Sunday, July 26, 2015

Better Critter Pictures

Keeping cool

Saffron. She looks awesome. A lot of that scraggly fur came off and she's pretty sleek right now. I'm pleased with the change.



The donkeys LOVE LOVE LOVE the arena. They just go up and lie down in the sand. They are desert creatures, so it makes sense, it's just funny to me.



Goober Pony in her super light stage of summer where she looks dun-ish

The Koi. The black and white one is Captain Barnacles

Peso the Pleco



Saturday, July 25, 2015

Updates on the Ranch!

We have hay for winter!

Huzzah! My Washington friends are going to choke on this, but I paid $4/bale, which includes delivery. 201 bales are stacked in my barn now and I'm pretty sure I'll be good through the winter.

I'm loving this house and property. Gwyn was grazing nearby while Kaylee played on the swing set. I'm pretty sure Gwyn was keeping an eye on  us. She still seems surprised when she sees me at the house and I call to her. I get enthusiastically greeted and it's everything I hoped it would be.

I spent more time working on Arwen's matted fur and got cow kicked like crazy. I know she's a baby and it will just take time, but man was that frustrating and discouraging. They are getting more approachable in the pasture in general, which is encouraging. Hopefully by next year I'll be able to look back and see our progress. 

Gwyn is getting tubby from not enough work and 24/7 turnout. So we're going to be working more and on turn out less. Everyone is confined to the dry lot tonight and will be every evening for now.

Momma Saffron is doing well. I was able to brush her last night and I put Fly-Spot on both of them. They're extremely reactive to fly spray so I used the drip stuff that you put in a line down their back. It lasts longer and isn't scary. 

Kaylee and I found a toad in the barn tonight! It looks like the toad's left arm got mangled. It's all Dumbledore cursed and dry/dessicated. Otherwise the toad was healthy. We pet it for a while then released back in the 'stream' (which is no longer flowing since it's been a while since we've had rain)

Hard to see so I'll get a better picture tomorrow with my waterproof camera... but we have 4 Koi and a Plecostomus now for the water tank. I also snagged a floating cork bark so they'll have predator protection. No names yet, but since Kaylee's been watching a ton of Octonauts I'm leaning toward that for a name source.

Peso the Pleco
Barnacles, Shellington, Quasi and Tweak for the Koi

The bugs are already gone, so no more mosquito breeding! Yay!

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Arwen

Arwen is on the left
Both of these donkeys came to me caked in mud, looking in need of a good grooming and bath. Thankfully, one of the first nights they were all together we had a rainstorm and they effectively got soaked and washed clean of most of the mud. Momma, Saffron, appeared pretty good, if shy. I've been working on just being present and occasionally brushing her. I honestly don't expect to make much progress with Momma, she seems very set in her ways, but she does lead decently well. I just want her to know I'm not something to be scared of.

Arwen I see as more of a clean slate. She's been somewhat handled but is just as shy as Momma, despite what her previous owners claimed. She is a little more social, but takes her cues from Saffron and will run away from me more often than not. She shields herself behind Saffron a lot and I suspect that she was never properly weaned. Or else they're just SUPER herd bound.

While training wise she's a cleaner slate, coat wise she is a MESS. Her whole coat is a mat of fur that's dreadlocked itself into a solid piece. Even her soft white belly fur is super dreadlocked. It makes her look terrible and it makes it really hard for me to evaluate her health and weight. My original thought was to clip her but given her handling, I didn't think a buzzing thing would go over well.

Instead, I found sheep shears at my local TSC.  The first session I had both donkeys in one stall that had tie rings. Mom was tied up and given hay and Arwen was opposite her. It worked -okay- and I was able to get most of the matted stuff off her back, as you can see in the below picture. 


After that session, however, she was very hesitant to let me near her. I had scuffed her a bit and was truly remorseful but it's slow going with them and they remember....I'd also gotten kicked for my effort. No bruise, but I wasn't eager to repeat the experience. I wanted the next session to be shorter and more positive, less progress, maybe on the coat, but more trust.

This time, since I had cross tie rings finally installed, I brought her into the grooming stall. I figured out a new method for getting the worst of the matting on her side belly and alternated with brushes if her little tail started to swish madly (her warning sign).

I gave myself a time limit of 20 minutes (I had to leave anyway to pick up Kaylee from gymnastics camp) and did what I could in that time. I talked to her the whole time and I didn't get kicked, but one side of her belly looks significantly better! I can't wait to uncover the rest of her. She's really sweet and seems to get along well with Gwyn.



That matted coat is about an inch thick. Poor thing never got groomed or even properly shed out, I think. Her undercoat is beautiful black and shiny. 

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Our Critters

You'll have to make do with cell phone quality pictures as I have not yet found the transfer cables for my good cameras in all of our unpacking havoc.

Without further ado:

Arwen and Saffron, a mom/daughter pair of donkeys.

Arwen on the left, whose birthday is April 27 2014 and Saffron on the Right, birthday unknown

Gwyn and the donkeys settling in together.

Grey Tabby is Ford Prefect and Black and White tuxedo fatcat is Velociraptor

Gwyn checks out the digs

And of course, the kidlet Kaylee, on her birthday, after wishing her pets a good morning, still in pajamas.