Of course that headline is not really true. There's always something to worry about. Fence to be built, garden to plant, hooves to be trimmed... But today -- this day -- there is nothing to worry about.
I've got to go out of town on a one-day business trip, leaving at 7 this morning and (hopefully) getting back by bedtime tonight. Roland, who helps me out on the farm, asked yesterday what needed to be done today, who needed to be fed or looked after. My answer: Everything is OK.
I ran out of range cubes over the weekend but in just the last week, the grass has jumped 4 inches in some areas. So the commercial goats are making it on their own now. All my New Zealand Kikos are in paddocks close to the barn, but they are eating pasture only now.
I have a little creep area for the kids, but I don't keep feed in there all the time. I put a few pellets in there most evenings, but if I don't, it's not a matter of life and death -- the kids are out all day grazing with their mothers.
I have another pasture with does that didn't conceive or lost kids for a variety of reasons. There's about a dozen of these and most are headed for the meat market once they fatten up on pasture this summer. For the past 6 weeks they have been in a very marginal pasture. I'm not wasting good grass or feed on these does. They didn't contribute to the farm this year, so I'm not contributing anything to them. I'm not trying to be heartless, just economical. I haven't even seen these does in nearly a week.
Raising livestock is a pleasure when you have goats that you don't have to pamper and worry about every day.
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