What to do when your goats get an itch?
Goats, just like us, get an itch once in a while. And when they do, they rub their bodies against some rough surface. Much like us, when we get an itch at a spot that is not easily reachable by our fingers.
We let our goats loose for a few hours everyday. They play about in a fenced up area and when they get an itch, they make a beeline for the fence and rub themselves. Fences are not made to withstand goats rubbing against them strongly every once in a while. The fence sort of bulges out and in time, holes develop at the bottom allowing for small animals to get in and/or goats to get out.
So this is what we came up with. A scratch fence. This stand alone section of fence netting allows them to scratch themselves happily and no more damage to our fences. We did not have to show the goats any “how to’s”. They just found their rhythm and now we consider having solved one problem.
Our scratch fence
My thanks to Zai, Din and Munaqin who came up with this idea. I have not seen this scratch fence at any of the farms I have visited so far. Maybe Ladang Fatima should patent this…..hehe
Hmmmm…this is what I call a good scratch…..
