Lambs at Play on a Wintery Day

With winter underway (although technically it is still fall), the lambs are out in the snow, growing and having fun.  I am bringing them in the barn only at night so the moms can get extra oats and the little lambs are safe.

We did have a horrid cold snap a week ago along with a good amount of snow, but this week temperatures have been warmer - I even got out with the camera.

Here we see Girlie and her triplets that were born in October on Canadian Thanksgiving.  At first I had been worried that the black lambs might not be getting enough milk to drink because at first they were smaller than the white ewe lamb but after a few weeks it seemed the tables turned and one day I had to bring the white ewe lamb into the house and bottle feed her.

 I returned her to the barn that night and over the next couple of days I continued to bottle feed her, then I noticed one of the black lambs was also not looking good.  For a few days I was bottle feeding two of them.  Then suddenly the white lamb started refusing the bottle, for days I tried to feed her and she refused - the black lamb was fine and insisting on his bottle.  I was quite concerned about the white one so started putting her in a stall by herself with lamb starter crumble so she could eat it without being pushed out of the way by the larger lambs (we have 2 sets of twins born after her but they are larger).

As it is now I am just bottle feeding the black lamb twice a day, the other black lamb is fine on his own, and the white one simply refuses the bottle but is eating lamb starter twice a day.  She is now the smallest of the triplet lambs but is otherwise looking healthy overall.

To note - you can tell if a lamb is doing poorly and needs bottle feeding because it will often stand humped up.   If you think your lamb (or any pet) needs veterinarian attention  you can ask a veterinarian for free help by clicking the logo above.

How to Keep Cats Warm in the Winter

Domestic cats came from Africa and Asia, although they can tolerate the cold it can take its toll on a cat.  Learn some tips for keeping your outdoor cat warm this winter.

Cats can get frostbite, their ears and tail are the most likely places to suffer from this.  The cat, Binx, whom was left here after his owners moved away had suffered frostbite at some point as the tips of his ears were missing.  Even large animals such as horses have lost their ears due to frostbite so you can only imagine what it could to to the thin ears of an outdoor kitty cat.

Old cats, and of course the very young, are particularly vulnerable to the cold.  In the old cats they also have aches and pains due to arthritis, and they really need to be kept warm because the cold weather makes their pains worse. For these cats a heated cat bed can really help.

Cats who are outside in the winter need extra food, they should not be on a restricted diet.

I have couple of cats who stay outdoors in the winter, they have a warm barn and several other outbuildings they can go into, but I have run into a few problems with feeding these cats.  It is a good idea to leave dry food out at all times, but I have had skunks come and eat their food at night, and blue jays steal their food in the day.  As such I have had to find a few places to leave cat food where neither the skunk nor the jays can find it.   I have some cat food in a stall in the barn, and some on a ledge in the garage, as well as the bowl on the deck that I can take in at night.

When it gets very cold outdoor cats benefit from the extra energy that canned food can give them.  Try to give them a little bit every day when it is cold out.

If your cats are outdoors in the winter and you do not have warm outbuildings for them to go into you can get a small dog house and the cats will use that, be sure to put down straw or towels to add warmth, or consider getting a heated blanket for outdoor use.

Also make sure your outdoor cats have fresh water as they should not be made to eat snow.  You can buy electric heated water bowls to make sure your cats stay hydrated.


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About Keeping Chickens and Ducks Together

I have kept chickens, and have kept call ducks, but we did not keep them together, each was in its own pen.  The chickens were also free range - loose, but the ducks had duckings and we knew the cats would find that too tempting, so the ducks were kept in a large pen where the cats could not get in.

I often am asked if you can keep ducks and chickens together.  Many people want to do this year round, but more often it is a consideration for the winter as it is easier to have all outdoor animals together rather than going from pen to pen through deep snow.

One of the main considerations in regards to keeping ducks and chickens together is food. Ducks cannot have medicated chick starter.  The medication is toxic to ducks, so if you are feeding medicated chick starter or any medicated chicken feed, you cannot have ducks in the same enclosure.

Another concern is that ducks need water in order to eat their food.  They will often take a mouthful of food and dunk it in the water to soak it.  They do this because they do not have saliva.  This can make the water very messy for chickens to drink from.

Of course the other concern is that while ducks love to swim chickens cannot swim at all and will drown.  Even in a shallow pool chicken feathers can become waterlogged and will pull the chicken down if it cannot get out.  Ducks do not really "need" water for swimming, and in the winter when it is freezing cold they should not have water for swimming anyhow.

Aggressive roosters can be a concern too, sometimes aggressive drakes can be mean.  Always watch animals when putting them together.  Make sure you provide enough space so animals can get away from each other if they are being picked on.

Personally I would not recommend keeping ducks and chickens together in the same pen, as they are better off separate.

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Feeding Ducks and Chickens

Supplies Needed for Keeping Backyard Chickens

Snowy Morning and Bad Llama

A couple of days ago we woke up to snow, the first so far.  Normally, here in Alberta, we would have had more by now, but the fall has been wonderful.  Even the bit that we did get was not enough to shovel. 

The animals can still get grass but in the fall there is very little nutrition in the grass so we feed hay, just once a day for now, they will get fed twice a day later when we really start getting snow, and winter sets in. 

Naughty llama

We do have proper feeders near the barn for feeding hay, but have 2 bales near the house which we are feeding now.  One of the round bales was just a bit too close to the fence and Crystal decided to help herself.  As a result she has bent the fence.  I nailed a board across the top, but she leaned on it so bad it broke off.  Eventually the bale will be out of reach, but it's funny because even when there is plenty in the pasture she insists on eating from the bale.  I think it is because she has it all to herself that way. 

I always try to throw out several piles of hay because the animals tend to move around from pile to pile and push others away, by having extra piles it means everyone gets something to eat.

Patsy and Girlie having breakfast

As we only have 10 acres we do not grow our own hay, rather we buy it and have it delivered.  We do not even have a tractor to move bales around, so must feed by hand.  Certainly small square bales are easier to feed, but they cost more money, and are getting harder to find.  As such we buy the large round bales and have them delivered. 
We put tarps over the bales to protect them, sun can take away nutrition from hay, and if water gets into the bales they will rot!

When we buy the hay it is always hardest to know how much to buy.  In the past we have not bought enough and had to get some in the spring.  This was often because it kept snowing, and snowing, and snowing, so we kept feeding, and feeding, and feeding.  Hopefully this spring we will not have to worry about that and I will not need any more hay.

Does this Halter Make my Neck Look Fat?

Horse people often consider a donkey to be a rather funny looking animal, they have big ears, a thin tail, no withers, and can kind of look lumpy.  Horse people are well aware of what a fat horse looks like, but few understand how donkeys get fat.  I need to point out that it is fairly easy for a donkey to get fat, especially when kept with horses.  Donkeys are very food effecient, having come from Africa, and do not need as much food to survive, therefor a donkey with little activity, and a fair amount of food - will get fat!

To understand more about donkeys and fatness, we must look at the ships of the desert; the camel!

 Most people have the wrong idea about camels and their humps.  We have been told camels store water in their humps. A lot of children, and some adults, have the image of a camel with a hollow hump and water sloshing around in there, but this is not accurate at all.

The camel's hump is where it stores its fat. The hump is an adaptation to living in the hot desert. A camel's hump is made up of fat cells and muscle.  By storing all its fat in one, or two, humps, rather than distributing it all over its body (as most animals do) the camel can stay cool in the hot climate. Donkeys have a similar adaptation.

The donkey has its fat storage area along the sides of the crest of its neck.  When a donkey gets fat, the top of its neck gets thicker, and fatty.  In extreme cases the crest will even fall over.  At this point it is very hard to correct. 

Above you can see our donkey, Aggie, showing her displeasure at having her picture taken to demonstrate a fat donkey.  You will note how tall the grass is.  This summer we have had so much rain that our pasture is over grown.  This area is one of the more chewed down places, and the grass is still lush and tall. 

Aggie's neck did not get fat like this over night, it was a big bit when we got her (not unusual in our area) and got bigger since, but this year, it has gotten particularly bad.  This afternoon I am going out to give her some exercise to help it from getting worse.

I have seen some donkey's where they neck is falling down and we really do not want that to happen to Aggie.  At that point it is not uncommon for a donkey to get so fat it gets fat lumps all over its body. 

Owners of donkeys must remember that the donkey is adapted to areas where food is scarce, to over feed a donkey (to give it grain) can be cruel - we never give Aggie grain - she got this fat on grass alone!

Read more on Donkeys and Camels - click here.

First Lambs of 2010/2011, Sad Ending for One, but Lucky for Another

December 31, 2010 brought a sad tale to my little hobby farm.  By looking on the bright side we see that although one lamb did die, in a strange way, another was lucky that to have lived.

It's my job to take care of the sheep most mornings. They sleep in barn overnight, and every morning I go out to feed them and put them outside for the day.

The barn is small, about the size of a double garage, but there is a horse stall, however the stall itself would be too crowded to keep all our sheep (9 pregnant ewes and a ram) in so we only use that to confine the ewes who have had lambs.

As I approached the barn, at 7:30 in the morning, I knew something was amiss. One sheep was baaing a lot more than usual. I opened the door stepping into the dark barn, fumbling for the light. Immediately my eyes fell upon Blackie sheep (also nicknamed Piggins because she is a bit pushy at feeding time due to being a bottle baby, and overly friendly to people). Blackie was standing there with a tiny white lamb.

Sheep often have twins, so naturally before putting Blackie and her lamb into a stall I looked around for a twin. The twin was nearly impossible to find. It was brown with white speckles on its back, and had tucked itself behind a garbage bin, all that was showing was its back, in the dark corner the tiny lamb (smaller than a house cat) looked like straw. It appeared to be dead. I pulled it out by its hind legs, and thankfully it was very much alive, it had crawled in, and unable to back out, fallen asleep.

Mom ewe, Blackie, was glad to have her lamb back, he needed to be warmed up. The barn is not heated since this would actually be bad for the sheep, being kept in a heated barn then put out into the cold winter weather for the day. They would get sick. Mom, and the two lambs were moved into the stall she would have food and water.

I started to feed the other sheep, and put them outside before cleaning the barn. Thats when the dead lamb was found. Poor thing. It had died close to the barn door, but in the darkness before turning on the light, I had not seen it and instead been distracted by the sight of Blackie with her white lamb.

This poor lamb had not had the sack removed from its nostrils (the ewe usually does this), it suffocated to death, or perhaps was born dead, I don't know. At any rate, Blackie had been a mom of triplets (less common than twins but not overly rare in sheep). Since there had been three lambs they were slightly smaller than usual.

The amazing thing is that if I had found the dead lamb sooner, I may not have ever noticed the other lamb sleeping behind the garbage bin. I would have assumed Blackie had twins, put her and her white lamb in the stall and left for the day, who knows what would have happened to the other lamb.  I suspect it would not have lived as the day was -15C, and both my husband and I had to go to work, not returning until 5:30pm.

The lambs are now a few days old. The white lamb being slightly bigger and a female, the multi-colored lamb being a male. More lambs to come!