Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[Opa]

Part of the discussion with my son pertained to which was better, to take an animal to a vet to have it euthanized, or doing it yourself. I have done both and neither was easy. Joe's position is that the ultimate demonstration of love for your animal is to insure that its last moments are a gentle as possible.

He has gone through the same experience as I, that of taking a animal to a vet and watching it absolute terror as you take it into the clinic. Most dogs I have owned seem to hate being in that surroundings and their fear is quite obvious.

I have witnessed dogs euthanized by injection slip away quietly and have seen others where it appeared to take several pain filled minutes. Joe feels it's better to allow the animal to stay in surroundings where they are comfortable and not subject them to being moved to unfamiliar locations where they can sense what is about to come.

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

Ya, I heard a story a few years back about an old dog that had to be put down. The owner told me that she held her dog on her lap while her DH drive up to the vet's office. Once there, the vet came out, administered an injection, and by the time they'd gotten home, the dog had passed. No stress. Isn't that what we'd all want for our final moments before we leave Earth?

Condolences Opa & Fuzzy.

@lbrykowski2011i advise you do not use straw, unless your pen is all sand. 2 yrs ago I put straw on my mud, and, whoa, I don't think I can put the stink into words. It does not work here on my clay. The best thing I think to do is sand over landscape fabric if you've got clay. If you've got a few spots, you can use Barn Lime, not Ag Lime and not Hydrolized (?) Lime, but only Barn Lime. TSC's brand has pics of animals on the bag. Less than $3 per bag too.

 

[lbrykowski2011]

they lost her on the operating table. Bawling. I'm going to do an emergency hatch. It was a wad of straw;

So sorry for your loss Fuzzybutt, you did everything you could and then some.

 

[lbrykowski2011]

Ya, I heard a story a few years back about an old dog that had to be put down. The owner told me that she held her dog on her lap while her DH drive up to the vet's office. Once there, the vet came out, administered an injection, and by the time they'd gotten home, the dog had passed. No stress. Isn't that what we'd all want for our final moments before we leave Earth?

Condolences Opa & Fuzzy.

@lbrykowski2011 i advise you do not use straw, unless your pen is all sand. 2 yrs ago I put straw on my mud, and, whoa, I don't think I can put the stink into words. It does not work here on my clay. The best thing I think to do is sand over landscape fabric if you've got clay. If you've got a few spots, you can use Barn Lime, not Ag Lime and not Hydrolized (?) Lime, but only Barn Lime. TSC's brand has pics of animals on the bag. Less than $3 per bag too.

Thanks Holly, I will look into that for sure. Guess with more snow, not in as much of a rush. lol

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

That's the one good thing about these freezes! I'm moving my pen this year - and I'll probly have a train of sand brought in by the time it's done. I did notice some foot issues this year tho. Not sure if that was due to the sand or just the cold.

 

[SillyChicken]

No way. Too darn hot out there. I'm staying inside with the AC on.
Nice that you got a new bunny. I hate when people don't take care of their animals.

Sorry for the loss, Fuzzy.
Crazy amounts of snow up there, Tap. I have about a foot on the level ground with piles still knee deep. At least it is melting slow enough not to cause flooding.

The guy from the USDA/NRCS was out today to get coordinates of where the hoop house will sit. At the time of the appointment, he calls and asks where are you. I said I'm here waiting for you. He checks the address again, gives me the number and says that he is on East Grand Boulevard in Detroit. How he got down there is beyond me. You would think with all the computer stuff for finding your way that no one would ever get lost. Apparently, the government still uses paper maps from 1972. Anyway, he got here and the paperwork is now on its way for approved (or not) and I should hear in a week or two.

Better go hunt for hidden eggs. It is a new DLM game being played in the aviary.

Welcome to the Muddy Paw Season.

Please PM me some details... how much will something like that cost and what is the catch?

 

[SillyChicken]

Thanks, John. I'm at a loss. Just couldn't leave without taking a rabbit and give it a better home than being in a dirty cage with no water. My neighbor was trying to get me to take another, but with them bred, I just didn't want to end up with a bunch of bunnies.

How many more do they have? Maybe I could help?

 

[SillyChicken]

That is sad the cold weather is returning. I was too warm in a T-shirt today while outside doing animal chores.

Also, the bees did not survive. They still had honey stores, so it was not starvation. It looks like moisture in the hive, blast it

Another person local who has a large apiary lost 100% of their hives. I can't complain too much that I lost my single hive when that is the case. I think I am going to build a shed for housing bees. Several hives could be kept dry and draft free.

Thats what I've been hearing... bees are having a hard time this winter for sure. We're ordering more any trying again this year. Some honey would be nice.. We've talked about getting an observation hive.

 

[SillyChicken]

Part of the discussion with my son pertained to which was better, to take an animal to a vet to have it euthanized, or doing it yourself. I have done both and neither was easy. Joe's position is that the ultimate demonstration of love for your animal is to insure that its last moments are a gentle as possible.

He has gone through the same experience as I, that of taking a animal to a vet and watching it absolute terror as you take it into the clinic. Most dogs I have owned seem to hate being in that surroundings and their fear is quite obvious.

I have witnessed dogs euthanized by injection slip away quietly and have seen others where it appeared to take several pain filled minutes. Joe feels it's better to allow the animal to stay in surroundings where they are comfortable and not subject them to being moved to unfamiliar locations where they can sense what is about to come.

I tend to agree. Either way is hard. My condolences to your son.

 

[SillyChicken]

That's the one good thing about these freezes! I'm moving my pen this year - and I'll probably have a train of sand brought in by the time it's done. I did notice some foot issues this year tho. Not sure if that was due to the sand or just the cold.

Make sure you get clean play sand. My DH was trying to be "helpful" ordering sand for me and he got dirt/ construction sand... its a mucky mess when wet and I'm sure once it dries it'll be hard as a brick. Will make it really hard to sift out the poops etc. I'll have to cover the run some how to make it work.

sorry for all the posts, I should have read through then did a multi post.​

We're finally moving forward with the land survey. I hope the survey works in our favor since we are concerned about one side of our property. It looks by the description that the neighbors fence is several feet over on our land. Hopefully this works out in our favor. At least we'll know.and we can put up some fencing to keep the snow mobilers off our property! I really hate it when people think they can just help them selves just cause there is snow on the ground. Hopefully a solid fence and keep out signs will get the point across. Not to mention it would be nice to have the goats clean out around the pond. I want to plant better trees, Pines and Maples, and can't go in there with the poison ivy, sumac and grape vines all over.
Everything is going well on the chicken front... though I can say I will be happy when we don't have to run the water heaters etc outside.. or ele bill has been out of sight these last 3 months!!