@Yorkshire Coop
Oh Kim, I'm sorry to hear some of your quail babies are not doing well. The last update I saw, they seemed to be hatching like pop corn! It is so hard when they need to be culled. I don't envy you that job! Is Keeper still recovering well. I saw that Charlie had had him out shooting but on a lead. He is so handsome!
Not sure if perhaps my farrier is away or just too busy to respond on Thurs. Can't say I blame him on the run up to a bank holiday weekend. I will get back to him if she goes lame again and my gut feeling is that will happen, but no point in getting him out whilst she is sound, especially as he usually will not take any money off me for such call outs. I would hate to put him out unnecessarily. I might actually invest in some hoof testers myself as I would be reasonably confident to dig an abscess out if I knew where to dig.... I do my own trimming, so it is not a huge step from there and of course I have all the poulticing gear for after that.... the more horses you have and the longer you have them, the more adept you get at dealing with these things!
I'm so jealous of your friend who is away skiing. I used to be a very keen skier but since I got the horses it just hasn't been possible so it's more than 20 years since and I'm pretty certain my knees would not stand up to it now sadly even if I did get the chance. I couldn't risk being out of action with all the horses and chickens to look after. It seems like another lifetime! Sigh!