Ninja Goats

I knew that the time would come eventually when the goats would realize that my fence was not in fact goat-proof.  That day was today.

When I came out this morning, Asha and Lilo were wandering around outside of the pen.  They had obviously had some of the grain out of the grain buckets, but it didn't look like they had eaten a ton.  Phew.  Just what I need...a couple of bloated goats.  I put them back and Lilo seemed quite relieved to be able to let Ares nurse her out a bit.  She was very full.

I tried to restretch the fence but I knew that this was only the beginning.

This afternoon, I came out to feed and WHILE I WAS SCOOPING THE GRAIN I watched first Asha, then Lilo make the most amazing ninja moves over the fence. Bear in mind that Asha is due to kid any day.  First Asha stretched her front legs up as far as she could on the fence to get a good footing.   Then, in one fluid motion, she jumped onto those front legs, swung the hind legs to the side, rolled onto her back (allowing her front legs to slide out of the now-sagging fence) and stood up.  I could've sworn she smiled at me when she glanced over her shoulder at Lilo.  Lilo made a graceful leap over the bent fenceline without a scratch on her.  They both headed right toward me...and the grain.

It is VERY hard to keep a goat out of a grain bucket if it is open.  I had taken the lids off of all three buckets as I was scooping grain for the pigs, the goats, and the chickens.  I didn't have time to get all three lids resecured (my goats know how to pry open the lids if they aren't tied down).  I did my best to put all of the lids on, all the while kicking my legs, flailing my arms, and screaming obscenities at these two ruminent rebels.  I eventually abandoned the buckets and lured the girls back through the gate with a scoop of grain.  They may be ninjas, but Country Buffet Blend is their weakness.

Knowing that they would be over the fence the minute they were finished with their grain, I had to act fast.  I grabbed a pallet and wedged it into the sagging section of fence.  I dragged the milking stand in front of the pallet and then shoved the whole thing as far into the perimeter of the pen as I could, thus tightening the fenceline.  But this was just temporary.  And I was mad enough to fix it right just for the pleasure of frustrating Asha and Lilo in their next attempts.

I grabbed a roll of black and white six string hot wire and tied it to one of the post cap insulators on the pen.  From there, I began unwinding it around the pen.  I started so that the hot wire would stretch across the weakened spot first.  By the time I was half way down the second side of the pen, Lilo and Asha were belly-aching...having finished their grain and realized that their escape route was being permanently blocked.  They followed me around the perimeter, all the time talking to me, as if their pleas would somehow convince me that they didn't need a hot wire at all and that this was all just a misunderstanding.

I finished the fenceline and tied the ends together creating a loop.  By now, Lilo and Asha had given up and were eating hay.  They knew that their plan to assuage my fears of another escape had failed.  I walked into the pig pen, turned off the fence charger, tied the two lines together with a small section of wire across the corridor between the two pens, and turned the charger back on.  The needle pinned itself in the green.  I think I heard Lilo sigh and Asha curse under her breath.