture, lined up and I think they were happy! Until it was time for us to go back into the house. They wanted to go back to their other pasture. Sorry goats! You gotta stay in the new one!



They were a little unsure, than they realized they were standing in some good yummies to eat! Grass, stickers, blackberries and alder trees! Goat heaven!



Did I say goat heaven yet? Yep, the goats are lovin' their little paradise!



Bailey thinks he is doing his job and keeping the goats in check. The goats aren't going anywhere, silly dog!



My OH is waiting patiently for the water trough to fill up. Our shadow/little helper seems to make it into every picture I take!



This new pasture isn't very large, but it is big enough for the 4 goats. We still want to add on one more pasture! Fencing prices have gone up, so the last one will have to wait for a year or so.



On Saturday we went out to get all the hoses set up in the way we wanted them to be. We had to buy a few new hoses. One of ours had a leak and we needed another 300 feet or so, to make it up to the new water trough. My OH also dug trenches in front of the gates and buried the hoses in PVC pipe just in front of the gates, while I zip tied the remaining parts of the hoses onto the fences. It is better to keep the hoses off the ground. That way the horses can't step or trip on them. I try to be very safety conscious when it comes to my horses.



Look what we have here! The horses got new treat balls. They worked for hours on them! I'd be surprised if they last a couple days. That is one expensive horse habit! The treat balls are around $24.00 a piece. We seem to go through 2 every few days. It's funny because when we first started buying them, it would take the horses a month to eat just one! Now that they have figured out how to eat them, they disappear in just days!



We had a very productive week around here. Next on my list is to get my horse trailer unpacked from my trip. I still haven't done that yet! Bad Paint Girl! I am usually right on top of that. I better get busy!