Where does the time go? Catching up on January updates.

I've hardly had any time to write this journal during this month.  Quite a lot I've missed out on recording!

So this will only be short notes so I can get caught up.

Oakley and Winston both seemed to be losing some weight.  Oak was losing some muscle.  Not too surprising since he hasn't been working since his illness, but I've decided to tweak their food a bit.

Oak had been getting primarily our own hay, since he's normally been an easy keeper, it's the cleanest, and I needed to save the legume hay for the sheep, and also for Winston since it was the softest and easiest for his old man teeth. Since we couldn't get our hay harvested until very late, it is likely not very nutritious.

I've now started feeding Oakley the legume hay anywhere from 30-50% of his daily ration.  I've added in an oil supplement for both of them, and upped their grain.  I switched to a higher fat senior as opposed to the metabolic concern senior.  I will be calling the farmer who sold us the clover hay to see if he has any more.  It's good and clean.  We didn't plan to be buying more hay this winter, but all of it will eventually be used, so it's not an investment that will be wasted.

Farrier was here this week, so they finally got their snow pads on. Of course we have no snow now and it's just icy and difficult to walk on for all of us.  I even wiped out a few weeks ago while carrying a full water bucket. Most unpleasant.  It's time to put my ice cleats on.

Good news for a change!  Our frost free hydrant in the barn started working after a week of running a ceramic heater in the tack room (kind of risky).  Also we've been having daily temperatures above freezing for several weeks intermittently.  The really good news was that we both happened to be out in the barn when the hydrant started pouring water all over the floor! So I shuttled buckets and the hose while G worked on it to get the tension and flow just right. Phew. It could still happen again.

My new winter boots look a bit like Klingon boots, but they make me damn happy. Cold wet feet does an unhappy hobby farmer make. 

G is working on clearing some dead trees and invasives out in the grotto.  This will make it much easier for us to manage the deadly nightshade, and any overzealous grapevines that have been choking some trees. He's copicing some, and using some as trellises for the grape he'd like to foster. 

Oakley and Winny having a look at the action:

The mild days have made for some happy beasts.  Ranging at this time of year without risk of feet and combs getting frost bite? Ok climate change. So be it.

Pangolin Cocoa Puff and Panda

It wasn't easy getting the guineas back in that night...stressful!!
 Great horned owls are out way before dusk these days.

Getting in shape for their summer manure management duties.

Winston had a sheath infection again, just like last winter after the extreme cold. Our vet came out and dealt with the worst of it (Winny has to be sedated so he can be cleaned properly) I asked to do his annual blood work at the same time. Good thing I didn't put it off....Winny is anemic and even his blood is showing that he has an infection.  Our vet said he is eating crow, since he said antibiotics wouldn't be required with the other medications to treat the sheath infection.  But after seeing that blood work, he can't NOT prescribe them.  Winston is four days into treatment now and looking a little brighter.  His sheath is healing.  The mysterious cause of his anemia is what worries us.  

It's been a big winter for raptors here unfortunately.  So sometimes ranging gets a little stressful on all of us.  

I'm pretty certain that Panda the muscovy was being chased by a northern goshawk juvenile--I mistook the stripes for another bird-killing accipiter, the smaller Cooper's hawk.  It's pretty amazing that Panda can fly so well.  But I have no doubt that if the goshawk actually wanted to get her, he would have.  Or maybe he was just put off by inexperience.

I grabbed a quick photo the other day after this bird went after the pheasants in our yard.

I had to catch one of these out of a flight room the other day at TRC.  This is the largest accipiter in North America. Fast and strong!!

But wait! Who are these lovely birds? :

 

You will have to come back soon to find out. 

Hoping for snow and a little less raptor pressure.