Monday, July 05, 2010

Stuck situation....

I have a keyhole milking stand, designed by my husband, so that I could milk both the hornless goats I have, and, especially, the horned goats that I seem to keep adopting. (Depending on the design, large horns can be a problem with some milk stands. But not my top loading one, with the sliding dowel fastener at the top). It works wonderfully with my dairy does' graceful, slender necks. In addition to using it for milking, I use it for other situations where I need to restrain the goats, such as trimming their hooves. It's great, because it has a box upfront for feed, so that helps to distract them. Today, I put my big buck, Nick up there. I don't usually keep bucks back, but Nick is an exceptionally nice guy, and very handsome. He's been up there many times before, without incident. But, he's getting older, and his neck has thickened some. So-he puts his head wayy down in the keyhole to try and get the very last licks of his grain as I am trimming his hooves for him. As I finish up trimming his hooves, Wyatt comes into the barn and sidles over to watch. I slide the dowel aside so Nick can lift his head-but he doesn't. I then realize-he can't!! I'm lifting and pulling and he's stuck!! I send Jesse on the run for a hammer, (intending to take the stand apart, if I had to!) and continue to try to figure out what I'm going to do with this stuck goat!! Finally-and before Jesse got back with the hammer-Nick and I worked together and managed to get him out of his jam. As the goat jumped down from the stand, seeming to be none the worse for wear, and my heart rate began to slow, Wyatt looked up at me and said "Mommy-you better not milk dat goat again!" Good advice, buddy! I'll have to keep that in mind!!

2 comments:

L Harris said...

hahaha!

Lori-Dawn said...

I was wondering what Nick was doing in the stand all the way up until you said trim his hooves...ROFL I was very confused for a few seconds there! hee hee
Too funny!