I've had enough frozen troughs, frozen-shut gates, and slippery ice because the snow started to melt and then changed its mind.
It wasn't cold the first day so I didn't blanket the horse but in the morning she was shivering so I did. The donkey has a massive coat and stays out of the snow, but yesterday she was shivering too. I can't sleep at night because I'm worried about them freezing to death.
I fed them all the hay they wanted yesterday along with huge amounts of beet pulp mashes. Every 6 hours or so I go out with a bucket of warm water for them to drink, and though they really like their warm water, their pee is orange in the snow from dehydration.
I can't let them out in the pasture because the ground is so rutted and frozen solid, I'm afraid they'll injure themselves, so they just stand here at the barn and Mara's legs are swollen from lack of movement. I'd take them for a walk, but I'm hesitant to push my horse into the snow drifts if a car needs to pass.
With all the extra feed, there is an enormous amount of poop to clean up, if I can find it under the snow. I have to try to steer the wheelbarrow down the hill through deep snow, and then the poop is frozen to the wheelbarrow so I have to chip it out.
It's not that cold out, only 0C, and the snow is heavy and wet, the kind of snow that pulls my plastic fence posts down to the ground from the weight on the electric wires.
I have no idea if my horse is sound, and I really wish I had a safe place to take her and see, and let her move around.
I keep telling myself it's only a few days, it can't damage my animals to be confined to a small area for only a few days.
Only a few days, right? : )
We're in the house watching our shows all day long, and I'm not going to take down the Christmas lights until year's end.
My camera is broken so I tried to use a very old camera, and almost none of my pictures turned out. These are the few that did.
We're warm enough, but made a fire anyway for fun. The cat is curled up on the warm bathroom floor, she is not venturing outside.
One very good thing about the snow in Germany, the snow plows go by regularly, making sure we can get where we need to go. It's a narrow little cleared strip, but it's big enough for a car.
Also, it's a really good time to not have a job, so I can do all this for my animals.
OK time to go offer warm water to the equines. Pray for rain.
12 comments:
If you're worried about them drinking enough, try adding loose salt to their mashes. It insures that they're thirsty. Mine all get a tablespoon or two with their daily grain, to help ward off impaction colic.
Also, I would think that Mara (and Bellis) would know to be careful out in the pasture. If its only just at freezing, the ground probably isn't as solid as you think (unless its been at/below 0 for a while now).
Crossing my fingers for rain. Sounds like the same soggy wet snow we get here - pretty, but not nearly as nice as the fluffy dry prairie snow. I keep mine in their paddocks too when it's like that. Have you tried flavoring their water? Mine will drink more when I put some flavoured electrolytes or even apple juice in. Just a thought, although I'm sure they are loving their bran mashes - lucky girls!
You know how I feel about that white stuff. My full sympathy.
Also: my horse owns approximately two bazillion blankets. She chills easily...and it's much easier to throw a fresh one on than to try and get the only-alternate-blanket to dry out without stinking up the whole house by bringing it in by the woodstove (though I've done that, too)
I add a bunch of salt to the mash during cold weather (more than normal, which is really a lot!) to encourage drinking more water.
You don't have a water tank heater? I want to build one of these next summer, so the tank in the pasture stays unfrozen longer: http://bit.ly/1AeITgu
Pretty pictures! Hope you have a thaw soon though. Stay warm!
Hang in there! The weather has to break sometime. I hate doing barn chores in the snow as well. Snow is beautiful if you are in a ski lodge by the fire watching it ... not so much fun if you have to feed and muck. We haven't had any snow yet this season and I'm glad.
Evensong, I had this voice in my head saying "put salt in the mash" but then another voice that said, "what if the trough freezes and they're extra thirsty from the salt, and cannot drink in the night?" I was torn. Anyway you were right - since the ground thawed a bit, I tried turning them out. Mara started trotting, slipped (which she never does, even galloping in mud), and then stopped. She also negotiated our "washboard" rutted path very slowly, good girl! I'm usually the one who has horses out while everyone else's are in, but I didn't trust the horse not to gallop. I'm going to keep an eye on the temp and try my best to only let them out if it's a "soft" freeze.
T, if I lived in Canada, I'd keep my horse in the house probably: ) Or I'd have a sensible breed like Icelandics or Welshes. I haven't tried flavoring the water, but it can't hurt. If I can make it to the store to get apple juice: )
Aarene, I blogged about this before because it's so ridiculous, but there are no tank heaters in Germany. Animals on winter paddocks have automatic waterers, but we have no water line to our horse area. I know what you mean about trying to dry a stinky blanket in the house in an emergency, and it's such a bad smell. I have two blankets now and neither fit right, but I'm trying to get a new, high-neck one. Just can't seem to figure out the size on those things. I really want a candle-heated trough! Would a solar tank really work in Seattle/Wet Germany?
Kbryan, glad you liked the photos. It was a world of frustration trying to use that old camera.
Annette, sorry you guys don't have central heat, how strange.
I hope your weather changes soon - snow is no fun if you aren't set up for it.
It is such a way of life here that we hardly notice. My horses have light blankets and are out 99% of the time. We currently have no snow, which is weird. I would actually prefer a layer of snow, as it covers up the hard frozen mud. I give my boys electrolytes in their warm mash for dinner, as they don't always drink as much when it is really cold.
I don't have water to the barn either--just a gutter from the roof that feeds the tank--that's why a tank heater is so vita. Argh! How can they not have them.
You need to start importing this stuff from the States, you'll be rich!
Just fyi, I own a BLM burro and just read in a mag called Donkeys & Mules that "These unique members of the equine family originated as desert animals and tend to grow long, coarse coats. Unlike horses, they lack a protective undercoat that's impermeable to water. For this reason, donkeys and mules require shelter from wet weather and chilling winds."
I have usually put a waterproof sheet on Sam to keep him dry because I had heard donkeys hate to get wet and also cold. So he now has blankets to keep him warm and dry. I thought he was warm because he was so furry, but that magazine set me straight. It also said donkeys are prone to pneumonia.
He is so sad right now. I had to put down my AQHA gelding this month and Sam is missing him. It breaks my heart for losing Pine and now seeing how attached Sam was.
It sure is pretty but it definitely sounds like it's a pain to deal with!! Our snow rarely lasts more than a day and that can be annoying sometimes so I understand. I hope it goes away soon!!
P.S. I saw your comment about central heat and laughed! I've never lived in a house with central heat. Never. All I've ever known is wood stove for heating in the winter. It's nice for the electric bill but a pain in the butt keeping it burning all the time. We do use little oil heaters in the bathroom to keep pipes from freezing though.
Laura, being "set up" for snow would be something *daydream*: )
Aarene, I'd think I'd be rich from importing things like rubbermaid two-wheeled wheelbarrows and trough heaters but then I ponder why they don't exist here - is there no market for them? I don't even know where to buy a stock tank - they just aren't used. So a heater would have no purpose: ( This is how people water animals in remote locations without waterlines: http://www.ebay.de/itm/Wasserwagen-Wasserfass-Weidetranke-Weide-Tranke-Einachser-Trankefass-Wiedefass-/151532226579?pt=Landtechnik_Traktoren&hash=item2348064813
Alexa, I read that when I first looked into getting a donkey, and I was worried I'd need to blanket her, but she never lets herself get wet. First sign of rain, she's in the shelter, and the horse stands out in it getting soaked. When I lost my horse, my donkey and I grieved together a long time; it was horrible, I'm sorry you're going through it.
Achieve, I've never been in a house without central heat, I don't think. It must be a regional thing. Wow, this is one area where my way of life is less rustic than America: )
Hehe I guess so! We have always lived in older houses until now and we built this house ourselves. We have never been able to afford to have central heat put into any of the houses. It doesn't bother me because it's all I've ever known and at least we have heat when we lose electricity during ice storms. :-)
Also Zep is like Bellis. He never allows himself to get wet so he never gets cold and never shivers.
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