May 5, 2020 -

Our big mare, Judy, was nibbling at the hay today and her temperature was normal. She looks and acts a little better. She’ll be on antibiotics for 30 days. I also ordered some probiotics to give her as they are recommended to keep her digestive system working smoothly since antibiotics do more than just fight the bad organisms.

The orphan lamb is now nursing Constellation with my help. The ewe isn’t thrilled about it; but if I tie her up and give her a little oats she’ll reluctantly let the lamb nurse without kicking her away. Constellation then goes out in her little private grazing area and I bring her in at noon for a feeding so the lamb is getting fed at noon, morning and afternoon chores, and at the evening barn and lamb check which I’ve been doing sometime after midnight.

I spent around five hours today digging to remove rocks and opening up the post holes for the white fence across the road. I got around 35 done which means I have around 50 of those left. It’s two sections, so I’ll probably complete the longer one first and cement those posts in before I move on to the other side of the garage.

I also released my first batch of fly predators around the barnyard. I receive a shipment of them every three weeks throughout the summer. They are not nearly as ferocious looking in real life as the name might imply. They come in batches of 25,000 in cocoon stage and after they hatch look like tiny little ants with wings. Once released, they supposed find and kill flies in the pupal stage.

They are four species of flys they help control: only one of the ways we try to control the flies on the farm. As those of you who ride here know, we don’t get all of them. I’ll explain the different types of flies we typically have and the other control methods in a future update; perhaps tomorrow. Riveting stuff….

First photo: The orphan lamb nursing Constellation.

Second photo: The fly predator come through the USPS boxed in a little bag with with shavings. They arrive in the pupal stage and I release them by scattering them around the farm in areas flies reproduce when I see they are starting to hatch.

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May 5, 2020

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