Fergus Learns to Swim

I got home this evening to find a little baby donkey sopping wet.  Now, it didn't rain and there was a wet trail leading from the water trough which could really only mean one thing... Fergus took a little dip.  Thankfully he is fine, if not a bit soaked.  And thankfully I had the DonkeyCam still running so I was able to look back and see what happened.  Since I know he is ok, I don't feel too bad that I find this kind of amusing!

Hello, My Name Is...

I was getting ready to post about bringing my horse Rumba home when I realized I never officially announced what the little guy's name is!  So, drum roll please.....  Fergus!

The name, recommended by my sister Jennifer, means man of strength, man of force, virility, supreme man, highest choice, and so on.  It seemed fitting for the little guy, who fought so hard and showed such strength in his first few weeks of life to have survived what he did.  He is doing quite well, now at a little over one month old.  He is active and playing, pestering his mom Vida and  Aunt (grandma?) Frida daily.  He lost some hair on his legs where there was a fair bit of trauma and his eyes are still healing, now just having corneal scarring.  Otherwise, you'd never know what he has been through!


His little baby front teeth have broken through, right on schedule.  Here's a fun tidbit for those non-horsey out there: foals, like human babies, have baby teeth, which we call caps.  The front part of the mouth have teeth called incisors and there are six on top and six on the bottom.  The middle four come in starting at 6-7 days old, the next set come in at 6-7 weeks old, and the outer four come in around 6-7 months.  They also have premolars and molars, the premolars having baby teeth and the molars just coming in as permanent teeth later on.  The caps and permanent teeth all come in according to a "schedule" which is one of the ways we in the veterinary/horse community age young horses.  They have a "full mouth" i.e. all permanent teeth when they are 5 years old.  I'll try and see if Fergus will let me get a picture of his little front incisors...


Well, that's it for now.  Stay tuned to hear how bringing the big guy Rumba home went.  It resulted in something surprising, at least to me! 

A Traumatic & Dramatic Entrance into the World

I awoke to a chorus of frantic brays at around 6 am on Monday, March 26th.  I was used to brays at feeding time, or what is supposed to be feeding time on the days I am sleeping in, but there was something odd enough about the brays that they woke me up that morning.  It took me a few moments to realize what I was hearing but once it registered, I hurried outside to check on the donkeys.  Was someone hurt?  Were they being attacked by a dog or something?  I got out there, in my pajamas no less, let myself into the pen and stood there, assessing the situation.  Frida and Cody both were letting loose with bray after bray and that is when, in the dim, early morning light, I noticed a fourth little donkey, standing next to Vida in the paddock!  The baby was here!  In excitement I ran back to the house to let my sister Jennifer know, who just happened to be visiting that night, and to grab a sweatshirt.  I nearly gave her a heart attack when I burst into her room declaring "The baby is here!!!" in a frantic, excited manner.  I hurried back outside to see the baby and tend to the post-foaling tasks at hand.

I've foaled quite a number of babies out in my previous jobs on breeding farms and was pretty familiar with mare's behaviors following foaling and what my role in the whole process was.  Unfortunately, Vida had not gotten that memo.  What  I witnessed that night was something I had never seen before in my life and I hope to never see again...

Once I got back outside, I tried to make my way over to check out the new little addition.  He was standing and, since they were in the paddock, I assumed that they had walked out there.  I had seen that she had birthed him in the stall, as evidenced by the large damp area of birthing fluids and the placenta.  As I approached, cautiously, Vida promptly turned her butt towards me, backed up, and let her legs fly, double-barrel kicking at me with all her might.  I scrambled back and watched with growing horror as she started to lick, nuzzle, nudge, bite, shove, paw, and trample this new little baby.  I remember Jennifer asking my why she was doing this and I had no reply to this; I'd never seen such a thing!  I asked her to go get a flashlight as it was still fairly dark outside, and while she was gone, watching as the activities escalated.  Vida would nudge and paw the baby until it got up, at which point she would essentially shove it around until the baby fell and it would start all over again.  I could tell the baby was exhausted; I had no idea what had gone on before I got out there.  At one point, the foal was in a ball on the ground and she just kept pawing at it, walking over it and standing on it.  I tried to approach to get her to stop but she just started kicking at me again, this time connecting and catching my on the side of my knee.  I was really worried that she had killed the foal; I just couldn't see if it was still alive.  When Jennifer got back with the flashlight, we could see that the baby was still alive and moving and all we could do at that point was watch in horror the cycle of the baby get up, get knock over, get pawed and trampled repeat.  Eventually they somehow ended up back in the stall.  I had since called in reinforcements to help me try and catch up Vida so we could tend to the foal and end this horror show.  Jennifer suggested I try giving her some grain to catch her and so I put some in a pan, created a lasso with a long rope and was able to catch her, halter her, and tie her up. 



Meg and baby



Not long after I caught her, my friend Meg, a veterinarian, arrived to help us.  She was able to assess the situation a lot better than I was and was the calming, practical voice in the storm.  The baby, which it was now discovered was a boy, was cold and did not have a suckle reflex, which is essential to survival as he needed to be able to nurse to get colostrum, the first milk that will provide him with the antibodies and protection for the first few months of his life.  Over the next half hour or so I went and got the heat lamp and heating pad from work while Jennifer and Meg dried him with towels and a hairdryer.  His temperature, once I had a good thermometer, was less than 95 F, when it should be between 99-101!  Once he was dry and rested a bit, Meg tried to see if he would nurse but the reflex to suckle was still not there.  Jennifer had gone to the store and gotten a baby bottle and Vida was milked out a bit to try and bottle feed him.  Unfortunately, when there is no reflex, there is no way to get the colostrum into him without tubing him. 

Marissa & the little guy

My boss from work, Dr. Hagerman, arrived, did an exam of the foal and then prepared to tube the colt.  Vida was milked for about 200mL of colostrum and the baby was nasogastric tubed with it (a small tube was passed through his nose down into his stomach).  On the exam Dr. Hagerman found that his lungs were clear, his heart rate was a bit slow and irregular, and he had bruising around his eyes and a huge bruise on the upper gums in his mouth.  Once all that could be done by this point was done, we had planned on bringing him to the clinic to warm him up and more easily treat him.  I had been hooking up my trailer when Meg and Marissa, my friend a coworker, told me he was starting to develop a suckle reflex! Yay!  It was weak but I didn't want to disturb the progress we'd made with him, and Vida had finally started to calm down, so I decided to not bring them to work.  I had found my dog Greta's jacket and put that on him to help keep him warm and it fit perfectly!  Everyone eventually had to get on with their day so I was left to monitor him, with Jennifer's help.

Tricia milking Vida

By 11 am he needed to be tubed again with more colostrum since he was still too weak to nurse.  Dr. Tricia Arnold came and milked Vida (after sedating her since she was being really bad and kicking a lot) and then tubed him again.  I was able to untie Vida afterwards and, when hardly anyone was around, she was much better with him.  Perhaps she knew he was getting help and getting better?  Why she did what she did I will never know...

Over the next couple of days he seemed to be getting stronger, nursing and getting more active.  He had to be tubed with milk on Tuesday morning to give him another jump start after I went out that morning and discovered that his eyes had a large amount of discharge coming from them and had essentially "glued" his eyelids shut.  He hadn't been able to nurse for hours and was painful!  I cleaned his eyes off and called Linda.  She and Dr. Jodi Chadim, a new vet at our clinic, took a look at his eyes and discovered that he had quite large corneal ulcers on each eye, likely due to the trauma after he was born.  He was put on ophthalmic ointment and antibiotics, and tubed with milk.  After that he was really good with nursing and seemed to be improving. 

I thought we had finally turned the corner when on Wednesday night I got home and noticed he wasn't quite right.  I had spent Tuesday night trying to set up a wireless webcam to monitor them but couldn't get it to work so I kept an eye on him while I continued to work on it.  I noticed over the next half hour he seemed kind of depressed and sore on his back legs.  By that time my dad had arrived to take on the webcam and see if he could get it to work so it was one less thing I had to be worried about!  I called Linda and she came by that evening to look at him.

Linda (left) & Jodi examining his legs

She found that he had a fever and was extremely sensitive to palpation of his hind legs, especially around his fetlocks, which were swollen.  She was concerned that he might have joint infections and recommended that we tap his fetlock (ankle) joints on his hind legs.  She and Jodi anesthetized him and went to work.  Once his ankles were shaved and cleaned, the extensive bruising was revealed, along with a bunch of small wounds and serum oozing; evidence of the damage Vida did to him Monday morning.  His joints were tapped and, thankfully, they were not infected.  Upon further inspection, it was concluded that his legs were extremely bruised and wounded, including one of his front legs, and this caused him to have some cellulitis (infection under the skin) and pain.  He went on a stronger antibiotic and some pain meds.  The bruises are going to take time to heal but thankfully shouldn't be life-threatening, like joint infections could be. 

What a cutie! (note the blue eye - the corneal ulcer)

My dad was able to get the camera working so I now have a "Donkey Cam" to monitor them throughout the day and night.  The little guy has gotten stronger and healthier each day, and will hopefully continue on that path.  He is now on eye meds several times a day, antibiotic shots twice daily, gastric ulcer prevention (Gastrogard) daily, and pain meds as needed.  He is a fighter, this little guy!  Vida has turned into a decent mom; she does things sometimes that are odd but has her moments.  She had a couple little boughts of colic (abdominal pain) but since seems to be ok.  She most certainly won't win "Mother of the Year" but will hopefully continue to make up for nearly killing her son.

 

I still haven't decided on a name for him.  I was almost afraid to name him until I knew he would make it.  Jennifer thinks I should name him Fergus (means "man-strength/virility").  Other names have been tossed out there... Winston. Gary. Quintus. Pinocchio. Geppetto. Jiminy. Oliver ("elf army"). Vian ("alive" in latin). Duncan ("darked skinned warrior"). Liam (strong-willed warrior).  Any other suggestions?

Integration & The Hussy

Another long-overdue post is here!  Several weeks ago when we had a brief time of beautiful weather, I decided to see what would happen when I put the donkeys together.  It was quite interesting!  Turns out that Frida decided to be in heat and tease Cody, who while he knows he's supposed to do something, he is missing the drive to figure it out.  Donkey behavior has continued to be a surprise and Frida didn't disappoint.  Donkey females (jennies) tease to a jack by pinning their ears, holding the mouths open and backing up to them (they also pee but, we won't get into that!)  Frida nicely showed these behaviors and I, of course, documented it through photos.  Vida was pretty much not interested in the whole thing, only visiting with Cody for a brief moment before concentrating on incubating her baby!  Take a look to see how tempting a jenny in heat looks...

Frida in her "come hither" state and Cody taking in the scents.

The Flehmen Response - trapping pheromones in the vomeronasal organs to examine them more closely.

Cody doesn't quite know what to do!

Who couldn't resist such a beautiful girl?

Vida (left) and Cody say a brief "Hello"

Baby Belly!

Winter Wallop

Puget Sound was walloped with a winter storm this week.  While not as severe as what I grew up with in Massachusetts, for this area, it was pretty major!  We got 8 inches or so of snow, a nice thick layer of frozen rain on top and now it is warmer, raining, and slushy.  The donkeys are hunkered down in their shelters, smart enough to not go out in the crunchy snow.  As we thaw out, it will be interesting to see where all this water goes!

Along with the white stuff, I also had a neighbor's tree take down my power lines and damage my fence.  Luckily for me I am not currently staying at my house but unfortunately for my neighbors, their power was cut! 

On another note, there have been a couple of interesting, and kinda gross, observations of the donkeys recently.  First, I was cleaning their paddocks recently and noticed something funny looking in Cody's poo.  It was a worm.  Yuck!  Specifically an ascarid, or roundworm, which have a pretty long life cycle so I have to be really diligent about deworming them for a long while.  I performed a fecal to see if I could identify any roundworm eggs but instead I found a bunch of strongyle eggs in all of their manure.  Since they are so little I had to do a 5 day course of dewormer but, luckily for me, they really liked the dewormer - especially Vida, who would grab the tube with her teeth!  She's kinda strange!  After the five days of treatment I found another roundworm in the girls' poo so, definitely need to work on that!



My grandparents finally met my little herd and they were greeted with the girls urinating!  It's been a strange phenomenon; when one of them goes, the other will follow and pee on the same spot.  I am not sure what that is all about!  I have never seen such a thing in horses so I don't know if it is some weird donkey thing...



The (great) grandparents seemed to enjoy meeting them otherwise!  I had them feed them treats and they were all very well behaved.



Cody listening to the falling trees

Frida - just concerned about getting her treat!

Vida listening to falling tree limbs

Who's The Boss???

Vida napping (she looks huge!) with Frida watching over her

It would seem that my blog is turning into a monthly posting; not what I intended so we'll see if I can do better!  So it's a new year and with that there have been a few changes amongst my little herd.  Don't go getting all excited, the baby has yet to arrive!  Vida's belly is ever growing and I am pretty sure I saw some baby movement the other day.  With pregnancy has come a temperament change in Miss V - she has become quite dominant over Frida and very bossy.  I've noticed over the past month that she was been pushing her around a bit, chasing her off if she is in her way and even biting at her legs!  Those hormones are making her into a whole new donkey! 

 

Frida has been dealing well with it all.  She had a bit of a bump in the road a couple of weeks ago when I came home to discover profuse discharge coming from her right eye and she was squinting it closed.  I call Dr. Arnold (Tricia) out and we discovered a decent sized corneal ulcer in the center of her eyeball.  After a course of pain meds and topical ophthalmic ointment, I am glad to report that the ulcer has healed and she is as good as new.  She was a wonderful patient - she let me treat her eye easily and give her the gross pain meds in her mouth with little fuss.  She continues to bray at me at feeding time (she even responded when Eric rang the iron dinner bell I have hanging by my front door!) and loves her treats like there is no tomorrow.

Vida enjoying some H2O

Cody continues to be separated from the ladies, though he did have a brief foray with them.  I've been having remodelling done on my house and was talking to the electrician while in the middle of feeding them.  Somehow Cody managed to get the gate between him and the girls open (admittedly I did only loop the chain over the latch, not securing it completely).  He likes to push against it at feeding time with his head so, I guess it just popped open this time.  So I was talking to the electrician when I heard him make a kind of exclamation noise and I looked over and saw a cluster of three donkeys, not two!  Frida and Vida were facing him and he was doing his little excited talking noise to them.  Vida quickly wandered off out of disinterest and Frida followed.  They proceeded to go into his paddock to explore and he check out their digs.  Soon enough the girls came back and Cody then decided it would be a good time to harass Frida, so a bit of chasing went on.  I was able to separate them quickly enough but am not sure how this bodes for integrating the herd.  Especially once Frida starts to come back into season...  Only time will tell I suppose.   

Enjoying a scratch on the poo wagon

Cody otherwise has been a good boy.  He LOVES to roll in his stall, which he keeps very tidy.  He rolls 'cause he's itchy, he rolls when I've cleaned it, and he rolls when he is anxious/mad!  I was taking too long to feed once and he just went and started rolling around!  They are all on the itchy side so baths are in order once warm weather comes - that will be quite the adventure!

I've included a few pictures of their everyday life - I apologize for the quality, I took them with my cellphone!

Enjoying a sunny January day