Mustang Saga

Boy, how I'm thirsting for a good ride again. But after three days riding with company last week, riding by myself just doesn't sound as appealing. I miss my horse though. I've been spending so much time with the three that have mud fever, and the rest of my time working, that I barely get to say hello to him in passing when I feed. I'll be gone most of the day today, but I think I'm going to make time to at least groom him today.

The turkeys are still doing great. I'm pretty excited that they're all surviving. I wish I knew what the difference was. I'm giving them store-bought water, they're a bit older than the ones I bought before, and I may be keeping them warmer, but I don't remember how warm I kept them before. They're spunky little things! I stick my hand in there and I get attacked by the four whites. They love my wedding ring. The brown is wilder, wants nothing to do with me, so I hold him more often. Couple turkey terms for you: A baby turkey is called a poult. The guy at the store where I bought them apparently didn't know that, he thought I said pullet. Totally different thing... Also, when the male is grown (not sure about the female) he gets this long dangly thing that goes down over his beak. That is called a "snood." Heehee.

I'm looking into buying a breeding pair of Blue Slate turkeys and I'm realizing how little I know. I know, how to raise a fast growing turkey for butcher, but I know nothing about heritage turkeys. What do they eat when they're done growing, when they're broody, when they're laying and breeding? Do they lay in nesting boxes? Will she hatch out her own eggs and care for them? Do I have to separate out the tom when the poults arrive? I'll be doing some research.

Lately this is my horse work: I give Bella her grain laced with Bute and put ointment on her dry legs. Go to Soxy and Cisco in their stalls, put ointment on their dry legs. Lead Soxy out, leave her in the green grass, lead Cisco out, follow Soxy a ways while she wanders, pick up her lead rope, and then take them to the new grassy pasture. Then I go get Bella and put her with them, grabbing Coda's mush as I go. Then I go feed Coda his mush and hay, and feed Tonka and Scout their hay. Then I go eat breakfast. Come back out to mix grain, set Bella's and Coda's to soak, feed the chickens and check for eggs, then take grain to Tonka and Scout. Yesterday I also worked on fence a bit so that Coda could get out on grass. I must have walked a couple miles at least, going back and forth.

In the evening I go out and turn on the hose, get Soxy and Cisco, and wash their legs with betadine scrub, leaving it on for 10 minutes before rinsing. Pat dry, take them to stalls. Whoops, I forgot a step. At some point I have cleaned those stalls. Give them their grain and hay and make sure they have water. I hauled buckets the first night, but then set up a rain collection system. Unfortunately I ran out of rainwater, so will either have to haul buckets or put a trough in there today. Then I go get Bella and wash her legs. This is the part I hate the most. She's terrified of the hose, even after at least 3 times doing this. She leaps and bolts, but never tries to break away. Always respects the lead rope. What a good girl. I hate scaring her like that, but it has to be done. She's getting resentful about being caught. She doesn't run off or anything, but backs up and makes it plain she'd rather not.

I tried to clip Soxy's legs the other night. What a rodeo. She was terrified! Not of the clippers, but of the cord. I shouldn't have tried doing it at night in dim lighting, knowing her eye issues. I didn't have a halter handy for Cisco with his big head, so I just showed him the clippers and he acted a little concerned, since he had seen Soxy afraid. Goofy old horses! I've clipped both of them before! Now I really, really want a set of good cordless clippers. Except I almost never use clippers... Oh well.

Weird question for you. How on earth to worms get into containers of water with vertical sides? Do they fall from the sky? It's raining worms! Seriously though, the only thing I can think of is that birds drop them? Glad I've never had one fall on my head! Although when I lived in New Orleans a rat almost fell on me. Landed right next to me. Ugh. They used the power lines as highways. I guess this one lost his grip. I also got a flying cockroach stuck in my hair once, and a couple times found lizards on the wall in my room. Those are hard to catch and evict, they're so fast.

Boy I've been long winded today, with no pictures at all. Sorry!