Rescue Journal

updates

Carol · Nov. 10, 2013

one hour and 15 minutes to do barn bedtime by myself. I could have been done sooner if chevy and jake were not such uncooperative dolts.

daph seems a bit better today...still low but eating KO's baked chicken. I have taken her off all meds except for flagyl and a lower dose of Lasix.

luke, the new old cutie-patootie beagle is doing ok. he is a bed buddy cuz he wants to be.

teddy got the boot out of the laundry area..i caught him being a dick to owen which is not allowed.

I have to say, the vet was right...chevy did fine with the de-horning. I was more upset by it all than he was.

baby got clipped by a kick from Dixie today..baby is really frail so this significantly concerns me. she was out because the dogs were in the barn and Dixie was charging around the upper field acting all full of herself and folks were trying to work going in and out of gates and baby was apparently in front of a gate, blocking the way.
if the sheep cannot be safely managed on the weekends because of the horses and dogs and people working going in and out of gates, then I might consider banning the dogs from the barn...maybe there is just too much going on out there all at the very same time. in all honesty...it is the sheep's home not the dogs.
baby wasn't injured but even a clip by a horse's hoof, hurts.
if anyone has any suggestions on a better way to safely manage everyone's out time so the dogs can still play around in the barn and the sheep are not at risk of being kicked by a bitchy horse and folks can still get from A to B fairly easily..please let me know. prevention is 10/10th's of the law and maybe we just need to look at how we do things, readjust and tighten up the safety ship a bit....before someone gets hurt.

Comments

Fiona

The trouble with keeping the sheep in the shaving area is we still have to get to the shavings from the barn so dogs could sneak thru when we open the gate. Would moving the hay feeders away from the barn help? I know that Summer also struggles sometimes with the horses running around.

Brent

the above comment is from me.

bunny

I like the second part of your thought, having the sheep hang out by the feed/shavings till the horses settle. I will have to attach some wire (or figure something out)to the gate in the barn so the little guys can not pass thru.

Carol

the sheep do not like the riding ring. and the goal I think is to get them safely outside for a bit not just close them in another building.
I am thinking of something like...either turning the horses out first and waiting until they settle and are calm before turning the sheep out..or...closing the gate in the barn so the sheep can hang outside around the feed/shavings/hay sheds but the dogs have to stay in the front part of the barn until it is safe for the sheep to go out into the field.
would either of these be do-able?

bunny

I did not personally see the incident between Dixie and Baby today as I was working in the riding ring, cow barn, Brad and Charolotte's area. I did see Baby standing at the fence to the riding ring for my entire shift. When I heard what transpired I asked if I could move her into the riding ring and was told no, that they would calm down. Baby did not move the entire time. I thought there were 4 possible options: 1. freshen the sheep stall in the barn first and let Baby back into the comfort of her familiar stall
2. allow Baby into the riding ring which was not occupied by any other animal for most of the morning
3. allow Baby into Chevy's barn so she would feel comfortable and safe until she could be moved back to her own stall
4. allow Baby into the cow barn - there was lots of room - the door to the small stall could be closed still allowing Brad or Charlotte to stretch their legs in the riding ring.
Any of these solutions could have provided Baby some comfort for a couple of hours.

Brent

Re: Baby and Dixie,
Baby was right in front of me at the gate into the riding room, Dixie was being Dixie going from feed cage to feed cage guarding/hoarding the hay, she felt Baby was to close to her and HER hay. So she kicked once and missed then kicked again and hit her. I would suggest that once the cows are moved to the bottom field (which typically happens first), the sheep c/w Carl go in the now vacant riding ring, the horses in the upper field (the horses seem to run, kick and race around for about 1/2 hour then it seems to be out of their system). Then I think the sheep can be moved into the upper field freeing up the riding ring for Brad and Charlotte to take their turn hunting for some food. Does that make any sense?

lynne

what was he doing to owen doesnt seem like he could do that much, but yes owen seems to be better in there by himself. he comes out of the corner when teddy is not there and teddy seemed to do fine in the computer room maybe a win win situation for the two of them luke is very cute, maybe he can teach jake some manners lol

Brenda Mc

Oh and Luke is a doll - really nice beagle. Just so everyone knows - he is afraid of the doggie-door - you need to open the sliding door for him to go in and out.

Carol

ted is in the computer room.
erin told me last week that owen wasn't comfortable with teddy in there so I was already wondering if he was being a bit of a dickhead when no one was around to see him and tonight I saw him! busted.

Brenda Mc

Yeah, I was wondering the same question Shawn. Gee, Teddy seemed fine with Owen till now - but absolutely , no one is allowed to be a jerk to Owen - he is the sweetest ever.

Shawn

Where did Teddy get moved to?