Well, since the milking thing hasn't worked out that well so far, today Scarlet and I tried another angle on getting the goaties to earn their keep. We brought them out on the leash to eat down some tall grass, Scotch broom and out of control alder saplings up by the chicken's yard.
They were initially pretty freaked out by the proximity of the chicken yard to the road. They flinched and tried to bolt the first few times that cars passed, but eventually learned to disregard them. Then there was Bill with his circular saw, working on finishing the new coop. The abrupt whir of the saw spooked them good. If you could call two panicked, madly fleeing goats a stampede (you can't), then I'd call it a stampede. Like the cars though, they got used to the sound of the saw and eventually all ventured a sniff, only to be shooed away by a mildly annoyed Papa.
They ate 'til their bellies were full and they could no longer ignore the cries of their babies calling them back to nurse. We walked the girls back up the hill to the pen, or rather, they walked us. We didn't make a huge amount of headway on the brush, but I think we'll keep chipping away at it. I think the goats enjoyed the outing, and I liked getting to sit in my lawn chair in the chicken yard, sipping coffee and playing shepherdess for the day. :)
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