I knew I had found the ideal pet-sitters for the goat boys - a local farm family where all the children are Goat 4H members, who regularly breed/show/sell dozens of goats, very competent in all aspects of caprine care. What more could I want? Before we left, I asked them to come over and meet Emerson and Elliot, as well as our two cats. This is sort of where it fell apart...
I caught a quizzical look when I explained how one of our cats does not drink from bowls, only from a slowly-dripping kitchen sink, but maybe they just aren't used to indoor cats...Carefully I showed them the twice-daily feeding routine for the goats - a scoop of grain, one spoonful of black oil sunflower seeds (for a shiny coat) and one spoonful of baking soda (we read that helped prevent urinary problems), then a mixture of two types of hay in a bucket - that was easy. The morning bottle routine is a bit more complex (mix the milk with 6 ounces of water, microwave 40 seconds, make sure not to switch the bottles because Emerson will refuse Ellie's bottle, though Ellie will drink from anything.) I have no answer for their obvious question - why goats this age are still on bottles at all...Moving on to the toy routine...every night they get eight animal crackers in their red plastic "Kong" toy, a marvelous invention which releases treats when the goats roll it around with their noses. (Emerson is quicker and snatches up most of the treats, so we always sneak Ellie a few when his brother isn't watching.) Also, one sheet of newspaper each day to shred/stomp on/eat. By this time the 4H kids are openly staring at me, but there's still a bit more...the cleanup.
I show them the tall broom for sweeping off the driveway, as well as the four duspan and brush sets, for scooping the droppings from the goat shed, swingset platforms, feeding house, picnic table and such (a chore which seems to consume several hours of each day!) Since the goats have taken to spending most of their time on the roof of their shed, this is where most of the goat poop accumulates, necessitating a thorough daily cleaning. Literally, the entire roof can be completely covered each morning - I cannot fathom how two small goats can produce this much waste! Maybe they are having clandestine "pooping parties" for all the neighborhood goats each night! So I explained how the best way to clean this is simply to climb on top of the roof with a dustpan - well, I am sure we were the source of many laughs around their dinner table that night. I casually commented to the older girl, "I guess your goats don't have all these things?" She answered, "Our goats live in a barn with a field." Well, yes...
No comments:
Post a Comment