learn about how we care for our animals

We ensure that all our animals have drinking water available.  Animals that are outside in the winter such as horses and cows should have more water than they would get by eating snow.  Our horses and cows have heated troughs and buckets.  They are typically outside during the day and in the barn at night.  Our barn is not heated, but the goose, peacocks, goats, and donkey that live in the barn always have fresh water.  We also have two heated bird waterers that are sometimes used by squirrels and other critters.  

We select feed that matches the needs of each animal.  Our senior horses eat a different supplement than our babies.  All our horses and cows have free choice hay in order to keep roughage in their guts.  Food intended for one species may be toxic to another.  In these cases, we are careful to label the feed container with appropriate warnings.  Most of our feed is stored in metal garbage cans or repurposed chest freezers in order to avoid rodent infestations.  Other than purchased greens, we have not fed our dogs and cats any of the commercial "fresh" foods, which have been implicated in sickening pets with bird flu. Our dogs and cats eat kibble and canned food.  We gradually transition from one food to another when making a change.  We also try to be consistent in feeding schedules for our animals.  They are not subtle in reminding us of when those times!  

A significant portion of our animals receive medications.  Some are preventive such as heartworm and other medications treat specific conditions such as heart problems or arthritis.  We have found that removing a wedge-shaped chunk of a carrot and inserting a pill is a great way to medicate a horse.  Some of our dogs receive their pills in dollops of canned food and others like the commercial pill pockets.  Cats seem to require the tasty concoctions that are extruded from the small packets to camouflage their pills   Because some medications are meant to taste good and given as treats, it is important to store the containers in a place inaccessible to the animals.  

A rule of thumb we use for our horses is that they can tolerate wind, cold, and precipitation SEPARATELY, but if there is more than one of those conditions, they should have shelter.  Our paddocks and pastures are set up so that the horses always have shelter.  The cows also have shelter in their paddock and pasture areas, but especially in the winter we bring them in the barn if extreme weather is predicted.  Our peacocks have an exterior aviary that has protection from hawks, raccoons, or other predators.  At night, they are kept inside the barn and not allowed in the aviary.  The same is true for the chickens whose coop is ventilated, heated in the winter, and is a passive solar design.  The chickens are locked in securely at night.  Weather permitting, they are in an adjoining aviary during the day.  

Decades ago, we planted seedling trees and bushes offered through the county around the outside of our fences in order to give the impression to the horses and cows that there was a barricade beyond the fence.  This has worked well for everyone except a very smart, naughty pony.  We use tubular steel panels for the paddock areas and either cattle panels or twisted wire for pastures.  Our gate latches are primarily the kind that allow locking and unlocking in both directions.  We recognize that either cows or horses are strong enough to get through most fences if they are panicked or spooked.  Two years ago, someone ignited loud firecrackers a few days before July 4th and well before dusk causing one of our cows, Twirly Tail, to knock down a fence.  Fortunately, she was unhurt, and we saw her immediately when she came to the front of the barn.

Once the pasture grass goes through freeze thaw cycles in the fall, we take the cows and horses off the pasture.  With few exceptions, we do not let them back into the pasture until the grass has grown enough to graze and the soil is no longer tender.  One of the exceptions we made was in mid-winter the horses were allowed a brief romp in a freshly fallen deep snow.  

During the grazing season, we mow the pastures regularly as we have found that both the horses and cows are fussy about having to work around taller vegetation. 

We separate our small, fragile animals such as Chihuahuas from larger animals in order to prevent the smaller critters from accidentally getting hurt.  Even an innocent "play with me" paw gesture from a big dog could cause an injury to a smaller dog.  Sometimes, the smaller animal encourages the play but does not anticipate a problem.  We have known many small animals that act very large!  We have to anticipate and avoid the possible bad consequences.  

We find that sometimes animals need to be separated either permanently or temporarily.  This may have to do with a heat cycle or an animal that is not yet neutered or it may be that an animal needs to adjust to its new situation.  

Problems arise.  When that happens, we try to avoid inviting a second problem because our minds are focused on the first.  For example, a horse has a laceration and, in our rush to get the horse to the barn for veterinarian to examine him, we accidentally leave open a gate, which could allow horses or cows to go to an unsafe location.  Or, after the veterinary has cleaned and stitched the wound, we dispose of the bloodied gauze in a trash container that is accessible to our dogs.  Dogs are attracted to biologic garbage and may suffer gastrointestinal issues from eating gauze or stitching material.  You may find something that had been hiding in your refrigerator that appears to have come from a previous geologic era.  Dispose of this moldy food where dogs and other animals are unable to access it.  Years ago, we learned this lesson from experience.  Our wonderful Rat Terrier, Spritzen, somehow managed to get into a kitchen garbage can that required a foot pedal push to open.  She ate some unrecognizable moldy food and earned herself a trip to the emergency vet clinic.  It was a close call, but she survived.  Her nickname after this episode was Mycotoxin.  She had a tough constitution and fought mast cell cancer, thyroid cancer, and bladder cancer --- all of which involved surgeries --- living nearly 17 years.  The lesson is that when you face a crisis, be mindful of the safe routines you have established and try to stick to them.