When it all goes quiet

The only time that it's really quiet in the goat sheds is at feeding time when everyone has their head firmly stuck in a trough.

Usually we feed into troughs that are hung outside the metal gates so that the goats have to put their heads through to feed.  This keeps the troughs clean and prevents the naughty goats from jumping in them. 

Here they are - as demonstrated by Larkin with his current girlfriend, Bassey, enjoying their evening meal:

However, we are using temporary feeding troughs for the female kids in their new house and these are at ground level inside the living area.  Getting the food into the troughs without being mobbed by a horde of small bleating creatures is virtually impossible.  I thought I would try a different approach this morning and fill up their hay racks first as a diversionary tactic.  Always good to have a plan, I feel.

Well, it worked very well for about 30 seconds and then everyone noticed that I was sneaking in over the back gate with sacks of food.  Amazing how much speed a herd of small determined goats has over a short distance ...

Somehow I managed to get food into all the troughs without losing my balance ... and then suddenly it all went quiet.  Just the contented sounds of munching for a few minutes.

As soon as they have finished eating, the naughtiness begins again and whilst some wander over to the hayracks or the water bowl, others head straight for me and I am flattened by a number of them jumping on me.  Always wear old clothes when visiting small goats ...