OUT OF TOWN..................!!!!

Bright & early in the morning, at least I hope bright & early, Georgette will arrive & our plan is to hit the road, since the drive will be about 700  miles to the San Angelo/Miles Texas area, & I'd like to get it done before midnight.  So I will be out of touch until probably Tuesday.

I was almost talking my self out of going this afternoon.   You know the baby was acting lethargic last night & the vet said give him an enema.  Well he was doing the same thing today, with the rapid respiration, so I called the vet, & she didn't return my call.  Called a new vet in Benson, but he wasn't in the area.  I called the vet in Tucson my vet recommends if she isn't available, & he seems to think the little guy is too hot.  Right now our weather is 100+ & humidity to boot.  I guess the new ones have a hard time adjusting their body temperature.  He recommended 1/2 OZ karo syrup & keeping him cool.............!!!  Not that easy to do, the pen is wide open & if we put fans out there, it would probably take at least 4 to cover the area under cover, & even then he could just move out of the fan area, very easy.  

I got on the Donkey Group & asked them for suggestions.  They said spraying him with water often on his neck, chest, & belly helps a lot.  So John has his marching orders & says he can do it.  

I destroyed 2 fly masks today trying to build him one.  It doesn't take much to show me how little I know about designing & sewing.  The first one was an absolute disaster, in the trash it went.  The 2nd one came out good enough I can put it on him, but it has it's problems.  A friend from the donkey group has offered to make him one, but she's long distance, I offered to give her the measurements on the last one I did, haven't heard back from her. 

I spent about 10 minutes twice today, sitting in a chair out there with them.  Mocha is so cute, when I'm out there, she pushes him towards me, so I guess I'm part of the family.  

Tonight when it started cooling off he started perking up.  I went in the pen & here he came, ended up under my skirt, & trying to climb in my lap, except I was standing up.  Hope he remembers me when I get back. 

WE DID IT.........!!!

 NEW ORLEANS MILK CART - 1903

Not sure the little guy appreciated our efforts, but we got it done.  We were going to put Mocha in the squeeze, but once it was up it seemed like a better idea to, pick up the baby & work on him in the squeeze.  I got in there, Vic picked up the baby & John closed the squeeze so Mocha couldn't get in.  I set down a bowl of feed for Mocha & she paid more attention to that, than what we were doing.  I was in charge of the enema, while Vic held him in his arms off the ground.  John was in charge of making sure the squeeze did it's job.  Very smooth operation, I even got to try a fly mask on him I'm trying to make small enough to fit him.  I also put some vaseline under his eyes to keep the flies off until I get the mask done. 

Put him down on the ground & he immediately started getting rid of what we put in, & some of his own stuff, so hopefully he'll be OK now. 

LEARNING MORE NEW SKILLS I GUESS........!!

Last night we noticed the baby was breathing fast & trying to reach around to his backside.  I called the vet & after some discussion she said he probably needs an enema.  I got out my books & it seems that constipation is a problem with newborns & especially little boys.........!!! Sigh........!!!  

In the dark with an unhandled momma didn't seem like a real good time to try this.  We went out & watched him for awhile.  Mocha had him running around & kept pushing on his butt, it looked like she knew he had a problem from the way she was acting.  

This morning we are going to get the squeeze panel out of Beau's pen, set it up in the Momma Pen, hopefully get Mocha in the squeeze, & see what we can do.  I'd say he is little enough that it should be no problem...........but.......last night when I was trying to be nice & pet  him, actually trying to "observe" the little sucker kicked out quick & pretty hard.  If he had landed that punch on my bad leg, I probably wouldn't have been very happy.  So he might be little & he might have a problem, but he's not going to be a pushover.......!!!  Vic is coming today to help, so maybe the 3 of us can "git er done".  

The mule gang got home just about feeding time.  The road down to Vic's house has a big wash across it & he didn't think the truck & trailer would make it, so he walked Eeyore, ie maybe Buddy, ie maybe Chief home.  Haven't heard anything so I assume they made it.  

Here they are headed down the driveway, with about a 1/2 mile to go.  

He's still a pretty boy, but I bet in his hey day he was really eye catching.  He seemed like most of the mules I've seen.  It takes them awhile to warm up to new people, & they have to decide if they want you in their circle.  He wasn't unapproachable, he just kept his distance & preferred you do the same.  

I guess John tried to put a fly mask on him in the stock trailer, & that was not going to happen.  We like to put a fly mask on them when we haul, because something could fly around in an open trailer & get in their eye.  He is blind in one eye anyway, but he was hauled without a mask, by his choice. 

You can see why Laura might name him Chief, he looks like an Indian pony. 

IT'S OFFICIAL..........!!!

He's a boy, caught him peeing this morning.  So far none of my boy names seem to fit.  Gizmo is sorta cute, he looks like a little gizmo, but when he grows up it might sound silly.  

Tried putting the mini mask John got yesterday on him, & it wouldn't have stopped an elephant from getting on him.  It came down to the top of his little nostrils & gapped so much at the bottom it was useless.  Mocha didn't seem to mind us messing with him, so maybe she'll be OK with a fly mask on him.  

I got on the phone & called the feed stores, John & Vic & Laura (she's nosy like me)  will pass on their way thru Tucson.  One of them said they had 2 mini foal masks, so John is going to stop on his way to Phoenix to pick up Eeyore.  Laura has already said he will probably get a name change that's a donkey name.  They are also getting a horse tomorrow, so he will have a new home & a new "girl" friend.  Rusty will be so jealous, he loves the girls.

Of course the first thing I did this morning was run out & see what the baby was doing.  He was out exploring, & running around until I turned on the camera.  It's almost like he knew I wanted to show him off.  Right before this he was leaping & trying to buck.  Maybe he wore himself out.  

I was suppose to go with John & Vic today to pick up Eeyore the mule, but decided I better stay home.  I hate to miss a trip, but I'd worry all day.  This way I can go out "often" & see what the little guy is doing.  

We had a lightening, thunder storm with a 5 minute deluge of rain right at feeding time last night.  John went out to see how he was doing.  Mocha & Thelma & he were all laying down under cover.  As soon as the rain quit, he was out & about.  There was a puddle in their dusting spot, & I was surprised that he thought it was fun to stand in & that Mocha would let him do it.  The donkeys usually hate to get their feet wet, but she didn't seem worried about him.  He went back 2 or 3 times to try it again.  

Not wanting to get their feet wet doesn't seem to mean the same thing as getting the body wet & muddy.  Most of the others came in, dripping mud from rolling after the rain.  This seems to be a very important part of donkey behavior, & mule also, Rusty is usually the dirtiest.  Of course he's white, so he looks worse than the others. 

Frijolita & Quilla saying hello.  Quilla has spent a lot of time hanging around the pen trying to get a good look at the little fellow. 

BABY DAY...........!!!!!!

 

John woke me up this morning after he had went outside to see what the dogs were barking at, to let me know that Mocha had had her baby.  WOW! talk about something to get you up & out of bed, I was probably out the door in about 1 minute.......!!! 

Did grab the camera on the way out & this is what I saw first.............!!!!

Mocha was busy pushing the baby back to where he (we think he) should be, just like a momma should even though she is only about 27 months old herself.  We were afraid she would reject it, but she's, if anything overly "motherly".  The poor little thing is tired, but every time it lays down, she wants it up & moving.  

We thought the dogs might be bothering her since they share a fence, so John put in a temporary fence across the dog pen, so there is a 10 foot open space between them now.  

He finally got to where he needed to be, but she didn't have much of a bag & we weren't sure there was anything there.  John finally went in with her, & she let him squeeze out a little milk.

About that time Martha showed up.  She was coming today to do some massage & see if the mommas could be worked with as far as halters go.  Thank goodness she's "birthed" horse babies, so she was our stand-in midwife, our vet has jury duty today.......!!!!

I had John pick up the afterbirth & keep it in case Mocha started acting sick, so Martha & I did afterbirth study.  I knew you had to keep it, didn't really know what I would be looking for.  So she laid it out on the courtyard in a T shape with the cord attached to the sack & said it was a good one.

He pooed his first poo like he's suppose to, we iodined his navel, &  Martha said the only thing left to worry about is peeing, to make sure he is hydrated, & that the plumbing works properly.

This afternoon Mocha has settled down, & was even laying down herself one time when I went out to "look" from a distance.  The flies are really bad right now, so John has gone to town to try to find a itty bitty fly mask.  Hopefully they make one that will come close to fitting him & we can get it on him without upsetting momma too much. 

Thelma is still in the pen with them, & is keeping her distance, like a good auntie, or momma in waiting as the case maybe.  

I can't say the same for the rest of the bunch.  When we went out this morning they were surrounding the pen area.  Pepsi & Quilla both was absolutely going to see that baby one way or another.  John finally got everyone in their pens, except for Quilla, Selena & Falena, who don't have pens.  The girls kinda did a buzz thru 2 or 3 times, but they weren't as enthralled as the boys were.  

So Martha did a couple of massages, actually she did 3.  She looked at Jenny, who is still in her pen, not wanting to put weight on that hind leg.  She was surprised there was no heat or anything, & thinks it might be a sprain.  Jenny enjoyed the massaging as Martha tried to find the "spot".  We'll just keep her in & see how she does for a few days.  She really doesn't see why she has to stay in, & let's us know we're not treating her right ever chance she gets.  

Mocha didn't mind Martha being in the pen with a halter & lead, but Thelma wasn't having any of that nonsense!  She was 3 years old when the former owners got her, & they never put a halter on her, but obviously she has had bad experiences at some time in her life.  Hopefully it won't be too long before I can work with them, my leg is feeling pretty good.  I just don't want to take a chance of being body slammed & knocked down, until the leg has had a little more time to heal.  

John was all happy that it was over until he started thinking that Thelma hasn't had hers yet.  I'll be gone to Texas from Friday morning to sometime Monday, so hopefully she'll wait until next week.  I haven't seen any "dinners" on her yet so maybe she has awhile to go.

Tomorrow we were suppose to go up to Phoenix & pick up the mule Eeyore.  It seems the home close to where he lives fell thru, & the owner called Vic to see if he was still interested in giving the old boy a home.  I don't know now if I'll be going or not.  Not sure what I could do if needed, if I stayed home, so we'll see how things look in the morning.   

 SOUTH DAKOTA 1891

Jenny may be smart enough to not hurt her leg anymore, but there is a lot of difference between walking a step or two here & there all night long & finding out the next morning you are a LONG way from the pens.  She's been moving towards the pens for the last couple of hours & yelling at us, I guess because we aren't moving the pens closer to her.  The swelling is fairly soft, but she isn't real interested in putting much weight on that leg.  

Also her other rear leg has a sore, wound, cut, or something, on the front, right where the hock bends, so both rear legs are compromised, & she is still wearing boots on the fronts.  I tried wrapping the whatever it is one day & wrapping a hock is something I've never really got the hang of, so the bandage slithered down the leg.  Actually it took a day for it to "slither", so I might try it again, if I can get down that far.  I'm doing pretty good with my leg, but bending it enough to kneel is not an option at this time.........!!! 

UPDATE:  She got as far as the pen area in the shade & that was it, not going any further.  We doctored her where she stood, went off doing things came back & she hadn't moved an inch.  SIGH!  I got a can of Strategy & Well Solve, stuck it in front of her nose & we started moving about teaspoon per step.  Of course by the time we had move 5 or 6 feet the word had gone out, "FREE FOOD BY THE PENS, IF YOU CAN FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET THE OLD LADY TO GIVE IT TO YOU".  I had a feeding frenzy & John was up at the garage doing something important I'm sure.  After about 10 minutes of them trying to get it & me trying to keep them from getting it, & Jenny getting in a step here & there, John finally showed up & took over being the bad cop.  I guess we'll go ahead & keep her in for a few days & see if that makes a difference.  

This morning Jenny is willing to walk & the swelling isn't as hard as it was last night, so hopefully she'll be fine in a few days.  She doesn't spook or do anything quickly, so we're letting her out of her pen, I figure she knows what she's doing & won't overdo.  

Beau the little intact jack is into plowing these days.  Tula is cycling & BlackJack is her slave.  So are Justin & Pepsi, but BJ has the preferred position & besides since they are about 34 inches tall they just look silly.  Beau is very aware that she's out there even though she ignores him & doesn't even go close to his pen.  He'll dig for awhile, & I mean we are talking deep digging, & adds hind leg kicks as he's digging.  Guess I should try to get a video, it's pretty funny to watch.  I guess it will keep his front hooves nice & short, which they weren't when we got him. 

MY HAIR IS GETTING GRAYER BY THE DAY.......!!!

John went out this morning & came in with the news that Jenny Big Girl was 3 legged lame, on one of her rear legs.  Poor girl, has been in boots on both front feet for quite sometime.  Sigh!  Not only was she lame she wasn't moving...........at all.  She was down below the house in the trees, & planned on staying there.  So I got my crutches & headed down there.  Found a goose egg, on the outside of her hock.  Don't have a clue what she did, John thought she might have stepped in a rock squirrel hole, although as slow as she usually moves I wouldn't think that would be a problem.  

I gave her a shot of banamine & put an ice pack on it.  Putting anything on a hock & expecting it to stay is a lesson in futility, although it did stay on for a little while before it crawled down her leg.  

We fed everyone else & she still wasn't moving, so we gathered up "breakfast" & hauled it to her.  I told John it's about time to plow a trail down there, so we can use the golf cart, carrying 5 gallons of water is tiring.......!!! LOL  

We had to go to town this afternoon & she still hadn't moved, & of course the others had "discovered" she had hay.  So we started discussing what we were going to do if she continued not moving.  We could build a pen of corral panels around her.............but we've just about used up all we have.  

While we were out I swear we ran across half the people we know in Benson, everyone was out shopping, some of them we hadn't seen for some time.  All that visiting put us behind, so it was late when we got home.  Drove in & one of the first things we saw, after Pepper standing in the middle of the driveway (at least he wasn't down somewhere) was Jenny eating trees behind the house.  When John went to get her, she actually followed him pretty good & went into her pen.  Maybe she realized if she wanted to get something to eat she needed to be where she belonged.  I checked her leg & this morning the swelling was soft, tonight it was pretty hard, so I assume she had just hurt it this morning right  before John found her.  Hope she's better in the morning.  

BlackJack & Cisco took their moves to new pens like it was no big deal.  I figured BJ especially would have a snit fit, but he goes in just fine.  I guess if food is available he doesn't care. 

The girls seem to enjoy their new pen.  John took the internal fencing down, so it is one big pen now, well it will  be as soon as John pulls the T-posts, hopefully tomorrow.  Lately we've given up on planning our days, it usually doesn't happen anyway.

Still watching Mocha although from what I've read, they can go thru lots of changes before they actually have their baby, today she looked smaller.  We talked to a friend that has "birthed" quite a few donkeys & the conversation was going real good, until he started talking about pulling them with a come along to save the Mother............!!!  YIKES, not what I want to hear that's for sure. 

Found out a problem with driving a pick-up instead of a van.  We picked up 4 bags of pellets in town, & were so late getting home, John hit the ground running.  I was on the phone, looked out the window & Rusty the mule was "dining" in the back of the pick-up.  He's the only one really tall enough to get in there although he had a little partner in crime waiting for anything that fell to the ground.  I hobbled out swung a crutch at him, & he moved just enough to be out of range.........!!!!!   Grrrr..........!!!  So I'm standing beside the truck, swinging the crutch as needed & yelling for John.  He was over feeding the chickens, but had to take time out to unload feed.  I have a feeling we'll be using the van to pick up bags of feed in the future.......!!!!

TIME TO START FOAL WATCH I GUESS.........!!!!

This morning when I went out I looked under Mocha & Thelma just for fun,  & Mocha has "dinners"...............!!!!  Oh! boy, not sure we're ready for this, especially since Mocha is just a baby herself, but I guess whether we're ready or not, really isn't important, at this stage.  

The girl's pen is corral panels & a little one could easily squirm under a panel, so we have decided to move them up to the pen BlackJack & Cisco are in.  Three sides of it are cattle panels, which looks like concrete reinforcement panels.  John is going to run more cattle panels on the 4th side this afternoon over the corral panels, & will put chicken wire over the gates.

Now this change has not been discussed with BJ & Cisco, they've had that pen for years.  So I have a feeling moving them down to the girl's pen is going to be "interesting".  Cisco probably won't care but BJ likes status quo in his life.  He also likes to think he's the decision maker, in what goes on. 

Martha a friend that does equine massage & use to come out & work on Chester is planning on coming out next Tuesday & do massage on a couple of the donkeys & will also do some training with the girls.  The plan was to get them to where their udders could be handled in case we had to milk one for colostrum.  So I hope Mocha is just messing with our minds right now......!!! 

As it is John is going to be working in the hot sun this afternoon setting up their new pen, & sub dividing their old one for BJ & Cisco, can't take a chance that she is serious.  

Earlier in the month I put out a message about an old mule that was needing a home.  It looks like he's going to get one, not too far from where he lives now, thanks to the Facebook, & other messages flying around the internet.  One of our neighbors that has been helping John with chores was interested, his wife had a mule when she was a girl.  He was busy getting a place ready, but I guess it wasn't meant to be. 

It would be a good home for a mule needing a new home, so I'll keep him in mind.  Thanks to everyone that got involved to help this old gentleman find a good home.  Sometimes it just takes perseverance on the part of a lot of people, & some good luck.