Yesterday a friend was here & we were going in the feed room to get something. Nicky was so thrilled to see someone he wiggled out of the door. In the process of getting him back in Anubis also got out & took off like a greyhound, well at least half a greyhound. Nicky went back in pretty easy, but in the meantime little mini Pepsi was following the half a greyhound as she tried to check out the whole area around the pens. He kept her moving as a pretty good pace & he finally got close enough to her, she decided that she REALLY wanted to go back into the feed room. I think if he could have caught her he was going to do her bodily harm, even though she isn't that much smaller than he is. Perhaps all the threatening the dogs do thru the fence, isn't such a good idea after all........!!! (G)

This morning when John was doing the round-up it was Quilla's turn to go into his pen. You could almost see the wheels turning as he decided he didn't really want to go in there. He turned & trotted off, which was a shock........!!!! We were told he was crippled when he got here, & we hadn't seen him move any faster than a sedate walk & at times if he stepped on a rock he would limp. This was a bonafide trot, so I guess he's feeling pretty good. It took both of us to get him corralled enough to go in the pen. Actually it took me growling at him in my "I"m in charge" voice more than us chasing him around, because quite frankly he was winning that battle.

This afternoon we moved Honcho & Remington from their old homes to their new one. Remy isn't really into halters & leading & all of that nonsense. When we got there, they were in a small pen & between gates & corral panels we got them in such a small area behind the trailer they really didn't have much choice. I shook the a pig paddle, which sounds like a rattlesnake behind them, popped Remy on the butt with the paddle, & he hopped in. Before we got Honcho in Remy came out again, but by that time there was very little room left behind the trailer, the back gate was almost closed. So with a little shooing & arm flapping, they gave up & went in the trailer.Jacquie trying to goose Honcho, which didn't bother him at all......!!!

The trip to their new home was uneventful except for Remy rubbing his butt raw on the front of the trailer. Many of the donkeys that don't like to be in a trailer, will brace themselves against the front of the trailer so hard, they rub all the hair off. If it is a long trip they will rub it bloody. This was a short trip, so he just rubbed the hair off . Lynne their new Mom managed to slap some Swat on it before they came out of the trailer. This is the boys in the round pen at their new home. After a few minutes of looking it over, the gate was opened & they were checking out a big field when we left. This will be a good long term home for these boys, & they will keep Lynne busy trying to keep ahead of them.

SUSPICIONS CONFIRMED.........!!!

We have been hauling mice out of the feed room 2 or 3 a night depending on our attention to emptying the trap & resetting it. We've caught well over 50 mice this summer & considering the building is concrete block with the only opening being a magnetic closing doggie door for Anubis & Nicky we haven't been able to figure out where all the mice were coming from & how they are getting in. The getting in part is still not solved..........BUT.......... we're pretty sure we are having repeat mice.

This morning John took the latest little "guest" over to the chicken pen area across the wash. He rounded up donkeys, & when it was time to start feeding he was in Daisy & Quilla's pen, stuffing a pill down Daisy's reluctant gullet. He felt something hit his foot, looked down & it was a mouse headed from the direction of the wash for the feed room at high speed. John watched & the little critter went in a dog size hole the dogs have dug under the poured concrete floor as a den. John said it looked exactly like the one he took over this morning. Not sure that is true, but it was coming from the right direction & seemed to know where to go. John had to go to town today & didn't have time to investigate the "doggie den" to see if there is a hole somewhere in the concrete that is letting them get in.

Tomorrow we will be hauling Honcho & Remington to their new home, so John might not have time to check it out. That's OK we've got this mouse catching process down to a fine art. I make a suet for the wild birds from lard, peanut butter, oatmeat & cornmeal. Believe me, I could sell that for mouse bait it is definately a rodent favorite.

TRIM DAY.............!!!!

Courtney came this afternoon to check everyone out & finish Quilla's trim. She only trimmed his club foot right after he got here.

She thinks the inside of his clubfoot probably looks worse than the outside. He stood real good considering he hasn't been trimmed in over 9 years. She even used power tools on him a little bit, which he wasn't real sure about. But animal crackers & getting them seemed more important than raising a fuss over a disc sander.

She looked at Lucy's udder which is still swollen although seems to be a little better. She said it might be a scorpion or something like that. If Lucy was laying down I guess a scorpion might sting her if it felt threatened. I'm giving her antibiotics. John said maybe we should take her to the vet, but I'm pretty sure they'd prescribe antibiotics anyway. As long as she is improving, I'll continue to treat her myself.

Chester got a trim also. He stood pretty good for him. She always trims his good front foot first. He seems to stand better on the bad leg, if she does it that way. He is the only one that will not allow power tools. We tried to tell him everyone else lets her use the power tools, even the girls. But he doesn't seem to care..........!!! (G)

QUILLA IS STILL IMPROVING..........!!!

This is the only open area on Quilla's legs at this time. He's really been improving & we are down to only wrapping one leg.........this one. The others I'm trying to keep open just using zinc oxide creme to keep them moist & irritate the flies.

The body behind him is Daisy. She is actually starting to lose weight & it's starting to show. Last night when John went to round them up for supper, Daisy & Tula decided they weren't ready to go into their pens & took off running. John said they were running like goats with their headed turned to the side. That is the first time Daisy has ran since she's been here & judging from her body score, she probably hasn't ran for quite sometime, unless she had to.

This morning Terry & Mary a long term friend of Terry's came out & did some grooming. Terry use to come out almost every week & groom, until she got so many animals of her own to take care of. Mary was trying to groom Frijolita & Frijolita kept walking off & Mary was trying to groom as they moved. John finally saw what was going on & told Mary not to waste her time Frijolita doesn't like to be groomed. She started on Jenny & I kept watching them. Jenny was standing real still & later on Mary said when she wanted Jenny to move it was almost like she was reading Mary's mind. I guess Jenny wanted to make sure she got as much grooming as available. She's usually pretty good at moving if you want her to move, much better than when she first came here. Except for when you want to pick up a foot, & she picks up the one on the other side. (G)

I noticed Lucy was kicking at her belly when she was eating this morning. When I looked to see what was going on I notice one side of her udder is swollen & had a sore on it. It looks somewhat like a habronema, but not exactly. I went ahead & put Ivermectin on it just in case. I'll check it tonight & see if there is any change, & probably put some zinc oxide on it once the Ivermectin has had time to kill the larvae if there is one in there.

This morning Daisy & Quilla were standing nose to tail so I'm not sure what happened yesterday. I still wish I'd had a camera when she flung that rock, that is one of the funniest things I've ever seen a donkey do. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but it sure looked like she was trying to throw a rock at Quilla.

Tonight I unwrapped his legs & they are really looking good, although the bandages stuck in a few areas which bled when they came loose. I left them unwrapped until morning. I try to bandage & leave them alone for 2-3 days, which hopefully gives the sores time to heal & get some new tissue growth. I'm not bandaging the rear legs at all right now, I'm just keeping them covered with thunja zinc oxide, which heals & keeps the flies away.

Everyone else seems to be doing pretty good right now, they really are enjoying this year's hay. Sha'ba is eating almost a pound every night, which is great. For awhile he wasn't eating any hay at all, just his mush. Pepper is eating 3 1/2 pounds of hay a day plus his mush. He's still thin but not as thin as he was last winter & spring. Tonight when John was rounding everyone up, Pepper went in Buddy's pen & just stood there. That was his pen for years, but about 2 years ago, we moved him & started feeding Buddy by himself in there. If equines get Alzheimer's I sometimes wonder if Pepper has it. He will be walking to his pen, & all of a sudden change directions. Or act like he doesn't know where his feed bucket is. John got the halter, put it on him, led him out of the pen, & it was like, "Oh! I belong over there". John said he took off at a pretty rapid rate for him, & when he got to his pen, went in turned around, & looked at John like "where's the carrot?". Again maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I love to watch them & try to figure out what they are thinking.

EQUINE WAR...............???????

Forget what I said about Daisy & Quilla being very gentle & easy going. This afternoon John was doing round-up & I was in the feedroom. Quilla had gone in their pen & John brought Daisy in, shut the gate & headed out to find some of the others. I just happened to look out & Daisy, dear sweet Daisy, has penned her ears was shaking her head & took off after Quilla. The poor guy was just standing there. He turned his butt & kicked a leg out in her direction. They went to opposite corners of the pen & although they both had fly masks on, I got the idea they were staring at each other. Quilla started to walk to the middle of the pen, & she took off after him again. This time I went out & yelled at her, & went back in the feed room. Looked out & she was standing in the middle of the pen looking at the ground. All of a sudden she picked up a rock about the size of an small egg, shook her head up & down & threw it about 3 or 4 feet. I yelled at her & then had to laugh, sure wish I'd had a camera handy. I don't know if she was trying to throw a rock at him or what. But that's what it looked like. I stayed outside for awhile, & they continued to squabble she pinning ears & him turning his butt. Everytime they acted ugly, I yelled at whichever one was doing it. By the time supper was served, they were back to normal. I have no idea what was going on, but it sure was funny to watch. Made me think of an old married couple picking at each other.

Georgette came out today to visit with her "godson" Sha'ba & to check on Quilla & see how he is doing. She is a good friend of Quilla's former owner & was instrumental in Quilla coming to live with us. She brought Sha'ba a new fly mask & I think he remembers her. He usually will let visitors feed him, but doesn't make a lot of effort to get up close & personal with them. He stood close to her & followed her around, for quite awhile. This afternoon before she left we went down below the house to find him, so she could say good-bye. Not only did we find him, he was standing amongst quite a few of the other donkeys, which is really unusual. He usually stays on the edge of the herd, so he can escape if necessary. She petted him & said good-bye & headed for her car. He followed right along beside her, which just made her day.

She helped me doctor Quilla's legs this morning. I left them uncovered until she came, so she could see how he is doing. They really are doing quite well, although I want to get in touch with the equine clinic up in Gilbert to see is they have any ideas to strengthen the skin on his legs. His legs aren't bleeding quite a easily, so I hope as we get the sores under control, that the skin will become more normal. When it cools off a little more, we will make arrangements to take Pepsi up & have a sarcoid removed under one of his eyes. This is the 3rd time it's returned after being treated, so it's time to get rid of it, once & for all. I'll take pictures of Quilla's legs & e-mail them to Dr. Taylor. If necessary we'll haul him up when we take Pepsi.

This morning I was looking at Daisy, & I think she is finally starting to drop a few pounds. Nothing dramatic, but she is looking more round & less lumpy. Her & Quilla eating together is working out real good. They are both very gentle & easy going, no posturing & making ugly faces, like some of them do. They eat at about the same speed, & although both of them are overweight, they are not greedy eaters. In fact BlackJack has figured out they leave wisps of hay, & makes a point of running in their pen when we open it. BlackJack doesn't leave anything, his mornings are spent running all the pens to make sure there is nothing left anywhere........!!!!

This morning everyone got a piece of watermelon before breakfast. I could tell who has had watermelon before, the 2 silliest ones were the 2 mules, Jack & Rusty. Lucy didn't want anything to do with it, & Tula wouldn't eat it until I put it in her feeder. Jack & Rusty both slobbered so much I don't know if they could taste it or not. The minis were pretty interested too, & tried to mug me for more.

Quilla's legs seem to be doing real good. This morning the gauze on one leg had stuck a little & it bled when I pulled it off, but for the most part there are no bloody spots on his legs now. I'm hoping if I can keep the legs covered & dry they will build up some sort of tissue that will be stronger than the black area is right now. It's just like tissue paper, if you rub it or disturb it in any way, it bleeds. I got in my supply of gauze today, bought some tape, so I'm good to go for the forseeable future. One area this morning was damp, but it was under vet wrap, so I'll try to keep the wrappings to a bare minimum. He let me work on him this morning without being tied. Of course Daisy was standing close by waiting for her animal cracker. And Frijolita has figured out what's going on, so she was standing outside the pen, huffing at me. They sure are smart when it comes to food, actually they are pretty smart all the time......!!! (G)

Yesterday we did a home study for a new home for Honcho & Remington. They have a great home with 2 families that let them run on 40 acres. But everyone is moving or going to be gone for months at a time. When we do find a home for donkeys, we have the people sign a contract to return them to us if they can no longer keep them or care for them. In this case the owners found a wonderful new home for them with a woman that has had donkeys before. We will probably haul them to their new home when the time comes, but they won't have to return to us, which is good. We are like most rescues & sanctuaries right now, full up.This is a picture of Quilla's foot that was flared on one side, & he was walking on the hoof wall on the other. Courtney managed to get a lot of the wild growth trimmed off in the dark the night she was here. She's going to try to tidy it up & trim the other 3 next week. He's got low grade laminitis, which means this foot especially is constantly warm, although I haven't been able to feel a digital pulse. Courtney said something about putting him into boots to help cushion the sole & coffin bone. I'm not sure how boots will work out here in the rock & gravel, they fit pretty close to the hoof, but I know from experience the tiny little rocks get in shoes & socks & really hurt. I certainly don't want to make him anymore uncomfortable than he already is.

PROGRESS....!!!!

This is how Quilla's leg looked this morning when I unwrapped it after treating with honey the last few days. It looks much better than the picture I posted a few days ago, no bloody sores although the skin itself still looks like a crispy burn. I may become a firm believer in honey as a wound treatment. Unfortunately he's been sweating underneath the bandages. I'm trying to make them as thin as possible, but it's so hot he's still sweating. I thought about using shipping boots, I have some that are made out of the same material fly masks are, which would allow for air flow. But I'm afraid they will rub on the very fragile skin. I could get down to bloody just by rubbing the black area, which is some type of scar tissue I'm not familar with. He's getting to be a very good boy when I doctor, as long as he's haltered & tied. I tried to explain to him that we can do the same thing without a halter, but so far that isn't happening. He gets animal crackers along the way, & Daisy his eating partner, figured out what was going on real quick. I've tried to get her to go out of the pen before I start doctoring. But she won't go, because she knows there's animal crackers being offered. I've explained to her that she isn't getting doctored, but she eventually gets a cracker or two. Which is the reason she hangs around.........I shouldn't have ever gave her the first one I guess.

This is John with a "little" herd of minis. He was suppose to be rounding them up to go in their pen, but when they all show at at one time, it turns into a feeding frenzy. They are very good about not pushing & shoving & are willing to wait for their treat, as long as they know it's coming. But they do seem to think if they get as close to you as possible, the treat will show up quicker. BlackJack & Frijolita are standing by, waiting their turn.

I now have all 4 of Quilla's legs bandaged with honey on the sores. I'd like to not have to replace the bandages for 2 or 3 days, to give the honey time to do it's thing. But, I also don't want to continue bandaging with cotton & vet wrap & all that "hot" stuff. It's still 100 degress or better every day, & he was sweating under the heavy bandaging. No one has ever shown me how to bandage, although over the years I've managed to put them on & keep them on. Three of his legs aren't too difficult, the areas are on his cannon (shin) bone. If you bandage down to the fetlock & up to the knee, the larger areas keep the bandage from slipping & sliding around. BUT, one leg has sores all the way up to his hock (knee turned backwards) & down to the fetlock. I'm trying to get by with just using non-stick gauze pads, surgical tape to hold them in place. Then wrapping with gauze wrap & using as little surgical tape & vet wrap as possible. That is the learning curve, how much is enough & how much is too little.

Yesterday one of the bandages slid down, actually it looked like he might have caught it with one of his hooves while getting up. The area that had gotten uncovered was bleeding & really nasty looking. When I cut the bandage off, the area under it looked great, the flesh was nice & pink & no oozing or blood at all. So I'm going to continue with this treatment & will try to get pictures the next time I take the bandages off. I'm really excited about this. I know the track record for treating jack sores is not good. I've been trying to find out if there might be a connection between jack sores & sunlight sensitivity. The sores just don't look like regular summer sores caused by habronema larvae, although that might be what starts them.

We've moved Frijolita out of the pen, to eat with Buster & Lucy. Quilla & Daisy are now eating together in the pen. They both eat slow & both need to lose weight, so it seemed like a perfect feeding arrangement. Makes him happy, he's next door to Jenny his perceived girlfriend. So far he & Daisy are ignoring each other, so not sure that relationship will ever take off.