Monday, August 17, 2015

Sheep, dogs & horses, oh my.

THIS IS AN OLD POST I FOUND UNPUBLISHED

Guess I need to ad cat and rats to that.  Wow, it's totally quiet here without the puppies.  It's kinda nice. They say everything happens for a reason.  It's time to deal with horses.  It started slowly, 2 years ago both Stetson and Sterling's feet started showing signs of laminitis, commonly called founder.  An obvious ring around the hoof. Like when you smash our fingernail in the door.  Both horses had been to two trainers last summer and I supposed it was from rich alfalfa and grain they both gave the horses.  I would be very mindful of their diets for the next year.  Sterling's feet showed complete recovery as the ring grew out and was trimmed off without incident but Stetson's feet continued to get worse and worse and worse until this sad state he is in today.  He's lost 100 pounds and his hind end sways from side to side to find relief for his feet and his thigh muscles tremble from the pain. I am beside myself with the fear of having to put him to sleep.  I have only a few days to find a solution for Stetson before Marcel makes me call the vet out to euthanize my horse.  He just can't stand to see him suffer like this.  I am told that horses can come back from laminitis but I have never known one.  Things have changed a lot but I just remember when I was a child they would cut the front of hoof clear off and you could see inside the foot.  The horses suffered terribly and rarely ever recovered.  We still don't know what causes laminitis accept that fat horses and ponies all most always get it.  It can happen to any horse who gets a stomach ache, stress, rich feed, different illnesses come out in the foot for unknown reasons.
 
We added 3 female rats to our long list of pets.  They have a giant cage.  They smell and I'm going crazy looking for a better solution to keep their bedding from getting outside the cage and onto the carpet.  We've had rats before but only one at a time.  Three is a little overwhelming.  I think they bond better when there is only as they seek out your attention and company.
 
I swore I'd never have small cage animals again.  At one time I had several cages of rabbits, mice of different types and a couple of hedge hogs.  Now that was overwhelming.  I like rats a lot.  They are so smart. We are really enjoying feeding them bits of food.  I'm sure I'll end up making little agility obstacles for them and teaching them tricks.  Marcel laughs because they love me and come running to whatever corner of the cage is closest to me.
 
I'm anxiously waiting for our first ewe to lamb.  I didn't pick up our ram until late last fall and so we'll have later lambs than normal which is OK as it's warmer.  A woman in my swim class said she found several of her goat kids curled up and frozen in dark slumber next their mothers because they were born too early while it was still freezing during the night.  Yikes.  I'll take waiting till later any time. 
 
All that was left of a ram.
I'm down to three ewes again. I lost a couple last year.  Don't know why but we did have a large pack of coyotes eat a ram last year.  I couldn't even find the head with the giant horns.  I don't know how they got the horns through the fence.  Now none of my animals will go out on the other side the creek to graze any more.  The lush shaded grass gets as tall as I am but nope, scary things lurk.  Sterling eats his hay, one bite at a time, looking over his shoulder between each bite.  A few years before we had a mountain lion kill two ewes, my favorite ewe and her daughter the following year.  That lasted for three years until a local rancher shot the lion.  Many farms lost sheep and goats to that big cat.
 
I never thought I would be the kind of person to want to shoot wild animals or any kind of animal but when you have a farm full of animals you want to protect them.  Marcel shot the mink that was eating my poultry but of course we couldn't shoot the bald eagles for killing my goose and considering taking my barnyard full of Pomeranians.  All I could do is give my remaining poultry away and place all of my Pomeranians in safer city homes.
 
This is the reality of owning animals.  Lots of poop, making hard decisions and anticipating new life.  I couldn't imagine my life any different. 
 
Well, I'd better get out to the barn to make a dry place for my crippled friend Stetson to lay down and I'll check those ewes while I'm out there too.  One ewe is bagged up and will deliver any day.
                           

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