Yesterday was a big day! The goats moved out of their trailer and into the barn for the winter. Last year we had them set up at the front of the barn, but this year Farmer Dan has his heifers in the front end, so the goats are parked in the back. They have less space than last winter, because Dan's friend is storing his tractor and hay mower in the barn, so the cows have the big space and the goats have a little studio apartment in the back. This all involved a lot of moving around of very heavy fence panels and hay mangers and things, and a lot of twisting of baling wire to hold everything together. My hands were orange for the rest of the day from the rust on the wire. And I spent some quality time with the heating pad when I got home.

They seemed a little confused today after spending their first night in the new digs, but it won't take them very long to get used to it. They are certainly happy to have all the new snacks! There's even a little corral I can lock them in when I need to move their fence.

They were locked in the corral for most of the day yesterday, because Farmer Dan had someone coming to buy some hay and needed to drive a trailer into the area where the goats are snacking. They got let out for dinner last night, so they were fat and happy today, if a little confused. I've been feeding them hay and grain for the last week, and today they just kept staring at me, waiting to be fed.

I was a little disappointed about the tractor in the middle of the barn. I was looking forward to the goats sharing a wall with the cows all winter.

I guess they'll just have to yell at each other across the barn. I would love to see that happen, but I highly doubt it will. The cows still seem fascinated by the goats, but it's a one-way thing. The goats figured out the cows after the first week or so and are no longer impressed. I guess the cows don't do anything fun or interesting enough to entertain them. Tough crowd!

Here's a picture of Farmer Dan's hay stack. The whole time we were configuring the barn yesterday, he was super paranoid about security. He really, really doesn't want the goats to get into the main part of the barn. He knows what they will do to his hay, so the paranoia isn't unwarranted. He's had goats before and knows how clever they can be about getting around any security measures we might dream up.

I feel pretty good about them not being able to get out, but it's early in the season. Time will tell. They better behave themselves, though, because if they don't they won't get to come back next winter and we will all be sad!

Today my trusty helper and I went and picked up the trailer and took it to the family farm. Farmer Dan needs to do some trailer moving of his own, and my trailer was in the way. The move was pretty quick and easy since there weren't any goats in it. It was not my best parking job, but I was too tired to care at that point, so we'll just have to park it properly with the tractor tomorrow. I didn't take any pictures of the parking debacle so I don't have a record of my failures. I just took a picture of some flowers instead.

Tomorrow is another busy day, so I'm going to go put my feet up now! Good night, everyone!