The last few weeks, we've seen a drop in milk production. It has been pretty consistent across the board for all of us milking. We're not sure what is causing it. They seem to be eating plenty, we have a new field opened up for them to graze in. They don't eat too much of the hay we lay out for them. So I don't think it is a lack of food. They do love to gobble up the grain that we give them while milking, but according to one of the books that the others have been reading, we are giving them about the right amount of that. It is a mystery...
Our last milking didn't go very well. The goats were acting up like crazy. They were antsy the whole time and kept trying to break out of the milking stands. The big old goat was struggling something fierce, causing the whole thing to shake, we might have to put some supporting cross braces on it if this behavior keeps up. Anyway, one of my minions was running the gate between the feed area and the milking area. He wasn't doing the best job of keep them in the feed area once they got down from the milk stands. They kept sneaking back hoping for some more grain.
I'm fine with the goats when they are behaving, but once they start acting up, I lose all patience with them. One of them jumped back up on the milk stand and stuck it's head in the grain bin. I grabbed it's collar and started to pull it out. I've noticed that they don't liked to be pulled back, doesn't matter the situation, but as soon as I pull on them, they start fighting against me. So this time, already a little annoyed by the other goats, I wasn't putting up with it. I grabbed it by the collar and threw it off the stand. I didn't know it, but Diane was right behind me. She was bending over to do something and all of a sudden a flying goat slammed into her side and they all went down in a tumble of arms, legs, hooves and hair. Needless to say, now SHE was annoyed by everything as well.
Just a bit later, my minion was again having trouble with the gate and the goats. Diane went over to help out. The goats picked that time to all make a run for the opening, which is where she was standing. Spitting out hay and dust, she slowly got back to her feet from being trampled by the stampede of wild goats....
It was a bad day at the farm.
