Still not sure?
Yeah.
So I ended up paying $20 for a little bottle of Thrush Buster. Twenty Dollars
That's highway robbery.
But alas,I needed it NOW. I had a bottle of generic purple stuff....Thrush Bomb....SOMEWHERE. Yet, I could not find it. And I needed it! I also have some Coppertox....SOMEWHERE. Yet, I really did not try to find it because I always get it on my hands. And then I am the GREEN GIANT and I smell like a chemical spill and I'm positive that eventually I will start spontaneously sprouting extra limbs if I continue to use it.
So I went to the local ridiculously overpriced horsie store. Thrush Buster! $18! Oh vey. With tax it was $20. Ridic!
But after going out to see Foxy on Monday.......and btw, she was HARDER to catch than the last time......her feet are so tore up. They were fine last trim. But after weeks and weeks of RAIN AND RAIN AND RAIN AND MUD AND RAIN. And her being difficult and uncatchable and not getting any footcare. Well. She has serious problems with her feet. Like.....major yuckiness. I took pics and sent to my farrier but will not post them here as they are....not good at all.
So I had canceled her last trim....two weeks ago? As I had plans that night and she was also uncatchable in the big field. We recheduled for TODAY. Then my farrier hurt her back and she canceled today. Bummer. So Ms Foxy is about 2 weeks overdue (we trim at 6 weeks)...and will probably be another 2 weeks before she gets trimmed. But a 10 week interval on a pasture trim is not the end of the world, so I guess that will just have to work. Winter time and her feet have not been growing that fast anyways, and this will give some time to get the thrush issue on the right track.
In the meantime, I had planned on starting her thrush treatment today. My farrier was going to get her all trimmed and cleaned up and show me exactly where and how to treat. Then she canceled.....so I went and just did it myself. Foxy was very hard to catch. She honestly acts like she is terrified of me. Like running and running and running. And when she finally stops and faces me....as I walk towards her she will either start to back away, turn away and move off (then I make her run again) or will be quivering and jumping. What the fuck?! It's like she has totally reverted to her original TERRIFIED OF PEOPLE behavior.
3 years and we have come.....nowhere?
Le sigh.
So we had major storms on the way. Wind and rain and some more wind....we are now under tornado watch, possible 1" hail, winds in excess of 60 mph, blah blah bah.
Great weather for a drive, right?
Riiiiiiiight.
Foxy was pretty upset about being caught although once I had her she was not horrible. Not great, but not totally dangerous or anything. Bad enough I did not let go of her lead rope at all. Usually I can toss it over her back, to pick her feet, or drop it (as you have seen in pictures) and she will just stand there. Today she was on edge, very jumpy, ready to do something cuckoo.
Craaaaaziness. It's like she is losing her marbles, more and more everyday.......
Howeer, she does do fine with me picking up her feet and treating them. I did it out in the grass so I would not make a mess....although I still managed to get it allover my hands. I ended up sticking her in the covered arena for a minute so I could run and scrub my hands.
And she flipped out.
She did not break out or anything like that. But she screamed hysterically. And not like, WHERE ARE MY FRIENDS whinnying. It was that shrill panicky screaming, short but over and over. I ended up having to do a quicky hand scrub and then run back out there. Last thing I need is for her to break free...I would never catch her again.
Foxy has these fears about the covered arena and barn area. TERRIFIED of it. Maybe it was the wind? Who knows. She is always nervous in the barn but has been okay in the covered arena in the past. However, that was also back when there were horses nearby and now there are none in the neighboring fields.
Anyways. So the update of the week is....Foxy is loonier than ever.
My current plan of attack is to do out every other day to treat her feet. Once they start to impove, I may try going every day for a week to see if that improves. I probably really need to go out and spend a few hours there one day. Pull her out, give her a bath, take her for a walk, let her hand graze a while.....spend some time with her. See if that makes any difference......
I have even considered giving her small amounts of "grain" before putting her away. Because honestly, she is never going to be useful in any way.....I am not above bribery if that means she might be actually happy to see me. As it is, I do not enjoy visiting her in any way.
I am paying hundreds of dollars a month for this.....priviledge?
Yay me.
I haven't posted in a week for a bunch of reasons. Last weekend I started having an allergic reaction to....something. Eyelids were breaking out in hives....swelling.....major bad. Like, I had to take 2 benadryl every four hours just to keep it mildly under control.
Why? Why just my eyelids? I have changed nothing...no new soap, shampoo, lotion...nada. But my eyes were consistantly breaking out in an allergic reaction.
It was not pretty at all. Like. Elephant man. Scary.
This happened last year. Last February. I could even provide the date AND A PICTURE if needed. I took two benadryl and even drove to the damn hospital parking lot and sat there waiting to see if it would stop getting worse. I had taken the last two benadryl in the house and figured it that didn't hack it, I would have to go to the ER and get a friggin shot. But it stopped getting worse, so I went next door to the 24 hour walmart and bought a very large container of benadryl.
Ya'll, I was scary looking. One eye was swelling from the top, one eye from the bottom.
Elephant man. Seriously.
Not a single person harassed me in Walmart. HA HA HA.
So anyways, that was last February. This last Saturday it happened again. Middle of the day Saturday...boom, I get a welt starting up on my left eyelid (top). Take a benadryl and go about my business....then my right eyelid start swelling badly. Take another benadryl. Within 5 hours, my right eye was swelling from the bottom as well.
Benadryl, benadryl, benadryl!
So I had to stay doped up, benadryl every 4 hours all weekend. Did a major house cleaning, new filters on the air system, etc etc.
Get to work Monday? And I was fine all day. Obviously it was something in my house. Or around my house.
So I have been weaning myself off the allergy drugs. Kept up the benadryl at night up until last night. Started taking Claritin during the day again. Last year's swelling coincided with new makeup AND new antibiotics. I even called the pharmacy freaking out that I was having an allergic reaction to the medicine. But since it was eyelids only, they said contact allergy from new makeup.
APPARENTLY NOT. Because Saturday I was not wearing any makeup. And I did not wear any all weekend while I dealt with this and used multiple facial cleaners and nothing helped.
So while it was not the medicine last year....apparently it is just some plain ol allergic reaction. This stuff runs in my family so.....I'm just a reject! Just like the rest of the bastards around here.
Can I be a bastard too?
Never, Toby, you are an angel.
Oh, I'm sorry....what was that you said?
Did you ask how the chickens were doing?
WELL LET ME TELL YOU.
Where are the mealworms?!
CrockPot and Stew say HI. Did you see what I did there? Did you see that? I named that picture Good Eats. Ha ha ha ha ha ha. Hahahahahhaa. I crack myself up. Crockpot is definitely getting a red comb and Stew's comb is getting bigger, although it is still yellow.
I sense some Cock on the horizon.....
The racist chickens from a couple weeks ago are doing well. There are two of each color, but really, who can tell from pics on the internet? And who cares? So here is one of each, pics are about a week old?
The chickens with pants (they are perfect for this blog) are still hanging in there. Still six for six! But barely....there was a tiny one who started struggling Friday...I honestly thought he would die Friday night...he was weak and refusing to eat, starting to have neurological symptoms, head shaking and twitching....not good. But he has kept hanging in there. I bought a coffee grinder and ground up the baby chicken food to a powder as he was so small, he seemed to be struggling to eat. He has since rallied and is doing better. Still much smaller but no longer weak and struggling. They hit a week old the other day so I busted out the chick grit and mealworms and he was the one zooming around and stealing all the worms and shoving his friends out of the way. He is so cute.
He is the little guy with his head tilted up getting a drink. See how much smaller he is than the big chick that is a blur zooming by?
Little man! Or Little Woman! Whatever. I like him!
My mom is flying in next Friday. She is mostly coming to see the BABY (my niece! so cute) but is going to stay here one night and help me do some painting.
I spoke with her last night and she gave me the plans...she flies in at 10 pm Friday night and I can pick her up from the airport and she will stay at my place that night.
Awesome!
Except.....
Well......
Here is my extra bedroom.
Also? Covered in dust from the shavings....
I also never mentioned the last, uh....TWELVE chickens I bought. She thinks I have two! Um.
My life. Welcome to it. It's nice here. We have cookies. And cheesecake.....
And chickens.....
Well, that is that. Guess what time it is?
Canned food time! Feeeeeed meeeeeeee!
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Sidenote: in my last post I mentioned a post about comments. Then my eyes tried to swell off my face and they laid off a shitload of people at my work, including dudes who have worked there years and years and are AWESOME and helpful and hard workers and have 5 children and I was just not in the mood, right? But yes. Comments. I always read the comments left here. ALWAYS. But I don't respond in the comments because I figure nobody goes back to check. Is that true? People who leave comments, would you actually ever even know if I left a comment back? No idea on this.
Enlighten me!
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Alright Dorothy, there is no place like home. Keep your fingers crossed the tornado watch does not become a warning.
Have I mentioned I do not have a basement?
Awesome.
[eta: cookies if you made it all the way down here. See what happens when I go a week without blogging? I just make a post that is as long as 7 posts all together]
19 comments:
I always come back to check.
Oh by the way. Next time you go to catch foxy play a little reverse psychology on her. When she actually does turn to face you, no matter if you have been chasing her for 5 or 10 minutes, turn and walk away from her.
This works almost every time. It may take you a few tries but it gets the ol wheels a turning.
See a mare or scary dominant horse in the herd would approach a less dominant horse if they wanted to push them around strait on. They walk a strait line with their heads low and ears back. A horse that is inviting a less dominant horse into their circle of friends walks away. This is an invite saying "Ok you can come in now"
See what I am getting at.
And omfg cute chickens. They remind me of button quails. Oh god you gotta get button quails. They stay as small as your chickies are there and don't fly. They kind of...bounce and crash off shit if you leave them loose. Never turn on ceiling fans with loose buttons. They have the unexplainable urge to fly right into them, EVERY TIME *palmface*
Thanks for writing this blog. I, too, am a sucker for cute or even not so cute animals. You make me laugh and everybody needs a laugh these days.
I think Norman is my current fav guest blogger.
Please keep the Foxy stories and chicken updates coming. Thanks!
GIRL YOU NEED TO LEARN HOW TO BE THRIFTY!!!
We use 1/2 water 1/2 bleach in a spray bottle for thrush. clean the hoof out really good and spray away! Kills thrush and doesn't leave you looking like a purple spottasaurus.
Hello,
You might want to try soaking Foxy's feet in Apple Cider Vinegar a couple of times a week. Might help out with the thrush. I use plastic grocery bags and hay strings, and stand them in a sandy area. It works great. and isn't as harsh as some chemicals.
cute chickens!
Bleach is terrible for a horses foot! I wouldn't use it unless it was a total last resort. It weakens the enamel and can make things worse like getting stone bruises and making the feet brittle. A farrier I see often is the president of the ontario and canada farriers association, they are trying to spread the word. However he told me to use all purpose lysol because it contains citric acid and ammonia rather than bleach.
I found coppertox didn't work, it just made a big mess.
Best cure is prevention. I haven't had a case of thrush in years. My horses get their feet picked out quite regularly.
I, also, always come back to check the comments.
But I did wonder, since Foxy's behavior changed so dramatically after going to the new facility. Could there be someone there deliberately scaring her? Teenage boy who thinks its funny? Something along those lines?
Hope things change soon, its no fun to have a horse you can't enjoy at all-- even if it's just to brush and pet her.
Foxy has always had her feet picked out regularly....used to do it twice a day when I did self care in California. Out here, it is done whenever I visit. Which was regular until the last month or two once she got unmanageable and uncatchable. I have used Coppertox to treat for thrush a few times in the last year or so, usually more preventative, but she had a minor case here and there.
Keep in mind, Foxy got scratches on her rear white sock back when we lived in California. During a dry year. I think it rained significantly ONCE. She was in a stall that was half rubber mats, 1/4 shavings, 1/4 dirt. It was never wet for more than a day and more often dry for weeks or months at a time. And she ended up with scratches that took 3 vet visits and MONTHS to get rid of.
Foxy is an immune failure apparently.
I was told by this one dude to use straight bleach on her scratches to kill it. Yeowch! Don't think so....I ended up having to get something from the vet....scrub with one of the betadine things daily, dry and use that spray afterwards, etc.
I do think maybe I have gone about the catching wrong. Maybe when she turns to face me, I should "take off the pressure". Usually she turns to face me after running far far away, so I don't want to "reward" her.
And yes, I agree her behavior has changed dramatically since moving there. This place is in the boonies and she has both a gated entrance (gate closed at night) and perimeter fencing. I guarantee being in the field with the mule, nobody was bothering her. Now she was moved off the outer field and keep in mind the boarding lady lives a few hundred feet away from this field. However, I have been considering that her moving there IS the cause of these problems but I don't think it is necessarily anything going wrong there. I actually think it is more how much she likes it there. She enjoys being in her field with her friends and being left alone. Without regular handling, she did always forget her manners even before...now she just seems to have no desire to be handled at all. And once she gets "spooked" and starts running, she is upset and afraid. Her fear issues have always been a problem. A workable problem previously, but I am not convinced this is not workable yet. I just might have to change my approach a little.
I do think I will put her safety halter back on.
Also to note, when she is in her field by herself, she is calmly grazing. And she does not run from me in a panic (at first). she just sees me and then immediately starts to walk away. Then it all goes downhill from there.
Part of my problem with Foxy is I rarely have much time on my side when I am out there. Weather is supposed to be nice tomorrow, so I will just plan on going out for a few hours, I guess. Maybe I will go out and mess with her...then break for lunch for an hour or so, and then go back and mess with her again.
Unrelated to Foxy. MY CHICKENS ARE SO CUTE, I KNOW. Don't get me started on quails too! I am planning on fencing the bottom of my large back deck tomorrow, to at least be able to get the chicks outside for some fresh air. It is 10x20 and actually opens into the fenced dog playpen. So it will have lots of dog protection and once they are older and I have the perimeter electric converted to metal fencing..the dog pen will be the chicken pen. Lots of space for them.
I had to change my chicken run plans since I...uh...ended up with too many! And my yard is so hilly and rolling and uneven that any actual "square" pen would not be flat on the ground.
I always come back to check too. I always wait with bated breath for you to respond to our crazy ramblings.
As for the allergies, I was having the same problem in my office at work. I would be fine at home, and then I would come here and everything would start hurting, my eyes would puff up, I'd be sneezing non-stop, and wouldn't be able to breathe properly. This building is from 1903, so Lord only knows what's in here, but I suspect it's the dust overload. I bought a cheap air purifier with a permanent filter that you just vacuum clean and all of a sudden no more puffy face! It's $45 with free shipping on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000N9CPQK).
I hope you're not allergic to your chickens' feathers...
I want button quails again!! I would get one and name it buttons. They get along great with chickens you know and their eggs are delicious! Almost all yolk for such a small egg.
I, too, come back to check! I LOVE comments left on my blog(s). I always read them and write back to people! And, I won't buy ThrushBuster anymore! Too expensive! I use ACV (apple cider vinegar).
I love love love your chicken habit.
Does Norman try to eat your chickens?
Some horses are just susceptible to thrush. My mare growing up was so bad, that even though it was CALIFORNIA she had to be kept inside all winter. She still got thrush, but no where near as badly as she did if you tried to leave her in pasture during the winter. It was ucky. We tried the bleach thing and BELIEVE ME she didn't like it.
Maybe your mom will like rooming with chickens.
I always come back to check, too !! I swear that Foxy & my rescue mare are communicating telepathically (? sp). We just recovered from 2 weeks of no-catchie, 2 soaking wet weeks of soggy-field-board. With the help of Food Lady (read: barn owner) we finally snagged her last weekend, & I expected a full-blown grade-A thrush disaster - and I got lucky. Healthy & dry, but no thanks to 2 weeks of complete lack of maintenance. Anyhow, re catching: now we play this game, I pretend not to want to catch her & she pretends not to notice that I have a bagful of Something That Must Be Really Really Good. Our trick is no direct eye contact & no direct approach - I always have to come "at" her from an oblique angle, then at about 20 paces, crouch down & make a big deal out of unbagging the Something Really Really Good (usually carrots). That has worked well enough that we practice doing it & my just leaving without catching her, just to reinforce that coming to me is a good thing. So far, so good... but who knows about the next time !!
middleagerider, sometimes I try to go at her from a strange angle also. Or I have to pet from the shoulder.....moving up to the head. Can't reach for the head straight off! oh no! I feel like we have reverted back 3 years!
Ottb love....Yes, Norman tries to eat the chickens. He chatters and chirps and gets crazy when he sees them. He is not allowed in the room they are in at all....he still tries to sneak in sometimes (read: always).
Cheryl, I've never used thrushbuster before....only coppertox. But that stuff is so naaaassty. Thrushbuster is not bad if you buy it online...next time I know!
Bmgallop and Sydney...this whole poultry thing is ridiculous! Argh! More more more! I can barely restrain myself.
Your blog and commentary crack me up! My sister has a similar chicken complex, I'm not sure what she's up to these days, but it's a lot.
I feel your Foxy attitude pain. I've been thru it myself. It could also be what I like to refer to as PMS (Psycho Mare in Spring) disorder. Not sure what happens, but every spring my sweet, "perfect" (hahaha) little mare goes psycho on me for a couple months, bucking, spooking, scared to death of me brushing her face, pulling back when tied, jumping and bucking on her lead line. WTF?!? Then just as quickly as it came, it's gone. It's annoying, but atleast I've learned to expect it so it's easier to set her up to not kill herself or me.
As for the being caught thing I got good results by just chasing the crap out of my mare that didn't like being caught. I would give her one chance to walk up to me and get her treat, if she turned away, I would chase her and chase her and chase her until she was tired and walked her butt right up to me. And she always did. I think at most it took a good 5 minutes of solid running for her to turn and walk right up to me. Then I'd halter her and give her a treat. Of course we weren't dealing with any fear of humans, soundness or bad footing issues as the battle only took one summer (actually, like 1 week during the summer). I haven't read thru all of your archives, but I know you've mentioned fear of humans issues and it may not be a good option for you, but let me tell ya, it sure as hell is gratifying to make them run and run and run for a while if they don't want to be caught! :)
Good luck!
I want a "chick with pants!"
CadmiumCannibal,
Where are you at? I am going to sell 3-4 of the chicks-with-pants once they are big enough to make sure I keep 2-3 girls. You can have one! ha!
Patches,
It sure is gratifying to make them run.
Run, gluestick, run!
What kind of chickens does your sis have? Details, I need details!
Ha! I prefer run, Dogfood, run! (I threaten sending them to the canners) But gluestick is good too!
My sis has...lots of chickens and a duck! I had to ask her for a list because I certainly can't keep them straight!
This is what she said...
The duck (Pad Mei) is a black runner duck
The chickens (River who I’m pretty sure is a rooster, Curiosity, and Dude-the one who just sleeps) are Austrolorps
The “other” chickens (I think we are just going with “The umpa-lumpas” as names, they just run around really dopey and confused) are black silkie bantams, basically miniature chickens with pants on as she would say.
Patches back in: I sent her a link to your blog and I believe she's been lurking. :)
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