Carry on

The afternoon after the roos met their fate Oakley turned up horribly lame.  Our vet put our minds at rest (as much as he could) telling me that if the lameness is within seven days of shoeing/reset, it's always the cause.
Super disappointing considering Oakley had been an absolute rockstar for the whole thing--all four shoes with snow pads and studs takes a while--and he was completely focused on me and our quiet discussion and treats. No sedation!  It was really sweet, and a nice time for me, which I can't usually say!! I guess I'm a little protective too--they really don't need to pinch his leg to ask for it--he'll give it willingly if you ask nicely, or even just think it. 

ANYWAY--we were both very worried about him.

The next day the farrier came and tested Oak and pulled a few nails. He improved.  Two days later the vet was out for Winston's floating and bloodwork.  I had him test Oak's feet and he found one other sore spot on the other front foot, and since I'd withdrawn bute for a few days to make sure the symptoms weren't masked he was a little tender, was reluctant to turn and shift weight, and was diagnosed grade 1 lame.

Winston was blah--the whole reason I wanted a recheck--his eye colour was pale and slightly salmon coloured, so I figured he was anemic and had other concerns about his liver. When we turned up his upper eyelid you could see his sclera was a little yellow--I had just asked the vet about doing a panel on him (to check kidney/liver function--it's an additional test from the anemia check (a CBC). So when we saw that the answer was most definitely YES we need to check this out.

Turns out that yes he is anemic, and his white cells are low. He needs an immune booster injection, and the vet needs to listen to his lungs to make sure they aren't infected.  The addition of steroids will help as well. Poor Winny...he looked awful today too. Liver tests didn't show much. He most definitely has a penis infection.

 

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Glenn took Friday off while I went to my TRC shift.  He was working crazy hours this week and was getting pretty burnt.  He finished part of Mr. Flan's winter coop in the palace--we just need to finish the rest of the insulation. He put up plastic to make a hoop house for them too. Last winter that really helped--for the chooks to have a warm little greenhouse to dig around in.  I sat in it one very cold day when it was about -15C, and it was so warm and comforting! If we deep bed it in there it won't freeze, and we can just throw scratch and grit in their and they can dig to their hearts content!

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Saturday:

I asked G to help me with the lambs before we turned them out this morning.  He set up Princey and I trimmed his hooves again, and cleaned his poor prepuce, that had one ulcer on the outside, and the entrance to the urethra was very red and sore looking. No pus though, thankfully, but I still may treat with penicillin injectable if I can't get a handle on this. Henry sniffed my face while I was trying to focus on Prince's treatment--and tried to eat the cardboard box I had my supplies in. Then he punched it, likely hoping something tasty would fall out. I had to keep chastising G for laughing and shaking Prince while I was using sharp trimmers to remove urine-soaked wool from around his prepuce. Lambs just have that way of making you smile : )

I trimmed Henry's hooves and check his prepuce as well.  He had two tiny superficial ulcers, and his hooves were only mildly overgrown and nice and hard. But the rain has started today, and if this doesn't change to snow in the next few weeks we might end up with footrot like my friends on the west coast.  So hard to manage some of these things when the weather is against you...

 

Our first real snow of the season.

 



Oakley had some persistent thrush the first spring we had him, and it was a lot of work.  But we persevered and got through it.  The $600 worth of sand we had put in the paddock will help. The sheep have nice dry bedding in their indoor enclosures, but their outdoor winter pen can get a little water logged since melt water drains through it.  Hoping all will be well.  We will do trims on all of them again once the frost is permanent, at the same time as deworming.  I might have to deworm Henry sooner than that--since his eye was a little paler than I'd like today.  Our vet was concerned that his supposed kill-all dewormer didn't knock the roundworms out of Henry like he'd expect.  He's offered a free recheck fecal so I think I'll take him up on it this week.  I'd have to go up to Osceola, Wisconsin to drop it off at the clinic, so I might as well drop in and see my knitting guru while I'm there. 

***

The Pepper crew (Lorpie's crew) were allowed to free roam with Shadow and the newbies, and there wasn't very much action overall, likely due to the distraction of rain and a strange thunder and lightning storm this afternoon.  There was one tense moment when Pepper tried to take on the massive Buff Drake in an argument over scratch, but she decided otherwise. Love our brave Pepper : ) Typical barred rock who doesn't back down from very much.  It's one of the interesting things about having these birds for several years--you get to see how older hens have 'been there, done that' and are much more confident in their abilities (compared to the younger ladies).  Something for me to reflect on, the week after my birthday. There is certainly more I can do. I enjoyed my TRC shift this week--I met some nice vet students doing their two week rotation there--and it was fun to chat with them and mentor them a little bit.  Raptors are more than a little intimidating, even for a third year vet student who is used to dogs and cats.

 

My birthday wasn't exactly wonderful, on the eve of the deed.  G made me a wonderful catfish dinner, with beet greens and turnips (from our garden) and a lovely coconut curry sauce (all from Vij's cookbook). It was great, and I was grateful for his efforts, but my appetite was so off...
 

 

 

 

 

G made this awesome sheep feeder today! We ordered the panels from Premiere, and they have the instructions on their website.  Unfortunately I'd picked up the wood on the day-of-sad-rooster-loss, and although I could swear I was buying 8' 2x4s, they turned out to be 92" studs (I didn't know studs are trimmed to fit in frames--but G explained this to me) Oops. So he had to trim the panels a little, then cover the sharp ends.  It includes a little catch tray so any leafy bits don't get wasted, and you can also feed grain as well. 



 

 

 

 





Oats, Axle, Mama Ewe and Mama Barley were very leery of it, but they figured it out eventually.  Now the lambs are getting pushed out of the way, so G will make another feeder today with one panel, that should do for two to three smaller sheep.  Always good to have multiple feeders, no matter what the species.  The weaker and meeker will always lose out, and especially now leading up to winter I want all of the beasts getting optimal nutrition. 

 

The new Mazuri sheep feed I bought is a huge hit.  Figures they have expensive taste.  The old feed we got didn't inspire them, and I swear they were giving me disappointed "what is this crap??" looks. They would literally walk away from it after a few bites. At least we know none of this will be wasted, and it's actually good for them.

 

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I still have the one gimpy guinea keet in the basement in our brooder.  She's still lame, but doing fine.  She's eating and growing slowly.  So hopefully in another few weeks she'll be a little more robust so I can reintroduce her to the flock.  The others are having a blast out in their run.  I'll have to think about whether the run needs modifying at all, since finding out that my vet lost 25 of his keets to an ermine in the last month (ermine can fit through 1" chicken wire, which is why for most of our coops we use 1/2" hardware cloth ($--but peace of mind).

 

 



***

We are still getting kale, cilantro, chard, green onions, beets, carrots, thyme, sage, parsley, lettuce, mustard greens, turnips from the garden, hoop houses and greenhouse.  Unfortunately with the crazy -15C weather we got last week most of my beloved arugula in the greenhouse is destroyed.  We'll keep a frost blanket on the rest of the veg in there and keep it going as long as possible.  Not too shabby for mid November in Minnesota!!

 

Super Bub and Bruce struttin' in the garden.  Miss those beautiful boys! G setting up the hoops over the kale and chard beds.

 

Most of our pumpkins and hubbard squashes we had on the front deck were damaged by the cold too--so the chooks are getting spoiled with them now.  I hope we can chop some up and get them in the freezer this weekend, because in the middle of February it will be a wonderful healthy treat for them. 

 

We need to move the sheep fence today, for one last shot at fresh grass.  Only four more hours of daylight, so I'd better get out there! I bought a sewing machine this week, so I can finally devote some time after dark to fixing some of the hen coats.  Not only are they great for protection from rooster treading and other hens picking at precious blood feathers, but the insulated ones keep the less cold tolerant hens much happier, and I like to think they could provide some protection from raptors in the worst case scenario...G said there were four red tailed hawks circling yesterday morning. Yikes.

Mama Barley, our oldest ewe.  Not so sure about the new feeder, and the fact that we were both up in the hay loft looking down on them.  She doesn't miss much...