Barn Weekend

Nibs update: She keeps Carrie very busy.

Thursday, Nibs hurt herself. It was a freak accident. Somehow, she hopped up and over her milk bucket, got the skin of her left hind leg near the hip tangled in the hook and panicked. Carrie said the gash was the size of a grapefruit. It took ten inches of stitches. 

Sonya and Carrie aren't about to let that happen again.

Nibs needs formula mixed every four hours on the fours (12, 4, & 8 PM, then 12, 4, & 8 AM). That does not allow for too much continuous sleep. Carrie's starting to relax enough that Sonya can take the midnight feeding, so that she can sleep till the 4 AM feed. I took the 4 AM feed Saturday to let Carrie rest up for the week ahead.

It's important at every feeding to check Nibs' wound.

She likes to pick at it. An infection or a curious filly pulling out the stitches would be a huge problem. Nibs is on a "minimal stimuli" order from the vet. She's supposed to be left alone to rest and not get excited. Sonya and Carrie brought in portable walls to compress her pen to an 8' x 8' so she can't run around.

Shane only got to peek at Nibs once this time around, but he stayed entertained. We arrived at the barn around 3:00 PM (After a reroute from Carrie to Amelia for Mare's Milk -- Shout out to Band Man Ryan). 

We picked up dinner from Pino's Pizza.

There was a new kitten Sonya rescued when they picked up some hay bales.

(I said, "No.")

We watched a movie as a family before bedtime.

If you're into owls, it doesn't get much better than this.

If you're not, it's still a fun movie.

Carrie was supposed to be asleep for the 12:00 AM feeding, but she woke up anyway when she didn't hear Sonya (Sonya was there). The ladies ended up having an adventure! More on that later.

My gut got me up and about before the 4 AM feeding. The full moon cast moon shadows all around me.

The camera doesn't do it justice. Clouds crawled over while I was mixing the formula and darkness descended. It was a neat effect.

The next morning, Shane woke up bright, early, and energetic. Carrie evicted us, so she could sleep past 6:30 AM. We read comics and listened to Hank the Cowdog in the car.

Carrie grabbed the Star Trek comic when she learned of it!

We dressed up for Sunday School a little while after the 8 AM feeding. We went back to the same church we went to on Easter.

Then we left before service to unload hay bales and get ready for the 12 PM feeding.

Shane got to watch Minions The Movie while Carrie and I helped with barn chores (We tugged on an electric fence!).

I also got to look at the "snapping turtle, whiskered bird" that Carrie and Sonya rescued last night. A whippoorwill flew into the side of the barn, became disoriented, and crashed around the inside with the women in chase. It stunned itself multiple times before they could catch it and let it calm down. Carrie told me that it tried to swallow Sonya's finger.

Jeff pulled it out for an examination. He gently petted it and marveled at it's camouflage. I took a video to show Shane, so he wouldn't scare the bird. I've never seen a whiskered bird up close. The whippoorwill's eyes were opaque (like Gollum's!) and the retina all but disappeared into them. Clearly, it was a night flyer.

And then I saw the snapping turtle. That little bird could open it's mouth like a snake. It must swallow bugs whole before they know they're lunch.

Jeff has large mechanic hands and I thought the little guy was going to try and swallow a finger. Fascinating.

Minions ended and Shane wanted to show Mommy how to play Pokemon with his new deck. She napped. I played. He's getting better about flipping the coin (though he needs to shrug it off when it doesn't land on heads!).

Shane and I left at the 4 PM feeding. Nibs was hungry and Sonya and Carrie needed to load up the failed foster mare.

Did I mention the failed foster mare? Carrie and Sonya picked the foster mare and her foal up on Wednesday in Ashland. The mare was emaciated. She had an almost violent reaction to Nibs and was stand offish to her own foal. Sonya put the mare and foal in her round pen, and started to try and return her Thursday. Carrie drove the VW all the way back to our house to swap out for our truck, so she could help haul. However, the owner cancelled and delayed until it was Sunday or nothing in Farmville.

And that's how Nibs is keeping Carrie busy. I hoped she'd be able to go back to work for a night at her parents, but Nibs has to heal before she can be paired up with another mare or buddy. She's growing, though. Nibs is up to 160 lbs by Carrie's measure. I don't know if that's good or bad growth for a filly but she looked well enough. She wanted to nibble on my beard whenever I was with her.

I'll update more after the vet and Carrie check in over the week.