Update on the goats and chicks

The chicks were really not expected to survive, but around 25 did. They are now getting feathers and the little boy chicks have bright red combs on their heads - they look really sweet, apart from this one who we call Grumpy.

They have been living in the cellar as it is nice and warm and dry but we have just moved them out into their own chick apartment which has more light and they are doing well.

The goats are another story. First we had to build them a house as apparently goats need a house to sleep in and hate the rain, so they need a shelter.

Next stage was to moved them into a small area around their house, so they didn't need to be tied up and they were very happy campers, coming to the fence every morning for a carrot. Here is Oregano

And here is Picante

The stepsons and their mates came over most days to put up fencing around the whole area and split the large back field into three so we could move them as they finished eating everything in one field and so when the herd gets much bigger (haha) we can split up boys from girl and nursing mothers.

So all is well, the goats are very happy in their big field and take themselves off to bed at night and snuggle down in their masses of hay and I decide I love goats.

Then I go off goats. Last week was sitting in my normal place at the computer when I hear a tapping at the back patio door. I look up and there are the goats, knocking to come in. Not a good idea, I thought and it took Danilo and I an hour to get them back in the field, and it took them 5 minutes to get out again. This performance carried on all day and the following morning Danilo called Dany to fix the fence, which he did and that night Danilo left for Santo Domingo.

The following morning no goats to be seen. I tracked them down to a neighbour's field which was full of his goats, and mine had just gone to visit. Neighbour (aged 90 something with one one tooth and called Niño meaning child) sat on his front porch laughing as I tried to round up the goats while avoiding a particularly evil looking billy goat who followed me around. Niño told me to lassoo the goats and laughed even more at my pathetic attempts. In the end I got them back home again and into their paddock.

Twenty minutes later Niño was at my front gate, demanding I go and collect my goats again. This time I enlisted the help of Miguel, another neighbour and it was much quicker between the two of us to get them into their paddock, Miguel spotted where they were escaping so I called Dany and back he came to fix it. As he was fixing it, the goats watched closely and then went to another part of the fence and escaped through there, and the more places Dany fixed, the more they found to escape! Anyway to cut a long story short they haven't escaped for the last week - thank goodness and I can now add goat herding to my list of skills.

In the meantime we have our very first grapefruit which I am overjoyed about as you have not lived if you haven't eaten a grapefruit straight from the tree.

And the war between Canguru and the cats continues. She doesn't attack them, she washes them which they are not impressed with, and has now decided to stop them coming in through their Dominican cat flap.

Next blog should not be long coming and will have some exciting news about my new book!