Why Do Geese Like To Harass Sheep?

sound like the beginning of a riddle or joke.  The mission of this blog has always been to document what is happening on the farm for future reference.

Last winter, I discovered the best order of morning chores and feeding; put out feed for the chickens, hay for the sheep, clean and fill water buckets, check level of free choice minerals, rake the barn, and then anything else I can think of, before I let the geese out.  This gives the sheep a little peace as they eat their morning hay.

I learned to embrace the time that it takes the sheep to eat, as an opportunity to meditate or take in the beauty of the morning and notice what was special about each day.  Yesterday morning, I was running late so I let the geese out before the sheep were finished eating.  They immediately went down to harass the sheep at the hay feeders.  The sheep would leave one feeder and go to the other and the geese would follow.  I drove out the driveway wondering if the sheep were going to get fed up and run over the geese, an awful feeling.  Fortunately, the sheep just tolerated the geese.  It is actually funny to watch the geese look to see which sheep is where because they know which ones will just carry on with what they are doing.  They will leave those alone and seek out the ones they know will take off.  I hope this harassment will transfer to unwanted predators.  They are guard geese, that is their job.  If they do their job, I guess we will all just have to tolerate their behavior.

My job is to get myself out of bed with enough time to go down and enjoy my morning meditation.  How long will it take me to realize that that one small action will add so much enjoyment to my day.

Transitions times have always been difficult for me,  especially fall.  At least it is light in the morning now when I start my day and start to feed hay.