Swallow news
|
♥Sep. 5th, 2016 // 10:52 am♥
|
We were very pleased when we realised that swallows were nesting in one of our spare stables*. We were rather worried when we went to get ready for the hay delivery** and found, as well as a small pile of poo under the nest, half a dozen dead chicks, but the parents were still around, still going in and out of the stable, so we figured they'd had a disaster and started another clutch.
* When I saw some flying around, going in the barn and the duck's house, I opened the door of the stable the previous owner said they sometimes use and the swallows made themselves at home in there.
** We keep some of it in that stable so it's not such a squeeze in the barn. I've put a sheet of plastic on top of the hay that's under their nest!
It was indeed another clutch, and we've been seeing the whole family flying around the yard recently, as well as occasional heads poking out of the nest. This morning, the no-longer-babies were lined up on a rafter waiting for the drizzle to stop so that they could get some flying practice in:
I dare say they'll be off south soon!
GB has had what looks like a sty on his eye for the last week or so. I've been keeping an eye on it but not being terribly worried, but yesterday it had got bigger and gone an icky shade of yellow. The vet's coming this afternoon, hopefully it won't be a problem.... (He has a fairly poor immune system these days, as a result of age and his pituitary condition, so I'm always a bit nervous about infections, and it being near his eye is even more worrying.) |
|
|
First, perplex your vet.
|
♥Sep. 5th, 2016 // 06:44 pm♥
|
This afternoon, the vet was mostly perplexed.
She was perplexed because she wasn't visiting Bugs, on account of how he's not showing any signs of lameness (maybe, she said, his sore bones have already fused together unusually quickly?).
She was perplexed because (while we were here anyway, I had her take a blood sample from GB) a horse with such high (when unmedicated) levels of the-thing-they-test-for as he does has no symptoms, other than being very keen on his winter coat and a little slow to heal.
She was perplexed because, when she had a look at GB's eye, she was completely convinced that there would be a thorn or similar inside the lump, but actually she just found a lot of goo. (He should be fine, with antibacterial eyedrops and keeping his hat on while the hole closes up. As an added bonus, while she was checking to see he hadn't scratched the cornea she checked his cataracts, which are still barely there.)
And, finally, she was perplexed because she noticed the scabs on GB's face, and I said "he has them on his feet as well, but they're only there for about six weeks of the year". When she looked at his feet, she said "this looks just like mites, only that's not on the face and it's all year around". My theory is that there's some sort of small seasonal biting thing in the grass, and she agreed that it was as good as any.
Still, at least there wasn't anything particularly worrying that was perplexing her! |
|
|