Today was a bit different. Nancy the goat is a six year old dairy goat. When we brought her home as a newly weaned bottle baby, she shared a pen with the pony and the donkey. She was especially close to the donkey. She kept him out of trouble and he complained if his goat left him alone. Later, when we found a great home for that donkey, she was the companion of a weaned baby donkey (Rosie) until she also found a lovely home. We eventually moved Nancy in with two young goats for company. In addition, she has sheep for company. Nancy must miss her donkeys, however, because while our son was moving her from the pasture back into their pen, she broke away and ran across the yard to the horse barn. The pasture gate was open, so she walked right up to Marty's pen. Marty showed some territorial behaviors, (swinging his head moving towards the corral panels quickly) so I led her over to JJ's paddock fence. JJ was unsure at first, but Nancy stretched her head through the fence in an effort to meet him. He obliged her by touching noses several times. I don't think he knows what to think of her, but he seemed intrigued. I left Nancy to graze outside his pen for awhile. When she returned she was outside of Marty's pen, so I took her back home. She can duck under the panels and I don't think that would be safe for her. JJ has a new friend, though.
JJ wanted to come out and play today. I gave him lots of attention and pieces of carrot for being good about haltering and leading. I did manage to tie him up to a post in the barn aisle. It was his first time being tied to anything. I made sure the aisle was clear, gave him room, and let him figure it out. He threw his head a few times, leaned back, and tried a few different angles. That was it. That's is pretty typical for donkeys. Not much fuss.
Once he quieted down, I moved behind him from one side to the other several times, staying close to his body so he couldn't get a full kick. He never offered to kick and happily took his carrot piece when I reached his head on each side. I brushed him and introduced the rubber curry. He enjoyed the new grooming tool. We went for a walk after that. Ralph the barn cat made an appearance and JJ lowered his head and pulled towards him. The cat ran, which made JJ happy. I'm not sure how he views domestic cats. He was reactive to Ralph the first time he saw him. Does he wonder to himself,"Is it a little mountain lion?" His curiosity is much better than the apprehension or fear he had the first week.
He enjoyed browsing on some shrubs in the yard before returning to the barn. He was a little more adventurous during our walk today. We haven't worked on any real obstacles, but all farms are full of new things to look at and walk past. I'm very happy with his progress. My plan is to tie him up twice per day and go out and feed him treats several more times than that, so if I make him apprehensive, I hope the treats will refresh him.
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