Yet another stupid move on my part...

beccachow · #1 01/30/09, 05:24 PM

I go out to the goats a bit late, like 1pm, to check on them. Everything is thawing, slushing, so I figure, they've been in for two straight days, let's let them out. Wrong....

The electric out there has a short in it, so DH d/c it. Knowing this, I decide to go out early and take care of them, 5:30, while it was still light. As soon as I opened the door to go out I knew there was a problem. ------ was maa-ing for all he was worth, and I heard the babies maa-ing, from 3 different points in the field. Go out to find ------, stuck halfway up the hill on the ice, and one baby stuck in some undergrowth, another stuck by a tree, and the third all the way down the bottom of the hill. Turns out the hill wasn't quite as quick to thaw out as some other places. God Bless ------, he was crying his head off for someone to come help; once we got him up, he kept trying to go back out after the others. DH took a nasty spill with a baby in his arms, somehow managed to get up and keep going with the babe still in his grip. He's got bad knees, so that'll leave a mark for sure. Got all of them back up in the stall, where they will stay until spring as far as I am concerned. They all went right for some grain and hay, I would think any leg breaks should have been apparent right away, they were skipping romping all over the stall and not one seemed to be missing his/her appetite. It was a stupid move on my part, thank Goodness no one seems to have paid a price for it. I wonder how long they were stuck...

Next time I decide I want hooved animals of any type, someone please bash me upside my head.

4h farmer · #2 01/30/09, 05:28 PM

AWW pooor things and i hope dh is ok .. i'm in maryland also !

pookshollow · #3 01/30/09, 05:31 PM

Remember Bambi on the ice?

beccachow · #4 01/30/09, 05:59 PM

Yeah, somehow I don't think it was as cute as Bambi...lol. Gotta give the one baby credit, she ran AWAY from my husband and made it half way up the hill before sliding back down.

4H, sent you a PM.

Minelson · #5 01/30/09, 06:23 PM

oh boy...sounds like a mess. I'm glad nothing is broken on your goats and DH.

CookingPam777 · #6 01/30/09, 07:58 PM

Glad your goats were okay! That would have been heartbreaking and you have certainly been through enough. At least now you learned from it and all of them are okay!

beccachow · #7 01/31/09, 04:05 PM

Went out to check on them this AM. Smokey and ------ were bouncing off the walls, but the two little girls just laid still and watched me come in. I call to them, they just stare at me. Now I figure, I've got TWO broken legs, at the least. Then, they decided to cut me some slack, stood veeeeery slowly, stretched like cats, and proceeded to bounce off the walls like the other two. Guess I interrupted a goat nap-ping in progress! I deserved it, though. Needless to say, they are spending yet another day indoors. DH is ok, but pretty sore where he took that spill (it was a pretty nasty one). Guess pygmies aren't mountain goats, huh?

picklespickles · #8 01/31/09, 04:09 PM

:banana02:

yay baby goat teasing and yay everyone is okay, if bruised.

beccachow · #9 01/31/09, 04:23 PM

This is the second time ------ has alerted us to trouble. The first was that awful time when Gracie lay dying in the stall and he stood at the gate SCREAMING for someone to get out there. Yesterday as I said, there was no denying there was problems in the field, he stood in one place and SCREAMED for us. He was the first we were able to get up the hill, and it was a battle to keep him in the stall as he kept trying to get past us to get back out to the babies, sniffing them head to toe as they were brought in. Is this normal wether behavior or do I have a little hero on my hands? He is the eldest of the herd, at 1 year and a few months. Doesn't stop him from butting them across the stall at feeding time, though.

Minelson · #10 01/31/09, 04:52 PM

I would say he is a very protective Super Hero

beccachow · #11 01/31/09, 05:08 PM

Yeah, I feel bad, when I was taking care of Sandy he was just In The Way and I would push him, scream at him because I was worried he would hurt her while she was down. When I finally gave up and just let him come in, he would sniff her, they would touch horns very gently, then he would be about his business. I swear, I had no idea they had such individual personalities. Sandy was like a cat, she would lift her head to be scratched under her right ear (I will take that sweet memory to my grave). All the heartache to date has been worth the ride.

Should I get him a cape or will he just eat it (like he tries to do to my zipper of my coat)? He is such a rascal.