Add to your list of necessities for goat owners - along with plastic tubs for hay, plenty of soda bottles, and a durable teapot - we have discovered that every goat family could benefit from a large beach umbrella. Most of us have one in the back corner of the basement anyway - but why use it just one week a year for that seaside vacation when the goats can borrow it every time it rains?
On sunny days, Em and Ellie take care of their personal elimination needs outside...The yard is our potty! Rainy days, however, create a challenge. Rather than chance even one raindrop impacting their fragile coats, they cower in the shed all day, using a large plastic tray (filled with wood shavings and discarded hay) as their litter box. This system worked well when the goats (and hence, the volume of their waste) were small, but as they have grown, the tray fills up so quickly that we simply dread the task of cleaning it.
Enter the umbrella. The procedure is simple. Venture outside in the rain about every three hours, using treats to coax the goats out of the shed so they can perform necessary functions while staying dry under the umbrella. Pat the goat and compliment him to encourage future compliance. (Good job, Ellie! Good peepee!) Be sure to return the umbrella to the garage to dry before the next use. Change out of your own wet clothes. Nothing to it!
Next time it's raining like a monsoon outside and you're starting to get bored with your paperback book and your hot chocolate, and you just wish you could be somewhere else - be glad you're not in my backyard, desperately urging two malcontent goats to urinate before you're completely drenched.
Mostly, I'm so grateful we don't live in one of those countries where the rainy season lasts three months. Maybe they just don't have goats there.
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