the odds are definitely NOT in our favor

There is always some sort of excitement here. With a 4.5:1 animal to human ratio, the excitement usually centers around a furry child. Today was no exception.

We awoke this morning, intending to go to church, and I went through my normal routine of getting up and going to the barn before showering and getting ready. I was greeted by the usual nickering, humming, meowing and baa-ing that I expect, but one was a little more urgent than usual. I didn’t notice at the time.

A few minutes later, it occurred to me that Ernie had not run to the side of the pen and jumped up to greet me. But he was talking to me. Upon further inspection, I noticed that his head was stuck!

We have a “keyhole feeder” for the hay. There are many different versions of this type of feeder, but the general idea is that the goat can only stick their head in to eat the hay. Goats are notorious wastrels when it comes to hay, and if they can only stick their heads in to get it, you can at least help to contain it. Otherwise, they paw at it and pee on it and use it for bedding, and they will not eat dirty hay.

So our keyhole feeder is a piece of something-or-other that we found when we moved in. It looks like “jail bars” and it’s a panel about 2.5 feet high by three feet wide. It was perfect for putting in the corner of their pen and keeping the hay at least somewhat contained.

But Ernie got his head wedged in there and couldn’t get it out!!

The trick was to use the sawzall on the bars and bend them apart to get his head unstuck. We couldn’t do it in the pen, though, as there is hay and straw everywhere and we couldn’t risk a spark. So we had to remove the panel and carry it out into the middle of the barn—with Ernie’s head still stuck in it! And then we gave him some alfalfa, which put him into a blissful state, causing him to not be affected in the least by the power tool operating just inches from his head.

Darn goat, should have took the sawzall to his horns!

We didn’t make it to church.