Critter Update - Aug 2008

Sorry to have been AWOL for a while ... it has been a crazy couple of months around here. My step-daughter got married a couple of weeks ago, which took several weeks of chaos to pull off, plus a week or so of recovery ;-). Then, we did some dry hay (first time in years - I usually buy mine). It's pretty rich (I usually buy grassy, mature stuff), and the animals have been standing in the barn doors, deeply inhaling the sweet aroma of alfalfa!

So, here's a quick update on our critters:

• Willy - is doing great. He seems to have fully recovered from his acute urinary episode. He really enjoys having free access to the pig yard, and often grazes at night. He loves basking in the morning sun, and is generally enjoying himself. I have slathered him with petroleum jelly to try and eliminate some of his flakey skin, and it seems to have helped.
• Nicky - fat pig (see right) - Is also good ... tho not losing weight at the rate I would like. She adamantly insists on living in the hay mow, and nibbles hay at her convenience which is probably why she is slow to reduce! I really want to get her thin so she can be spayed ... may have to resort to closer confinement in the front of the barn - but have to reinforce the gate from the front pig yard to the adjacent goat pen - it is currently just cattle panel, and Nicky has learned she can bend it and squeeze her bulk under it to return to the mow (I've seen her do it!). She had a sore foot/leg last week, but it seemed to get a bit better each day and is now fine, so I suspect she wrenched it or took a wrong step. All seems well.
• Pinky & The Boys - Truffle & Toad: seem to be enjoying their summer. They have free access into a big treed yard (along with one of my rabbits who has decided to join them - I trust he will come back indoors as the weather cools!). Foot trimming & vaccination for all three is on the weekend agenda.
• Charlotte & Noodle - have I introduced them here yet? Can't remember. The came on semi-permanent loan/boarding from a local woman who had seriouls family issues and could no longer manage them. She is hoping to reclaim them at some point, but am not sure this will happen. In the meantime, they have settled in well, and now happily pass their days in the front pig yard with Willy. They need some foot attention, and I am slowly paring back their overgrown feet. They are smaller pigs, but have lots of personality. Noodle is spayed, but Charlotte is not yet. I plan to get her done soon, too. Their feet & shots are also on this weekend's to-do list.

Other Critters:

• Arthur (ox) & donkeys are loving the new hay ...
• Am planning to downsize my goat herd a bit - just no time for marketing the fibre etc. A local woman is interested in some of the young does, so hopefully that will simplify things.
• I finally removed the post-mature goose egg from under the Muscovy duck - 2+ months and no development, so I thought it was time. She still insists on sitting on nothing and defending it, nonetheless; I think she is suffering some type of shut-in syndrome and needs to Get a Life!
• Rabbits (4) & Guinea Pigs (4) all fine.
• Ducks - have Gone Bad and now swarm the pigs at feeding time to raid their bowls. So, I have to feed them strategically outside to keep them distracted. We have a lovely pond, with a calf hutch for shelter and a full feed tub, yet they insist on hanging around the barn, muddying the water troughs and generally behaving like a street gang.
• Geese, likewise, have decided to shun the pond for the more shaded goat pasture. Go figger.
• Hens wander as hens do. Had one victim of old age (I assume) - found dead a week or so ago. So - now have 6, I think. They lay their eggs all over the place, and my daughter and the babysitter carry out daily recon missions to try to find them.

Guess that's it for now ... will try to take some pics. I anticipate a busy weekend .. lots to do!