Mondays Farm Update and a Prayer Request...please read!

I have a prayer request for you all that is very important to me. I found out today that my Uncle Dale passed away on Tuesday March 10Th. PLEASE keep my Aunt Pat in your prayers. Dale and Pat have been married as long as I am old. She says she feels lost and I imagine she is completely lost right now, being as it was unexpected. They have had the type of love that many only dream about. This will be a rough time for her and she is far from the rest of her family. We haven't kept in touch like we should have through the years, though I loved both of them and thought of them A LOT. I have my own regrets now...but that isn't near as important as her needs at this moment. Pray for her to have guidance, support, love, and to find peace. She needs God with her right now and every prayer that can be said. Pat - I love you, I wish I could be with you right now, you say the word and I'm there!

Yesterday our calf count is at 71. I'm sure there will be a few more baby's to be found today! I tried yesterday to get some good videos of them playing..their antics are just too cute for words! But they were all being lazy hanging out with the babysitters and we must have come to check on them during nap time. Here is Torro this morning after I fed him. He was trying to break out of jail, but since he runs full speed ahead through the barn, I had to keep him in his stall while I worked with the horses.

Pepper was let out of the coop today, she immediately began to bathe...she has no modesty whatsoever. Funny little bird...I wonder how she will deal with several more poultry friends coming to the farm soon?
My dear boy - King is just worrying me too death with his feet! Farrier came and all his feet looked really good, he opened up the abscess which began to drain again. Norm had gone today to some people about buying Georgia (the mare who gave me my little Radish for 3 days). He asked her about the abscess and she said that the course of an abscess goes like this: Act like they are 3 legged for a few days...get better and back on 4 legs..then revert to being 3 legged again before it clears up. Norm picked up some more antibiotics, she suggested 3 days on and 2 days off and repeat the meds that way.

See how he is standing with his weight focused on his rear legs? He just moved forward a bit to change footing when I took this, but you can still see. My poor boy is hurting and I just wish I could make it better! But we are doing all we can...I just hope this doesn't get him down for good! I am a worry wart, and this is my first abscess experience so that doesn't help not knowing what to do and look for. What are your experiences with abscesses?

Here is a little video of my boy King eating some hay....I undid his lead and he wont move until I tell him too apparently....LOL he stood there for me to go to the house, come back, get his pen bedded down with fresh straw and put feed in his bucket, even nickered at me like "come on mom untie me so I can eat!".....he was....I had to lead him over to the gate..silly, but good boy he is! (well except for when he leans on me lately when I pick his hooves....grrrrrr.) I imagine though it hurts to have me pick them up when he stands on sore feet, and I'm sure his muscles ache like crazy. What is a good lineament to get for those achy muscles that you have found that works? The local TSC is full of different brands...hard to know what to choose!

Here are some videos of my boys this morning.....King and Jackabo aka Jack.

Questions Answered!

I am so relieved today. I've gotten some answers to some much needed animal problems around here!

1st - Jack is about 6 months old

2nd - we are probably ahead of mare foaling, she should wax more, and bag get bigger, HOWEVER Vet did agree that she is showing signs of being more advanced, and that first time mares dont always have the waxing or big bag..it could be a sign that her milk wont come in.

So she is back out of the barn for now with a watchful eye on her in her lot.

3rd- Called Vet to come out and tend to King, his lameness is NO better and I was worried about permanent lameness. And his pain was painful for me to see!

A. He is MUCH younger than we thought - Vet guessed 10 - 15 years old, maybe 18 - 20 but he didnt really feel he was that old! WOW!!!!!

B - He is in perfect health (except for hoof which I'll go into in a minute) and perfect weight.

C. He has an abscess in his front right hoof. (and NO he isnt club footed like the dentist said, he probably turns that one foot in more but not a problem, should wear boots when exercised hard)

The vet dug and dug and dug in my boys hoof....finding his frog has just overgrown majorly, said thats not uncommon and will maybe just be an issue with him. After we (and yes I got to help him the whole way!) cleaned his hoof, shaved down to the white, we used that big thing that looks like something you'd pull a giants tooth with, to check pain with pressure. We went all around his hoof, and the pain all through out. We started with the right side of his hoof, found a black line indicating an abscess (that was my guess and I was right!) but couldnt get to the bottom of it...I checked the pain with that doomahicky again and found that the left side was more sore, got to digging there and the abscess showed itself and immediately began to drain! WOO HOO we found the problem! His hoof was packed with some tarry meds, wrapped with Vet wrap (trust me that Vet knows how to wrap, it aint coming off or going anywhere until I need to cut it off), given a tetanus shot, and a big dose of antibiotics. He was given some bute paste....he really needed it for the pain. I talked to him about that article that you read to me Kacy and he said that really the benefits outweighed the cons. If his abscess was worse then he wouldnt use it he said, he'd go to something else, or nothing even.

He will get a penicillin shot once a day of 25mg, and bute paste 2x a day for a week (both) until antibiotic and bute gone. Boot can be removed after a week, and after that, he should be good to go! It wasnt bad, but it was all through out his hoof...so that makes it bad in one way, however the abscess wasnt a huge hole, rather a long narrow hole like a worm does to an apple.

I learned also how to keep a horse from leaning on you (like he tends to do) when you work with his feet..You lean into and take a step forward, making them take a side step back and forces them off of you and their mind off of leaning, for a few minutes anyway! LOL King eventually saw the Vet wasnt going to tolerate his antics, and gave up on the leaning!

I'm so happy! I wish the foal would have been coming this weekend...but at least its nice to know what to look for (thanks guys a bunch) and to have the Vet look her over and tell me not to worry just yet!

And I'm SOOOO pleased to learn that I'll have many more years with my boy!!!!

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!

~*~RAE~*~