Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[featherhead007]

The whole facia looks like this. I never usually go up here. (Obviously) but I will have to replace all the siding, facia, and 15 ft X10 ft of flat roof metal.

 

[Ponypoor]

Dirt update.

Good news and bad news. The good news is he was not choking thank god. The bad news, he has pneumonia. I swear this horse was perfectly fine yesterday. Today he is coughing his head off, with just a slightly elevated temperature. A couple penicillin shots and I think it is maybe bute to keep his fever down and he will be fine. The vet went ahead and checked the other 2 boys, so far perfectly fine but will have to watch them as well now for signs of illness. I would love to know how the heck he got sick since he has not be around any other horses besides Russ and Louis since October.

So glad he is ok - bacterial pneumonia can be transmitted via birds like influenza can be transmitted between horse farms by birds through their droppings.

Birds and insects are the perfect vectors for transporting diseases.

OK well I will check in later to see how he is doing - poor fella

 

[Ponypoor]

The whole facia looks like this. I never usually go up here. (Obviously) but I will have to replace all the siding, facia, and 15 ft X10 ft of flat roof metal. View attachment 3373799View attachment 3373798

Darn - that's really sad - sorry to hear that, will you do that yourself ? or will you have to hire someone?

All that rain - I hope the chooks are ok - bet they are enjoying digging for bugs in the mud though.

 

[Ponypoor]

Happy was not 100% thrilled with me giving her breakfast this morning. She finally settled down to eat but did not eat as much as she does for my brother. I spent a hour with her and put her up and left her alone until the vet left. After that I went back in and got her back out and she settled down to eat some of her pellets. The little demon bit me twice. Once on the ear and once on my knuckle. When she is mad she knows where the tender spots are. She drew blood on the knuckle. This is only the 2nd time since she has been home that she has ever bit hard enough to draw blood. I think now that Carla is back in class and she has some early morning ones this time around I am going to have to insist on feeding her breakfast a few times a week even if one or both are still here.

View attachment 3373722View attachment 3373723View attachment 3373724View attachment 3373725

Awwwwww

I wish we could have a pet like a canary here at Camp - birds are so much fun!

Just think of them as love bites

 

[featherhead007]

Darn - that's really sad - sorry to hear that, will you do that yourself ? or will you have to hire someone?

All that rain - I hope the chooks are ok - bet they are enjoying digging for bugs in the mud though.

You kidding, the coop has a really good roof! It’s better in there than my house!
I will be carpenter/roofer after the first sign of sunshine and dry weather conditions.

 

[featherhead007]

Adding ground cover seed doesn’t work around here. Look at that devastation:

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Zoom in on the still shot. The moving one is too fast to see more than an eyeblink and a vague shifting. For me, the movement is more compared to what I've seen in daylight (brief) and comparison to movements witness at night out the windows. It's like watching a shadow move and recognizing the person you cannot see by the way the shadow you can see moves. The pic same thing. There's a lighter outline or shadow and sorta filling in the rest like a half finished puzzle in your head.

The front leg lifting while paused is dog-like, but I am not familiar with bobcat moves. Think it's a bobcat?

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Okay, so I know my pictures aren't the best as the bobcat was walking away by the time I got out with the camera, but this is what I have for bobcat pics.

That said, looking at @RoyalChick 's still, and rewatching the video some more...I still think the legs are too 'narrow'/not 'rugged enough' looking for a bobcat. That said, I can't make out a tail, and both red & grey foxes have 'bushy' tails.
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Grey fox:
View attachment 3372978
Note: smaller snout - half way between a red fox and a cat. Body type is also a bit mixed. Taller than a red fox, but also heavier set than one. That said, the only grey fox I have seen was one that someone had shot, and I found it dead on the back/sheltered side of my 'way-back' compost pile (what looked to be a gun shot wound in front leg - and it looked infected.). It had gotten wet, so wasn't 'fluffy', and the head shape was very different - not as pointed of a snout, much broader, flatter face - half way between a cat & a red fox. Grey foxes can climb & have retractable claws. Though taller than a red fox (yes, I said it again) it had a 'sturdier' frame look to it. That said, never saw a soaking wet red fox laying still to compare it to the body I saw.

I also think the legs are too skinny in @RoyalChick 's video/still to be a bobcat. Also the head held always high that way is not a usual standing cat pose maybe.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

@RoyalChick
I’m going to break with everyone else and ask… any chance of a young deer? I’ve seen them point their ears forward like that, the rear legs look prey/forest animal to me, not canid, and the leg/body proportions just look wrong for coyote, at least the ones I’m used to seeing. (I did a whole lot of pause and zooms as I could on your video). Here, the whole wild animal birthing season was completely off the rails in 2022, with many very, very late fawns… I’m hoping one of the “my” four deer survived… but it’s not looking good. I recently found one of the 2 fawns (deceased) in the gulley, and it was about half the size it should be for this time of year. I surprise a lot of deer at night, at gates and walking and I have had a lot of “oh no!, dog” moment when they point their ears at me (we don’t have coyotes or wolves on island, or dogs out this end of the farm, which I know, but in the dark when they point towards you like that the deer really can resemble them.

Edit to add: if the three times the height of a house cat is accurate (dang it, now I owe SHRA tax!) then I’m totally off…

Frankly something about it reminded me of deer too.

 

[Ponypoor]

You kidding, the coop has a really good roof! It’s better in there than my house!
I will be carpenter/roofer after the first sign of sunshine and dry weather conditions.

Sounds like a good livestock keeper The animals live better than we do!

Please be careful going on that roof when the time comes.