Here we are, in the middle of another winter blast, and the goats have finally learned how to go into the barn.
It was quite a learning curve, too, but they figured it out just in time. Yesterday afternoon, only hours away from a forecast of threatening snow and bitter wind chills, they realized they could scoot in and out of the familiar barn, despite the unfamiliar curtain of vinyl strips now hanging in the doorway.
It all started last December, when I experimented with something new. I had the same type of vinyl strips hung in the doorway of the rabbit shed. The strips are about six inches wide, cut to length from top to bottom of whichever entrance you want to shield, and secured in such a way that they overlap one another to provide the most wind resistance possible. They are attached at the top of the entrance but then are usually left free at the bottom, so that people and animals can push their way through without any major trip hazards.
The theory is that the vinyl strips will serve as a buffer to keep out the worst of winter wind and weather.
I decided to try it. And it worked so well for the rabbits through the January blizzard, that the next logical step was to try it in the doorway of the goats’ accommodations.
Our awesome handyman, George, rigged up the curtain of shifting, shimmering strips this past Saturday afternoon. There it hung, covering the entire doorway, a weird, semi-solid barrier the goats had never seen before. I had expected them to be a little wary, but I was not anticipating the complete terror and panic with which they reacted instead.
They would not get anywhere near the curtain. Even with no wind blowing to shift the vinyl slats, even with me calling and coaxing and rattling grain and rustling hay from the other side. Every time I pushed my way through, they bolted and bleated. If they were already outside the barn, they would dash up the hill for about ten yards, then put on the brakes and flip their heads around to stare. If I had managed to drag them inside, they would careen to the farthest walls of their pens and make pathetic noises. They were not going out on their own, and they were not coming in on their own. That curtain was way, way too sketchy.
This went on all of Sunday. By Monday morning, I’d about had enough. Chasing them out of their pens after feeding that morning, I played the mean mommy and closed the pen gates. That meant that there were eleven goats, all crammed into the narrow aisleway, with nowhere else to go but crashing through the terrifying curtain of vinyl strips
The four babies from last spring were the first to make a break for it. I knew they would, since the adults don’t appreciate the babies being underfoot, and it was only a matter of time before they were forcibly evicted.
By the time I had tromped home from my walk with the dogs, most of the adults had also taken the plunge and were outside. Only Sago was still self-exiled in the barn, wailing disconsolately from behind the curtain as soon as she heard me come home. Within a few minutes after that, she apparently got brave enough to bust out too. The wailing and screaming stopped. All the goats had made it out, alive and unscathed.
And then, as if by magic, yesterday it was a non issue. I let them out in the morning, and they pushed their way through into the pasture. I came back later in the afternoon, and they were all coming and going, back and forth through the doorway, as if it was the most basic thing ever. Crazy goats!
I would like to give a shout-out to Spruce, who was the first of them to willingly follow me into the barn on her own Monday evening. It did help that I had an armful of hay, but still. None of the others came in by themselves that night. Spruce has always been a good girl.
Now on Wednesday, with two or three inches of fresh snow on the ground and a wind chill factor of about five, at least they know where to go and how to get there. The weird, shimmery, creepy curtain really isn’t a big deal after all. And maybe it will even help.
The goats finally overcame their fear of the scary, shimmering plastic strips!
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