Last night the rebellion started when it was time for evening feeding. We got some wind in late afternoon & the little "hoovers" were vaccuming as fast as they could as the ripe beans started falling. John had to take a switch to Jenny to even get her to move. He also used a halter on some of them. They weren't the least bit interested in cooperating.
This morning the rebellion continues, which isn't good. So many of our guys have insulin resistance & none of them need the extra calories either. So from now on we will do "poo 101" during pen cleaning in the morning. As the beans take over the poo, individuals will start going into pens at night. If they manage to eat too many beans during the day, they will have to stay in until the bean season is over. They will all be restricted from Burroland as soon as the beans start showing up regularly in poo, which probably will be within days. But it's a fine line to straddle for us, because if we keep them off the beans completely, the beans will still be on the ground when we do let them out. Thankfully after they lay on the ground for awhile, the donkeys won't eat them. We'll open the gates to Burroland, & encourage the range cattle to "come on in", by putting salt by the open gate. It usually doesn't take them but a few days to find the salt & start wandering around.
Yesterday when John was trying to be in control, he was down to Tula & Chester. They were over on the other side of the wash that runs across our property. John got behind them & they took off for the other side of the wash. Chester actually jumped off the bank of the wash about 18-24 inches, landing on both front feet equally in loose gravel. Didn't even faze him or slow him down. He wouldn't recuperate from a bowed tendon this quick, so now I'm wondering if he had a bowed tendon in that leg before we got him, & just tweaked it a little the other day. There is thickening on the back of the cannon gone, & I just assumed it was a new problem. I never checked that leg out because I spent so much time with the other one, so there's no way of knowing. But except for a slight lameness, he seems to be sound. The hoof on his bad leg is contracted. Courtney thinks she can work on it & get it to widen out. The other day when she trimmed, I picked up the part she trimmed off him, & thought it was one of the mini hooves, it looked so small.
This morning the rebellion continues, which isn't good. So many of our guys have insulin resistance & none of them need the extra calories either. So from now on we will do "poo 101" during pen cleaning in the morning. As the beans take over the poo, individuals will start going into pens at night. If they manage to eat too many beans during the day, they will have to stay in until the bean season is over. They will all be restricted from Burroland as soon as the beans start showing up regularly in poo, which probably will be within days. But it's a fine line to straddle for us, because if we keep them off the beans completely, the beans will still be on the ground when we do let them out. Thankfully after they lay on the ground for awhile, the donkeys won't eat them. We'll open the gates to Burroland, & encourage the range cattle to "come on in", by putting salt by the open gate. It usually doesn't take them but a few days to find the salt & start wandering around.
Yesterday when John was trying to be in control, he was down to Tula & Chester. They were over on the other side of the wash that runs across our property. John got behind them & they took off for the other side of the wash. Chester actually jumped off the bank of the wash about 18-24 inches, landing on both front feet equally in loose gravel. Didn't even faze him or slow him down. He wouldn't recuperate from a bowed tendon this quick, so now I'm wondering if he had a bowed tendon in that leg before we got him, & just tweaked it a little the other day. There is thickening on the back of the cannon gone, & I just assumed it was a new problem. I never checked that leg out because I spent so much time with the other one, so there's no way of knowing. But except for a slight lameness, he seems to be sound. The hoof on his bad leg is contracted. Courtney thinks she can work on it & get it to widen out. The other day when she trimmed, I picked up the part she trimmed off him, & thought it was one of the mini hooves, it looked so small.
No comments:
Post a Comment