Eowyn's Diet and Other Farm Things

Eowyn's always watching when I come out.

She's on a diet and she's always hungry! When she was in the mares' field she ate more hay than Maddy and Lilly combined. Now that she's in her dry lot she goes through a more controlled amount......but not in a controlled manner. We can't throw open hay or Eowyn will blow through half a day's worth in a couple hours. 

We use slow-feeder bags to slow her down, but if the bag's not up to task she'll chew right through it!

The hangry horse has broken the carabineers we use to hang the bags!

The turd nipped me on the arm one day while I was changing the bag out. It hurt! And I was wearing a winter coat! I'd hate to see what a real bite would look like! It may not have been the smartest idea, but I ran her off. She's seemed to have learned her lesson and now the anxious eater understands she isn't allowed to stand too close when I switch out the bag.

I will give Eowyn one big compliment: She keeps her area tidy.

It makes it really easy to clean her lot up. As long as she has food, she leaves me be and it's a much easier task than for anyone previous.

It's a minor problem in the scheme things. It'd be nice if Eowyn portioned herself during the day rather than wolfing everything down, but Carrie says Eowyn's overall demeanor is happy. She's social once she's been fed and works when under saddle.

There's always something going on somewhere on a farm. Thankfully, most of the issues I deal with day to day are small. Like a broken boot to change out.

There's the daily work and then the weekly work....

...and the animal shenanigans in between (We need that box to put the supplements in, cat!).

Spring is less work than winter overall, but all the rain has made it more of a workout. On average, a bucket full of poop weighs a little over 50 lbs. But wet poop? That's a lot heavier!

I weighed myself in boots and gear at 162.8 lbs.

Holding a bucket of wet poop added 83 lbs to the total! 

Another 'warm weather problem' is that Lot 4's gate is closed by connected the handles to a polywire extension. Bare hands and polywire equal a shock. During colder weather, I have gloves on or I can use a coat sleeve. In warm weather with a t-shirt?

Hats are great.

Loki is getting braver around the horses. Especially the guys. He will go out in the fields with them while they graze. I'd prefer if he did not, but they all seem to get along.

The girls don't like him. Specifically, Eowyn and Abby. Loki seems to be aware of it, but will sometimes try to run over and great Mikayla while she's around Abby.

The biggest issue with Loki's newfound bravery is that he's wandering further afield when I do chores. 

One time, he decided to run up toward the neighbor's house! He can came back when Shane and I called (jumping through rows of harvested corn as tall as him!). I made sure to praise him for coming to us! I wasn't ever worried about him wandering off before, but he's proven it can happen.I don't think he'd get hurt so much as someone else would fall in love and adopt him. I mean, look at the guy!

And that's the barn update for this week! No April Fool's to report for April Fool's Day!