I have never heard of heat colic before but the vet lady said that's what the mini mare had. She said it was iffy for the mare to even make it through the night last night it was so bad. The wife and kids took turns bathing her, force watering her and walking her in circles. I have always heard you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink, well now I know that is not true if you have a turkey baster and shove it down their throat.
All the signs of labor were there. The restlessness, the rolling, the up and down, the loose stools, it fooled me. The tell tell sign was the absent of a bag, even though she had milk, she did not have a bag and the other was the white gums. Even though it was there and fresh, she did not drink enough so was badly dehydrated.
With force watering all night and today, her gums are back pink again and she is up moving around just like before. She is allowed two hand fulls of hay and very little feed a day for a week.
The wife has stepped up the cooling and watering process for all the animals to every hour now until the heat is gone.
On a lighter note, we had a cool front just blow through and the rain split to the East and the West but the 75 MPH wind hit and tore some of the siding off the back of the house.
Ya know, it would have been easier and cheaper to just get an apartment.
Ah but look at all the FUN you would miss in an apartment!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad the mare is doing better. One of our mares dehydrated and tried to colic right after her foal was born. She spent 24 hours at the vet clinic with IV fluids and when she came home, they said we had to monitor her drinking and she needed at least 10 gallons per day. This mare is an easy keeper (maintains her bulk on very little feed) but she loves to eat too. We started adding a few cups of water to her ration of pellets to get some more fluid down her. It didn't slow her down at all, so we added MORE water. She seemed to actually like slurping her supper, so we just gave her a bucket of water with her ration of pellets stirred in. She was getting about 3 gallons of water to six cups of feed twice a day. She was her old self in a week.
Don't beat yourself up about the rabbits and chickens you lost, or this mare. You are not responsible for the heat wave we're experiencing and you're doing a GOOD job. I'm glad you had a vet available to assist you with the mini mare last night. Hopefully fall will be here in a few weeks.
yes it might have been easier and cheaper to rent an apartment but would yall have been happy and that makes all the difference in the world to a persons wellbeing yes it is stressful sometimes but on the other hand look at all the peasure you and your family can get from living in the country and having what you have there and what you have done with the property not everyone can do what yall have done or to be blunt even want to any more too much is taken for granted these days and so many people don't know that eggs come from a chicken not the back room of krogers lol maybe you could get it to where kids could have a field trip to your farm and pet some animals and see how how things are done
ReplyDeleteIt might have been cheaper to get an apartment, but you know you wouldn't be as happy. Bad times happen even in an apartment. I would love to be where you are. I live the "farm life" vicariously through you and I have faith that some day it will happen for me. Keep your chin up, you are doing a fantastic job. I love reading your blog. Many of us out here are praying for your success.
ReplyDeleteWomanWhoRunsWithHorses,
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of the water and the pellets. The wife said she is going to try it. I will let you know how it turns out.
I know that living any place but where I am now is not my cup of tea. Heck, Just the four years I was in town drove me nuts. I was always looking for something to do. I would be like a bull in a china closet if I were in an apartment and it would probably kill me.
To tell you the truth, I was not even going to post anything last night due to the bad luck and the mood I was in but then I thought if I didn't, then this whole blog thing I'm doing would be fake. The idea about this experience was to show everyone the struggles, the ups and downs and the highs and lows of what my family and myself are going through to start all over again.
I read other blogs that show only the best side of life. Where they get the money to do some of the stuff they do is baffling to me. I hardly ever read about animal deaths or gardens that do not produce or the spouse kicking them out of the house or anything but a positive happy go lucky life. That's not saying they all put up a smoke screen but most do. The ones I subscribe to are real life and what you read on mine, maybe a little to personal at times, but it's real life. How else are you going to know what I am really thinking or going through.
I want to thank yall for your continued support and even though my chin hits the ground sometimes I plan to keep going as best as I can. We just acquired more dept from the mother-in-law's estate so money is really, really tight right now. Going cheap just got expensive. The importance of growing our own food just went up a notch.
Thank yall for the kind words and I am blessed to know yall.