Another Chore

There's a big-time job waiting for me in the goat pen this morning before I can let the girls out of the barn.  Going down last evening at dusk to close the gate between the two pens and put the kids to bed, my foot got caught, and then caught again.  Stumbling around in the almost-dark, I realized they'd pulled the hot wire that ran inside the fence line loose and it was coiling around my ankles with every step.  I imagine they'd had the same problem all day.  Fortunately for me, when Fence Guy cut the wire to open up the gate it broke the connection to the solar battery so I wasn't getting zapped.  There are few things in this life that scare me like electricity and I detest getting shocked...even a little bit.  My Kids knew this and, when they were a lot younger, would shuffle their feet across the carpet before giving me a kiss, knowing sparks would fly and I'd yelp.  I'm the only mother I knew who would ground herself before smooching those dear faces.  At any rate, there's probably a thousand feet of wire to pull and roll before milking today.

There are a couple of names on the sick-and-injured roll this morning.  A couple of mornings ago, Frank came in after a night out and obviously wasn't feeling well.  He didn't eat all day and hid out downstairs.  The next day I found the punctures and cuts...one of the wild things had gotten him good, but not seriously.  He's recovering well, and he comes in every night.  Bess likes to hang out on the porch after accompanying me during night chores, enjoying the cool of evening on the porch.  She took off after something in the dark last night and came back limping big time.  This is the dog who broke her leg in two places as a pup and later chipped a bone in her heel.  I've never had such an accident prone dog in my life!  I am hoping it's just a strained muscle.

The pullets are growing faster than I can keep up.  It hasn't been even two weeks since Helper Dude and I moved them into their pen.  Tucking them in last night, it was more a case of stuffing them into the dog crate.  Transferring all sixteen into the hen house; that will be another chore.