Oops! I took this one picture with the intent of adding it to my blog and forgot. So now it's a late addition. Today I saw my first mourning dove of the year! I hope this one brings more in and they stay the summer to raise babies. I love to listen to their call ( and talk to them like my father taught me ).
Trough the window and screen so not too clear. Also, guess what I found in my flower bed a few minutes ago...the first goose egg of the year! Yes...just maybe spring IS here!
Ok. I just thought Blogsy deleted my whole last post without saving it. But thank goodness, I finally found it and posted. That was 30 minutes. Now to tackle today's post...
I decided I really had to get something done today. First take care of the outside animals. Only SueBee, Brandy and Gitana in the big barn. In the pony barn is Rudi, Lady and Cricket. Two less horses to clean up after!
Next I loaded up Gertie and took her to the clinic for a haircut. She is really cute when her hair is grown out, but she is bringing in the mud on her feet as well as starting to get mats in her coat. The clippers are better at work, and I don't get hair all over the kitchen! Here's a before and after picture:
This is in the car after we shared McDonald's for lunch -
After a stop at Hyvee grocery we started home. I passed some wild turkeys and decided to turn around for a picture. When I got back to the turkey's, I saw some deer there too. It's a common place to see both on my way to and from work.
The deer didn't like my stopping there.
While turning back around in a farm pull out to head home I scared up a bird on the ground. I wish I had seen it before it flew off. It looked to me like a northern wheatear but that would be highly unusual! So I don't know. It did have a black ear patch. Any ideas?
Geese were out by the snowed under round pen. They can't wait for warmer weather! I have been enjoying the V shape of wild geese flying north. Spring actually might be coming some day! Just not this week apparently.
Checked on SueBee. She is missing her daughter Piper. She calls and stands on watch. I tell her it will be a long 8 weeks if she's going to stand there waiting for her.
Ok. Time to get ready for bed. Back to work tomorrow.
All alone this weekend since Anna left for Kansas and Jacky went down too taking Piper in the trailer.
The dogs and I didn't do much on Saturday. I did let them walk with me to the mailbox. It was soooo cold but the dogs seemed to enjoy it! We don't have many cars but I still worry someone will run out. So I keep a very close eye on them, which can be hard to do with so many!
Funnily enough it's the little guys who go with me. The border collies stay up by the house - Bryn hunting squirrels.
Some go quite a ways into the field... That's Gertie and Traeh, probably looking for horse poop to eat!
Little Bunni ran the whole way there and back. Probably shouldn't have since she just got spayed on Thursday.
Magic has to stay with me while Anna's in Kansas. Poor Krystal and Josh found out they can't have dogs.
We had a HUGE flock of Red Wing Blackbirds visit us. It was very noisy. They stayed all afternoon.
I think I'll stop here and put Sunday on another post.
It's been so busy lately that I haven't had time to write. So this is just a small window into the week.
Yesterday I was float and kept busy with all the boarders coming in. Some clients were heading to the Wisconsin Dells, some to Florida... The kennel is actually almost full. But so many new boarders seem to all come in the same hour so I have to play catchup with writing down belongings, writing and/or giving vaccinations, putting dogs out, cleaning messes up, entering all weights and charges in the computer....
At the same time I am often answering the phone, helping clients up front, or helping a doctor. Like yesterday when I got back from lunch. Emily was appointment person but she took the afternoon off. So as soon as I got inside, Dennis asked me to help him with collecting semen from a male dog (the stud) and AI or artificially inseminate a female dog. We don't do this a lot but a few times a year and Dennis is the reproduction specialist. Both dogs were present - a female yellow lab and a male black lab. I guess they tried to breed the two last year and failed because the female can not stand the male, Amos. She tried to attack him several times when he got "friendly". I bet you didn't know that most animals have definite preferences as to their mates...to the point they won't allow breeding to take place.
First we got the female against the wall with her head in the corner. The owner held onto her. I had Amos and just guided him and helped prevent the female from turning and biting Amos. Meanwhile Dennis had a specially shaped plastic bag that he fit over the male's penis (sorry mom). He let Amos get excited and start to mount the female then Dennis fit the bag over the private parts and continued to stimulate the male, as if he was entered into the female. We keep the dogs in the same place because of smell of the female in heat keeps the male excited. Eventually he releases his sperm into the bag.
Next Dennis took the sperm and put it into a specially designed insemination tube. Amos was done so I put him in a kennel to relax. Now was the females turn. The owner held her head and I held her up so she was standing. Dennis inserted the tube into the females vagina and then lefties her hips up on his lap. At this point Dennis is sitting on a chair and we are on the floor. We raised her back legs aff the floor and laid them on Dennis's lap while he massaged her vagina. This stimulates her tissues and muscles to contract and move the semen down to where it's needed. We sit like this for 6 minutes. The dog doesn't 't usually want to stand like this for that long so we have to constantly work with her.
All done. But we do it all again on Monday! We try to breed twice so the semen is there when the eggs are released.
I'll try to write more tomorrow. Too cold to be outside anyway!
Wow, what a busy day. Just some quick highlights before bed. Mike there at 7:30 to start the day. He got busy with a cat neuter while I finished taking the bandages off two declaw cats. Oliver was perfect. A lovely silver shaded Persian cat whose long hair caught all the shredded paper the declaw cats have to use for a week. The other cat, Mittens, was not nearly so cooperative and I had to call on Megan to help me. We used to have the owners take the bandages off their cats but there were too many that the cats would not let do it!
Little Yoda, a chihuahua, growled at me when I walked in but he's really a sweetie. When he was a small puppy a sibling dog snapped at him and bit off a toe! Jen had to stitch it up but it looks great now. Yoda was here to be neutered.
Boxer, the neuter cat, was very nervous but Mike was able to sedate him on his own. The other cat, Tigger, was a spay. But she lives in a house with leukemia positive cats so we kept her in her crate in the barn until surgery. After she was done, and recovering in her crate, I had to seriously disinfect all surfaces. Later today she was picked up and two of her kittens left to be spayed tomorrow. More disinfecting...
Weather is warming up so lots of phone calls, appointments, people needing things. Finished mopping and washing instruments at 5:30. I'll be back tomorrow at 7 and will sterilize them then.
Took a picture of Max sunning himself outside. His owner, a travel agent, is taking a group to the Panama Canal. He appreciates pictures and emails from Max and sends him mail too!
This really tells you nothing about how busy it was. You'll have to take my word for it.
No need to be up at 5:30. I knew I would have trouble getting in to work so I didn't rush. There was definitely blowing snow and roads were closed everywhere, including I35. So there was quite a bit of drifting going on. Megan and Emily had work covered (the advantages of living right in Clark's Grove) so I relaxed a bit. Jacky took Big Red out with the blade to clear the driveway. He didn't get far before he needed my help getting the truck out of the snow! So I climbed in to Big Red while he pulled him out with Mater. Nice to have two big trucks sometimes! Sorry, no pictures boys.
While helping Jacky I decided it wasn't worth going in to work. I cleaned the pony barn, fed them inside, and took care of the poultry. Took some shoveling too. By then Jacky was using the snowblower on the paths.
The two hens on the left were left outside in below freezing weather years ago. Subsequently their feet froze and all their toes eventually fell off. I am always amazed at how well they do. They cannot perch of course, but spend nights sitting in a nest box.
This is Leia drinking from a pony bucket. For those non-farm people, this is how farm cats drink in the winter- use the heated water buckets. Sometimes, unfortunately, mice also get their water this way and will fall in and drown. I am always checking the water buckets for " floaters". Ewwww, right?
After a lunch of BBQ chicken flatbread, and a break (we were working outside all morning), I went back out with my camera. Some impressive drifts!
Pony pasture. Let them out for a while. They really didn't move around much!
However, when I went inside the fence, I had 4 pony noses smelling out the horse treats in my pocket...
Yes, since this is an animal blog thought I should take pictures of them too.
Willie chasing the ponies. At least he got some exercise!
My old green pickup is under there!
Geese still spend 90% of their time right outside their silo. Not the brightest birds around....
Pretty trees...
Picture perfect red barn...
Snow over the fence in the barn pasture...which Bryn has discovered she can climb.
SueBee and Piper peeking around the corner...
My new Facebook picture!
The famous border collie stare. It is directed at the horses!
The round pen which stands 6 ft high!
This is enough snow already!
Teddi never gets his picture in so here he is. Lots of pictures but not much else going on. Best to stay home!
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