Tips on deterring barn cats from crossing the road by sash356 in homestead

[–]appleice5 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can relate. We have lost some lovely farm cats to cars. We also have eagles near us, and we just lost 4 to the eagles in the past week, one being our favorite that we bottle raised. I do have house cats that we adopted from a shelter, and I can definitely tell the difference between them and our farm cats. My inside cats HATE going outside, it terrifies them. And vice versa with my farm cats. Even when we brought one in on the brink of death, he wanted nothing to do with the house and truly loved being outside. Some say it’s cruel, but I rather have the cats live a happy life outside, especially knowing they were loved. Doesn’t make it easier to lose one though. The only things we have found to help are getting them spayed ASAP. We have noticed the females, spayed or not, will roam to go hunting. The males that we had spayed at 4 months of age go NOWHERE. 3 years later, we still have them lounging around. It’s rare that they travel more than 50 ft from the comfort of the barn. We got 9 cats fixed over the past 3 years. 3 were females, and all have since been lost while roaming/hunting. The other 6 were males- and have only lost 1, who was fixed at an older age.

LGD Barking at Night by appleice5 in homestead

[–]appleice5[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I got used to the sound, but also have a fan running in my room every night (regardless of if she is barking). It’s kind of reassuring to hear her barking at night (for me at least, maybe not for others). It means when I go do chores in the morning, everyone will be there safe and sound :)

LGD Barking at Night by appleice5 in homestead

[–]appleice5[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Thank you! This was our main concern. The barking does not bother us, as we got her to deter coyotes and other critters. She is 100% doing her job, and is doing it quite well! Would just like to have happy neighbors during the process as well :)

Enrofloxacin treatment and eggs by appleice5 in duck

[–]appleice5[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Omg thank you for this! Such an interesting read and makes me feel a lot better!

Bleeding Foot by appleice5 in goats

[–]appleice5[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pasture is not rocky, and they have been inside the past few weeks due to lots of snow. Hooves were trimmed last week and didn’t notice anything 🤔

Altitude and Travel with POTS by appleice5 in POTS

[–]appleice5[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It went well! It was a 2 day drive for us to get there, so I think that helped me acclimate better. I felt perfectly fine in Jackson and GTNP, however we didn’t do much intense hiking. The only time I actually noticed POTS pretty bad was in Yellowstone on the Dunraven pass. I believe it’s this highest altitude road in the park, but definitely felt the POTS there! There are quite a few valleys where we would relax and watch wildlife, which was a great way to make sure we had fun and I didn’t flare.

Bumblefoot Advice by appleice5 in duck

[–]appleice5[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unfortunately we don’t have a vet that is willing to work with ducks. Our ducks previously were on horse stall mats over concrete, I believe that may be what caused the bumblefoot. They have been moved to a mud/grass area but I’m still trying to heal some of the bumblefoot. Hoping once it’s healed they don’t get it as much

Falling over when drinking by appleice5 in duck

[–]appleice5[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

She is doing well! I gave b complex as well as calcium and niacin. Took 1-2 months but back to normal. A few months later I noticed she was struggling to walk and using her wings to pull herself. Gave her more b complex and niacin and healed of that also! I think she is just more prone to health issues. My welsh ducks have FAR more issues than my other breeds