Putting a bully on a diet

Rio listens to Mystery complain while Stormy eats

To put it bluntly, Mystery is a tank of a doe.  She was overweight when I got her and while she has lost a little weight running up and down the hill she still needs to lose a lot more.  

Now that Allie is gone, Mystery has become the herd queen, but only because she throws her weight around, not because she is a leader.    She bullies her way to eating most of the food and since Millie is only two weeks away from kidding I started to be very concerned for her safety and the safety of her kids.  

So this morning I moved Mystery into the children's play yard - which used to also double as the maternity yard.   The grass in there is knee high so there is plenty for her to eat.  About the only goat that can match her weight wise is our wether Stormy, who could also stand to loose a few pounds, so he went in with her.   When they first went into that yard, Stormy immediately started eating and Mystery started complaining.  

When Mystery & Stormy have finished "mowing" that yard then I will put the two of them in the yard where Rita and Tsunami are now.   I had hoped to bred Rita and Tsunami this month, but the bucks haven't detected any strong heats, so I will be waiting until this fall to bred them.   I'm also waiting to move them, until Millie has kidded in the hopes that with new kids to care for Millie will stop letting Rita nurse when they are back in the same herd again.

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