And He Shall Be A House Cat


After our disappointing foray into owning a cat we decided to get another one. We were determined to have a barn cat. In fact, I’d still like to have a barn cat. It just won’t be Levon. Levon shall be a house cat. And he shall be a family cat. And he shall be a Levon. A hysterical indoor cat.

A few days after burying BG under a big maple tree and planting some wildflowers around her area we decided to give cats another shot. Sweetbreads found a great looking male cat, very healthy, neutered, loves to climb, and fully clawed. We thought he could stick up for himself, get away if necessary and generally make it as a barn cat.

So we put him in a dog crate in the barn to get him acclimated to his new home, the barn. The dogs, goats and chickens were all around and they all took turns getting familiar with their feline friend. Sophie came and sniffed him, the big girls came and sniffed him, the goats got a little too close and realized they don’t really need to be curious about cats. And that was pretty much it. We let them live together for almost a week just to be sure they all knew that Levon was our cat and he was ok. Don’t eat Levon.

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Rotationally Grazing the Goats on Pasture


 

Since we started putting the goats out on pasture we’ve received a surprising amount of interest about the method we’re using. I certainly don’t think it’s the best method, but it works for us right now and over time I’m sure it will change a lot. In fact, we’ve already made a number of changes since we first started a couple weeks ago.

Preparing for the Goats on Pasture

The first step was to get everything ready. This took several weeks. That’s why the goats had the Temporary Goat House and adjacent outdoor holding area. On the agenda was perimeter fencing, interior electric fencing, reliable guard dogs and assurance that our pasture was fit for goat consumption.

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No Margin for Error

For the most part things have been smooth around here. Every day has its random, unexpected event, but for the most part we haven’t had any major blow-ups. Except for one. It took me a bit to write about it because I don’t really like writing about when crappy stuff happens. There’s enough of that in the world, you don’t need to hear it from us too. But when something happens that other people could learn from I do want to share it. 

Literally the day we moved to the farm my sister met us at the house. We don’t see each other too frequently so it was great to have her here for a special time. Part of her reason for coming down was to bring her cat. She’s moving and going through some life changes at the moment and her cat, Billy Goat (a female), needed a new home. Billy Goat was born on a farm, but had since been transitioned to an indoor life. We decided to adopt BG and eventually transition her to a “barn cat”.
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