Friday Farm Blog – Aug. 15, 2015

By Daisy Luther

Okay, I know it isn’t actually Friday, but yesterday got away from me, and “Saturday Farm Blog” doesn’t have the same ring to it.

This week at the farm, it was not all peace and rainbows.

Early in the week, I got a message from my landlady asking for help up at the barn, where her horses are. The foal had choked on something and she needed assistance administering some first aid.  I learned that horses physically can’t throw up. The poor little filly had mucous streaming from her nostrils and was making awful noises as she tried to clear her passages.

The vet was called, who recommended a gentle stream of water from the hose in her mouth to help her hopefully swallow down whatever was stuck while he was on his way. Now, that sounds like a simple idea, but the filly was having none of it. She was thrashing and trying to move her head away from the hose, so she had to be held firmly while her mouth was pried open. Imagine giving a toddler liquid medicine. Now imagine the toddler is about 250 pounds and has hooves. Ouch.

Luckily, we were able to get her airway cleared and by the time the vet arrived, all was well. We still have no idea if she just ate too quickly or ate something she shouldn’t have. Poor baby was trembling for quite a while after the experience, but she’s back to her usual shenanigans now, thankfully.

One of my chicks got a mild case of bumblefoot. I soaked her foot in Vetricyn (the very best magical healing spray on earth) and found a great article about treating it, Great if you like using scalpels. The patient and I both survived, and it turns out that I don’t have a weak stomach.

My sweet old kitty got out of the house one night and was attacked by some type of animal. She showed up at the door in the morning with a large wound on her neck.  Terrifying.  My cat is ballpark 15 years old and I love her dearly. She’s ridden across the continent with me more than once, and I’d be devastated if I lost her. The wound began to abscess, so Vetricyn spray to the rescue again. I kept her in a carrier for a couple of days so she could be monitored. She’s recovering well.

I had to deal with stupid hornworms in my garden. I showed them. I pulled them off and fed them to the chickens. Take that, pest.

But the week wasn’t all bad.

The little goat named Nameless started free ranging with the other goats. There’s nothing cuter than a baby goat romping.

We heard from the wildlife rescue organization and the little fawn is doing well and happily mingling with the other orphaned fawns.

Slash, our new barn kitty,  finally came out of hiding.

And mornings…let me tell you about how much I love them.

First off, there’s coffee, which makes anything on the planet better. But secondly, there is nothing like being happily greeted by a furry and feathered family for the first hour of your day.  The dogs are always delighted to see me and greet me with wagging tails and goofy faces. Next, I go up to feed the chickens a little morning treat.  They perform a little chicken stampede, tripping and falling over one another to try and get to me first, and relinquishing any claim to chicken dignity. Then I open up the barn and let out the two kitties, Slash and Axl, who race out and embrace their freedom.

Next, I follow the wise advice of my friend who told me, “With goats, you always have to have a plan.”  I put down my coffee, body block their access to the rest of the barn, open the door to outside, and open their stall so that they can go outside without running willy-nilly through the barn and dropping little black bean-sized poops everywhere I just swept, getting into the horses’ food, and knocking over my coffee.  They always sensibly freeze at the door to check out their surroundings and I wait, wondering if I’ll have to goat-wrestle as they try to evade my grasp and go for the barn goodies, or if they’ll make a run for the pasture. Every morning, it’s a question, because it could go either way. Ask me how I know.

Today I’m going to pick up a huge bag of home-grown onions from a friend in exchange for some peach jam. I’m going to try a new concoction in the canner with them and if it works well, I’ll share it over at the canning blog.

My prepping endeavors have gone by the wayside this summer, so I need to get going on some canning and food preservation. What about you? What did you do this week to prep?