So here we are at the six week mark for being parked at Kendalleise Rescue Ranch. I like being here. The animals are great, and I’ve learned at lot about how to care for them, and just how to act around them.
Happy Birthday
During our first week on the ranch, Millie the Sheep birthed two lambs.
Once I helped Liz iodine the umbilical cords, she showed me how to tell if the lambs were male or female. They were both boys. I named the black one Starlight and the white one Joshua.
While they were still little, I liked to go in the pen, chase them down, and hold them. They’re too big to hold now.
Since then I’ve been waiting for Nellie, Millie’s sister, to deliver. She finally lambed this week. I again assisted Liz. I also suggested a name for the little guy.
My brother, Harrison, was born nineteen years ago on that day. I thought it would be fun to have a lamb named after him.
I suggested we name him Harrison in honor of my brother. Liz agreed that was a great name for the new lamb. Since then, I’ve been going into the pen, called the lambing jug, every day.
Harrison is still little, so I can catch him and hold him. Not for much longer though! He’s getting really fast on those thin little legs of his!
Hold Your Horses
The farrier came to the barnyard this week to trim the horses’ hooves. I planned to harness the horses and “hold” them while the farrier worked.
The day before the farrier’s arrival, Liz worked with me in harnessing the horses. Snip has been harnessed before and handles the process well. Forrest hasn’t been harnessed for a long time and resisted the process.
The day the farrier came, both horses stood still while being harnessed. Forrest had a big spook once, but we calmed him quickly. The ranch hand held him, and I just tried to get away from his hind end. I stood and talked with Snip as the farrier worked on his hooves.
Squealing Like A Stuck Pig
Then one day Liz offered to teach me to vaccinate pigs.
She showed me how to pull back one of the ears on a pig. “Where the tip of the ear lays,” she said, “Is where you put the vaccination in.”
I watched Liz vaccinate the smallest of the pigs, Dixie Chick. Then I vaccinated the next four pigs (with the assistance of the pig wranglers).
The last pig, Will Feral, didn’t want anything to do with me or my needle. The three pig wranglers couldn’t hold him still long enough for me to vaccinate him.
I had to turn the job back over to Liz—who also had a tough time. After fifteen minutes, Liz finally got the needle into Will. Then she had another ten minutes of saying she was sorry to Will and persuading him to be friends with her again.