Out Around the Barn

When you think about horses, what comes instantly to mind? Most people envision a group of wild stallions surging through the chaparral and sage of the Old West, or maybe a thoroughbred racing around the track on the way to glory. In any case, horses are usually associated with their fluid movement and powerful strides. All of these motions are facilitated by healthy joints.

In order to keep equine joints strong and fully operational, some owners and trainers seek out horse joint supplements. These help to bolster the function of fibrous, cartilaginous and synovial joints. Without a full range of movement, horses are restricted to loping along at a pathetic pace. Supplements ensure that they can live up to their full potential as steeds that gallop at breakneck speeds.

Many horses get their share of daily vitamins from fresh grass and hay. In some cases, however, horse owners are unable to provide their horse with high-quality hay. At this point, it becomes necessary to supplement a horse’s diet with the vitamins they require to remain healthy. Race horses and colts need vitamins in addition to a healthy diet of grains and forage.

Before feeding equine vitamins to your animal, take a moment to consider an important question: What sort of lifestyle does your horse lead? If he or she experiences a lot of stress from carrying heavy loads, keep an ample supply of vitamin C at the ready. If, on the other hand, your horse experiences a cracked hoof, you’ll want to infuse his or her diet with Vitamin H. Most vitamins should be synthesized in a horse’s everyday diet, but some instances call for more.

I truly love my horse, Blaze.  I have loved animals all my life and horses were always a big part of that love.  As a teenager, I had a gelding named Rourke.  At that time in my life, I had ‘no fear’ and broke him to ride myself.  I had so much fun with him and it really hurt me to have to give him up when I left home.  For twenty plus years I wasn’t around horses and I missed that.  I did not realize that you can become fearful of the one thing that you once loved so much but, I had become afraid.  Not as much as afraid of the animal as it was getting hurt by it.  I had to face my fears and start over. 

So, I started slowly and then bought me a Paint mare, Dallas.  She seemed to ride well and do okay when we watched her in the arena.  Once home and on the farm I realized that I had made a mistake.  Buying her was the worst thing I did.  She was not with the program and seemed to have a mind all her own.  She threw me every time I’d try to ride her and that even made my fears worse.  It didn’t matter how much I done ground work with her she would go right back to her old habits and she became dangerous for me.  My daughter didn’t think I needed to keep her and that she wasn’t safe, as well as my partner so, I traded her for an 8 yr.old gelding.  Blaze was gentle to handle and I could ride him with ease.  It felt good to get some self confidence back.

Well, now that I have a horse, I thought I needed to look into buying a saddle and bridle.  Allen has several already but, I wanted my own.  Boy, was I surprised at all the information you needed to know on how to fit a saddle.  I soon discovered that just because a saddle looks good, doesn’t mean it will fit your horse.  If a saddle doesn’t fit right it can cause serious problems for your horse such as saddle sores or pressure sores.  A saddle built for a quarter horse, with a round back, will not fit a horse with high withers.  If a saddle does not fit snug and it constantly slides back and forth it can cause blisters to flare up or if the horse is not used to having a saddle on for any length of time this can also cause a problem.  If this should occur and you have to ride your horse, ride him bareback until the sores heal.

These are all things to consider when owning a horse.  Even when you get the saddle you want and it fits right, you have to have a saddle rack to store it on.  The saddle always needs to be free of mud and hair or any other debris, especially the girth area.  Make sure you wipe it down after each use.  Always keep it in a dry area and stored off of the floor.  A good saddle blanket is also a good thing to own.

It doesn’t take a lot to keep a horse happy.  You can put him on pasture and he’ll do okay but, we like to feed ours a little grain in the morning before we turn them out to pasture and then in the evening we’ll give them about 2 lbs. of grain when we put them in their stalls for the night.  Along with their evening feed we add horse vitamins and supplements to help with their growth and joints.  In the winter they are supplied with hay to keep them satisfied and full.

One thing to remember is to never put a saddle on your horse without brushing him/her first.  This can help prevent sores and your horse will love you for it.

Someone said the other day that they really liked horses but that he can’t ride because he gets sores on his behind and that he could not ever be a farm person.  I told him that just because he got saddle sores once does not mean that he can’t ride, he would just have to do it again and not for a long period.  Just take short rides and get used to it.  He didn’t think so.  I hear people all the time talk of their love for horses and how they want to come ride.  They just don’t realize the care you need to take in preparing one to ride. 

Like I said, I love my horse and every thing that we need to do to before we ride is worth the effort.  Our horses are our friends, pals, pets and for some money makers.  So here’s to our horses!

This year I have somehow got myself and my partner into all kinds of new adventures on the farm.  I have expanded my love of animals to acquiring chickens, goats and now bottle calves.  Chickens we have now had for about three years but the goats came ten months ago and the first bottle calves three months ago. 

What is so funny about all of this is that I didn’t plan to feed bottle calves.  We have not ever had them before and had no plans for them now.  As fate would have it, we had a heifer give birth and lost her calf.  We went to a dairy farm and bought a 2 day old bull calf and put on her.  We assumed she would take to the calf and all would be well.  Not so.  She pretty much lost her mind and became dangerous.  We had to let her go.  So now then, we have a calf with no mama and need to feed him.  So now we have a bottle calf, Buster. 

For two weeks I fed him a bottle morning and night and if I was at home during the day I would give him one at noon.  I am very naive at this point and not sure if I am giving enough or too much.  He develops the scours and I think I am giving too much so I decrease his intake and add some Pepto Bismol in his bottle, just a cap full.  This seemed to help but I had the feeling that he was still hungry all the time.  My partner, Allen, brought me some calf starter home and we started putting that out for him.  He would eat a little but not much.  He couldn’t seem to find the water on his own so, I would fill a bottle and get him to drink it that way.  I know he was confused but, so was I.  We were quite the pair. 

Around that two week mark, we had incident with someone elses cattle that left a calf without a mama and they didn’t want the calf.  So we thought that maybe Buster would do better with a friend and now we have Barney.  Now Buster is a Holstein and Barney is Angus,  the odd couple.  So, now my new adventure begins and it grows from here. 

Buster and Barney have become pets.  They know when it is feeding time and I have handled them enough that it is nothing to walk up to them, slip on a halter and lead them wherever I need them to go and there are the moments when a halter is not even needed. 

Barney took a few days to discover he would only get his milk from a bottle.  He was fortunate enough to have a mama for a couple of days and that was just enough to confuse him.  Once we got that process going we introduced him to the sweet feed and hay.  He took right to it.  Needless to say that he has grown and filled out a lot better that Buster. 

Now just when I thought my bottle days we coming to a close, we have 4 more calves that need a home.  These came in at the local livestock barn where Allen works and there are not many folks around here that want to mess with calves, too time consuming.  So, I got the call and said bring’em home.  Now we have Sally, Brutus, Brewster and Callie, all Angus babies, ranging from 1 – 2 weeks old.  Now the fun begins!

Not knowing their exact ages and going by size, I tried to figure out how much they would need to be fed.  Sally was the biggest of the four and Brutus was next, Brewster and Callie were the smallest, so to begin I gave each 2 quarts to see how well they would take the bottle.  It took about 4 days to get them to where we didn’t have to fight them to get them to eat.  Sally only took more than 2 qts. a couple of times and the others were just pigs once they got the hang of it.  The two smallest ate just about 3 qts. every feeding and Brutus ate just as much if you let him.  Sally just didn’t take to the bottle well and she usually finished after one bottle.  She did do well at eating grain and hay, though, and we had it in front of them always.  This I found also helped to keep them from sucking on each others ears since they have the urge to want to continue to suck after they finish their bottles.  At times I have to separate them for a few minutes and they do fine. 

This is when I realized that a good livestock feeder is an essential for bottle calves  and has to be at a height where they can reach it easily.  It needs to be accessible to them at all times and feed kept in them.  If you have several, a self feeder might be more to your liking.

Now we are at the 90 day age and it is time to think about weaning.  We are weaning our other calves that are the same age today and so I have decided that Barney, Sally and Brutus needs to be weaned from their bottles also.  Well, Barney has been for a while and I have kept him with the rest so, once in a while, if there is milk left that the others didn’t finish, he gets.  Now it is time for him to be completely off the bottle too.  I started decreasing Sally and Brutus’ milk intake a week ago so that it wouldn’t be so hard on them.  Today they have done well so far.  We will put them in with the other calves this evening and we will see how they do.

 Buster, on the other hand, gets to stay on the bottle a while longer with the little ones.  I think I messed up and didn’t give him enough to begin with and then took it away too soon.   He started looking thin and didn’t seem to eat the feed well so I started supplementing him with a bottle again.  I am going to do this for the next four weeks and see how he does.  By then the other two should be ready to wean and him along with them.  I recently read that you should give a bottle calf at least one to one and a half gallons of milk a day.  I wasn’t feeding Buster enough. 

After going through all this, I finally find an answer to my question of how much to feed.  Oh, well, it is a work in progress.

Having bottle babies can be fun but, it is work.  There is more to it than I first thought.  You have to have the right kind of bottle and nipples for them and you want the milk to come out at a nice flow, not too fast or it could choke them.  A livestock feeder that is at the right height and a good starter feed and grain, 15 – 18% protein, as well as hay is a must.  First and foremost is a good milk re-placer. This is a necessity.  You want to feed them on a schedule just like you would a newborn baby.  They need consistency as well, we feed ours at the same time we do chores and feed the other livestock, that keeps everything on a routine.  This lowers the risk of upsetting their stomachs and the possible scour.

If you own cattle or are in charge of taking care of cattle, it’s important that you are well versed in their specific dietary needs. After all, cattle are no different than humans in that they need the right vitamins in the right amounts in order to be as healthy as possible. The main difference, of course, is that those specific vitamin and quantity needs vary between cattle and humans.

One of the major necessary vitamins for cattle is Vitamin A, which means your cattle should have plenty of green and yellow plants in their diet. For this reason, don’t skimp on items such as corn. If you’re at all concerned that your cattle are experiencing a Vitamin A deficiency, though, make sure that you look into cattle vitamins. These are sure to be full of the Vitamin A they need as well as other nutrients essential to their health and well being.

Baby chicks are just so adorable when they are a couple hours old and it seems, as if, they would be the easiest little creature to take care of and most of the time they are.  You see them at the local farm store for sale and you pick one up and hold it your hand and think something that tiny wouldn’t eat very much so you decide you want a few to have around and you take them home.  

You purchase a waterer, a feeder and some Chick Grower/Starter feed to get them all set up.  You are so pleased and happy, then you get home and then what?  Where do I put them?  Do I need a large cage/coop or a small one?  How do I keep them warm?  How do I keep them safe and the cats, dogs and other 4 legged critters away from them? 

Now, you are in a panic, wondering if it was a mistake and what were you thinking, can I take them back and HELP SOMBODY! comes to mind. 

Let me, first, ease your mind a little and say that chickens are probably the easiest animal to raise, in my opinion.  I have had chickens for three years and all has been pretty good.  A weasel and coyotes once in a while but otherwise okay. 

Next, let me confuse you some more.  I learn something new everyday when it comes to my animals, whether it be my chickens, calves, goats, cows, horses, dogs and cats.  There is always something that I don’t know and need to learn.  When I was a newby at raising chickens, it seemed to be a no brainer.  Just feed and water them, gather the eggs and butcher them when they are ready.  I did not realize that there were chickens for just laying eggs and there were chickens for just their meat and that there were chickens that did both, served as layers and meat chickens.  I, also, didn’t realize there were so many different breeds of chickens.  It just amazed me.  Here I thought it would be simple.

There is much more to raising chickens than one would think.  So I decided I would list a few basics, that I have learned, for you.  They are as follows:

1. Keep their waterers clean and filled with fresh water daily.  This is a must.  For Meat birds, access to fresh water is a necessity.  If they do not get plenty, they will not eat well and not gain the necessary weight as they should.
2. Keep feed to them at all times and keep free of feces.  I found that hanging feeders help prevent this problem.
3. Keep their coop cleaned and fresh bedding put down at least 2x a year.
4. Watch their droppings for change of color, normal being gray with white tip.  Any other color or texture, such as diarrhea, could mean an illness or disease.
5. Watch them when you feed.  Take a moment to just look at them for changes.  A normal, healthy chicken will have it’s head high and be active with a good appetite.  One that is lethargic or nonactive may be ill and need medicine or, at least, separated from the others.
6. Watch for  cannibalism, may need to remove the culprit from the others.
7. Give them plenty of room to roam and, at least, 6 to 8 hours of sunlight/daylight daily.
8. If chickens are confined, such as meat chickens, they only need enough room to get to waterers and feeders and room to rest.
9. Just like for other animals, there are horse vitamins and cattle supplements, chickens may need supplements also.  Giving them some extra protein, such as Oyster shells, will nourish them and also strengthen the shell of their eggs.
10. Watch the outside temperature.  When it is high in the summer, place a fan in the coop to keep a breeze flowing.  If it gets up to or over 105°F your chickens can die, they cannot handle that kind of heat.  When it is cold in the winter, the temperature in the coop needs to be at or above 35°F in order for them to stay warm.  Did you know a roosters comb can freeze off?
11. Watch for diseases and worms.  The disease Coccidiosis, caused by parasites, can be treated by vaccines.  Round worms and tape worms can also be treated.  If suspected, take a fecal sample to the vet, collect it and put it in a plastic bag, to be tested.  The vet can then tell you the treatment needed.
12. Chickens can get Cancer.  There are two that are more common than others; Merek’s which affects chicks under 4 months of age, to which there is a vaccination available and Lymphoid Leucosis, which affects those older than 4 months of age, and no vaccine is available, death is likely.
13. Make sure your coop is critter free and safe for your flock.  Train your chickens to come in at night, at feeding time is a good way to train, and shut them in for the evening.  Then let them out to roam and play of a morning.  This will keep them pretty safe from the varmints that like to sneak around at night.

These are just a few of the things I have learned raising chickens.  I did not plan on being a “chicken farmer” so to speak but, now that I am, I enjoy my flock. 

One other thing I have learned, is that chickens are great for your compost pile and your garden.  All that scratching and eating bugs sure helps around the farm.

So, as I mentioned, chickens are pretty easy to raise and most of the time there are no serious problems, just keep to the basics and you’ll do just fine.

If you’re a horse owner, you’re aware that horses require a lot of time and maintenance. Like every pet, they offer you love, affection, and dedication, but they also require that you’re savvy about the specific needs of horses. One of the main elements that you need to be aware of is the variety and breadth of equine supplements. Typically speaking, one of the best ways to minimize the need for these supplements is by keeping your horse on a steady, consistent, and nutritious diet.

This kind of diet should consist of high quality hay. This diet, in conjunction with a light workload, will diminish your horse’s need for supplements. But certain factors can throw that balance off. If your horse is older, for example, he’s more likely to need these supplements. Another factor is if your horse is doing rigorous physical work. Horses that are pregnant are also a prime candidate for supplements. These additives include protein, additional fat, vitamins, and minerals.

If you are lucky enough to have a farm or ranch and own livestock of any kind then, you know about expenses and the unexpected kind. 

Just like our children, we must care for our animals.  They need good nutrition and vaccinations.  Our animals need to be de-wormed at least twice a year and when they are under the weather, may need antibiotics or other meds to get them back on their feet. 

This, I am learning more about everyday with my own animals.  We have a fair size herd of cattle and we do what we can to keep them healthy, they get their vaccines and de-wormed regularly.  But even then, problems arise and new steps have to be taken when one is under the weather or injured. 

If you have followed my website farm blog at: www.outaroundthebarn.com or on this blog, you will recall some of the misfortunate happenings I have had with my own personal stock.

First, there was Rusty Rose, my Longhorn cow for 5 years.  She got her left hind leg caught in a hay feeder and it froze.  This was in January of 2008, on the coldest day of the year.  She eventually lost the leg but, we did everything we could to save her since she was only 8 weeks away from delivering her calf.  I wasn’t sure she could even raise him but, she surprised us by the third day and then it was nothing to her.  She hobbled around on three legs until we weaned him and done well. 

When this happened, it was time consuming, antibiotics twice daily, we had to find a place to stall her with enough room for her to try to move around in and so we could lift her with a hip lift to get her on her feet two times a day.  We had to provide extra bedding and hay for her and we had to keep her separate from the herd.  The estimated cost of this project was close to $1,000.00. 

Next, we have my horse, Blaze, a nine year old Quarter Horse.  He didn’t come up to eat with the herd and we had just had a severe storm come through the night before.  We went in search for him and found him in the rubble, he could not walk.  He was barely standing.  We finally got him loaded onto the trailer and got him to the barn.  His left hind fetlock was swollen and there was a small cut above the hoof on the backside.  We doctored him and bandaged his fetlock and put him in a stall to keep an eye on him.  The next day the swelling was three times larger.  We soaked his foot in Epson salts and bran to reduce the swelling and called the Vet to get some antibiotics.  After a week, he was no better, so we loaded him up, which took a while to do, and to the Veternary we went.  X-rays and blood samples were taken.  No broken bones were found but he carried his leg like there was a serious break.  Somehow, he had detached his Flexer ligament, this may not be the correct name, it’s the main ligament.  It had either torn into or snapped.  This was a major problem.  We had to find a Farrier to come and fit him with a special shoe, an egg shoe, and keep it on him for several months.  A few days later, we got the test results back and found that he had a serious staph and psuedamonius infection.  The antibiotics changed.  We ended up with three rounds of this medicine before the infection was gone.  We had to continue soaking his leg twice daily and wrapping it carefully for safety and protection.  We, also, had to put a boot on him, mostly only during the day.  His right leg, also, had to be wrapped to protect it from damage of stress and the extra weight.  We had to keep him separate from the other horses and keep him stalled so that he could be watched closely. 

I was told it would take, at least, 8 – 9 months for this to heal and they were right.  It has now been 10 months and he is doing well.  He has gotten his spirit back and I will be working with him more so that I can,  eventually, get a saddle back on him.   We, now, move him daily out into the small lot by the barn so that he can eat grass and move around more.  It has taken a lot of time and extra expense to get him well.  I estimated that the total cost of this little adventure was close to $2,000.00.  Definately, not a regular expense on the farm.

Now, we have my meager goat herd of 10, seven nannys, two kids, and a billy.  We are getting ready to casterate our two little ones and de-horn them here in the next few days.  All of them have been de-wormed twice, except for the babies, and we have had no major issues until now.  Mr. Ed, our billy, has Foot Rot.  He had to bring this with him since we have had no problems before, I have owned him for approximately 4 weeks now.  The weather is wet and muddy and to keep his hooves clean is a chore.  It is a good thing he is gentle and friendly. 

The treatment for this I have found is keeping the hooves trimmed and as clean and dry as possible, soak their feet or let them walk through a water bath of Epson salts or a Copper Sulfate mixture of 450 grams to one gallon of water, at least, 2 – 3 times a week and rounds of antibiotics such as;  pen-strep,  oxytetracycline, or a combination sulfa.  The antibiotics must be consistant for a week.  Cortisone can be used but, you must be careful.  It can cause abortion in pregnant does and should be used no more than four days. 

There may just be one that is infected and you can do the treatment on that one alone but, the whole herd can get this.  It is best to let them all walk through the water bath to prevent problems down the road.  Also, for preventive measures, an iodine supplement should be given to them, an iodized salt block is not enough.  This is our cheapest project estimated around $200.00.

These are my personal experiences with my livestock and not to be confused as medical advice.  These are some of the treatments that have worked for us.

So to get back to the basic message of this article, I must say that owning livestock is not cheap.  The unexpected expenses of the farm supplies that you have to purchase can get extremely high but you know that is the price we have to pay to keep our livestock healthy.  You can stock up and keep on hand the ones that you know you will need and there are many companies available to help you do just that.  There are also the medications that you can only get from you veternary and you should always discuss any problems with him/her before treatment. 

It is not cheap to own and operate a farm or ranch but the end results are amazing.  I just gave estimated amounts of the expenses we have paid to heal our animals, this does not include the feed, extra hay, extra straw or the extra time.  Would I do it again?  You better believe it!  It is a wonderful feeling to look out across the barnyard or pasture and see your livestock grazing and feel that swell of pride in your chest.  It then makes it all worthwhile.

Like every other day, I was feeding the cattle their regular feed and supplements.   We are in our calving season and we keep a close watch on the cows and heifers that have delivered and those that are still waiting to deliver.  Our herd looks really good this year and seems to be thriving.  Most of our mamas, some pros and others new to this experience, are calm and easy to be around but, there are a few that are extremely protective of their babes and you can’t get within 100 ft. of them.  Can’t really blame them for that.

As I was looking over the herd, I noticed one new Bromvie mama, her baby, a bull calf, only three days old, just standing by the livestock feeders and watching.  She had her baby hid out somewhere and did not bring him up to eat.  She had already ate so, it surprised me to see her just standing there like she was overseeing the others finish, like a supervisor would watch his crew.  I wondered what she was thinking.  Was she really watching the herd or maybe she was just as curious about why I was still there after I had already left their food for them.  Do you ever wonder what they are thinking?

We, also, have longhorn cattle.  The discussion of horn size came up when I questioned about my young cows horn size and comparing it to her mama’s and grandma’s horn sizes.  Heredity does make a difference in the size of their horns.  My three ladies horns are nothing to brag about because they are not that big.  I believe Angel’s, that is the grandma, has the largest of the three.  Rusty and Ruby just aren’t going to have the best of horns and Squirt and Chili Pepper, their bull calves, aren’t either I’m afraid. 

After comparing them, I looked over the remaining herd and we have a few that carry some huge horns.  I got tickled, all of the sudden, because the thought, that for some strange reason, crossed my mind was, do cows get headaches from carrying around those huge horns?    

I got the funniest look from my partner.  Seriously, though, people get headaches from all kinds of things including too much hair because of the thickness and weight.  So why don’t cows get headaches? 

Even funnier was the look I got when I said, ”well, you don’t hear them asking for Tylenol.” 

Animals can tolerate a lot of pain.  They get scratched or cut and go on.  When they are out in the pasture or on open range, you cannot keep a close watch on them and you cannot cure their every injury.  We would like to think we can but, it is impossible to do.  They were created to care for themselves and do quite well. 

But, I am still curious, do they?

Owning a horse is a big responsibility. Whether you ride and jump him competitively or he’s simply a family pet, there are many factors to consider before you purchase a horse of your own. Even though it’s the dream of many little girls to own a pony, what many of those little girls don’t realize is how expensive and time consuming a horse can truly be. The first significant cost is boarding. Unless you have a barn in your backyard, you’ll have to pay for board at a stable, and that can be almost as expensive as a second mortgage.

There’s also the cost of food to consider as well as necessary equipment such as horse blankets and more. And if you ride, the equipment becomes even more elaborate and expensive. This is to say nothing of the vet bills and health related products. These will include equine joint supplements and more. But if you can afford the costs, both upfront and longstanding, horses are amazing creatures that will offer you and your family love and lasting memories.