March Madness at Lucky Duck

Hello to all our wonderful friends; here's hoping your days have been nice & uneventful.

Life at the LUCKY DUCK has been hectic as usual but still getting things done around here.  We've had the great fortune of getting produce from our friends at Day Break Fruit & Vegetable to feed our animals, they've been totally awesome in bringing it out to us.

'Peach' a 20 year old PMU mare was brought up here from Dayton, TX last the Friday before last, she has issues with trust of humans around her back end, she has dred locks too!  (yuck) but we are giving her time to settle in before trying to groom her.

Thursday morning saw 2 new TB mares brought here, both ex-race horses 'Salty Dog Sis or Sissy' 22 years old and 'Misty Smile or Smiley'  15 years old.  Sissy has a bleeding problem when she is in season and our vet Dr John Allen came out to castrate Spotty (donkey whom is doing very well) collect coggins on the 2  TB mares as well as Spotty and give his tetanus.  He did an exam on Sissy to fine the cause of the bleeding, it is coming from her uterus and he felt no abnormalities so he recommends we love her but no further action at this time.  

'Lucy' a small terrier mix (heinz 57) came to live here, we had been trying to find her a home out in Mansfield TX where she was living as a stray but it wasn't happening, so now we are offering her up for adoption while still trying to find her real home.  Someone took the time to get her spayed, she has a rabies tag but the info is sketchy, a small bronze colored tag oval in shape saying Vaccinated Rabies 2010 and tag ID 676765.  Most vets that I know of use their name and number to put on tags, anyone know where this tag might have originated?

This past weekend we had a volunteer day, our guys along with volunteer Matt got a lot done by cleaning up part of our barnyard and getting ready to fence in a big horse pen up front.   We had Jo & Jessica along with their children out and they cleaned up one of our chicken coups, collected fresh eggs, fed pigs and helped cook lunch for everyone.   The kids raked part of the yard to help clean up the dog doo.  

Elyssa was her great self as usual, she groomed Gracie (our pregnant mare), walked dogs, worked with Miss Easter Sunday a bit too. Sherrii or Silly Sherrii as I like to call her came out and together we decorated Easter up in her Easter decor, Easter of course was great though it all but got pretty cranky towards the end when I wanted to get her pictures taken.  Decided to get pushy and then of course I tripped over my own 2 feet.  NOT a good thing but I'm fine and Miss Easter is perfectly fine, just needs some discipline.

Laura came with her husband Matt to help us too, they brought all the dogs treats, food and apples for the horses and donkey's YUM! Laura helped us work with Easter and was helping us gets pictures when Easter decided she had enough.

Today Gail Gregg Horse Balancer is coming out to look at Midnight, hoping she can fix what ever is causing her lameness and some pain, she was rolled & kicked over a fence by a big gelding months ago and has improved dramatically but not enough.

We are getting a new pig this week, she is up in Collin County animal shelter, she is very loving and petable.  We have yet to get our new pig pen built but it is in the works.  Right now our pigs have plenty of mud and yuck to play in and relax.  They look great, both Lily & Chomps have each put on about 50 - 75# of weight.  

Our hay supply is way down, our pasture is only starting to grow, we have closed off a couple of sections to the horses so that it might grow a bit, we have to get the back pasture brush hogged down and a couple more sections fenced off yet.  If you know someone that has good horse hay at a decent price please contact us with price at this email or 903-413-3253.

We are going to have more volunteer days, hoping for once a month.  I'm going to start writing down things that need done around the place ie: dumping out water troughs, cleaning then refilling them, chicken waterers, walking dogs, bathing etc..   will make it easier on everyone if I do that rather than wait for me to designate.

Have a super week and as always donations of all kinds are greatly appreciated.

Kim

A day in my life at the Rescue!

A day in my life at the rescue!

Hope all is going great with everyone of you and your families.   Today it's cold, windy and damp (surprisingly enough we didn't get rain last night)!   

I have the Greenville Girl Scout Troop coming out today to meet Easter Sunday and the other animals at 1pm; so I thought I'd send you a quick note.   

Easter is doing good, she had lost a tiny bit of weight after our trip down to TX A&M in College Station but she appears to be picking up those few pounds nicely.  She is still eating very well which is a huge plus with her.  

Last week my pot belly pigs kept getting out (escape artists) but then what pig in her right mind would want to stay cooped up in a pig pen???    Needless to say we had several escapades with them especially when Annie (Red Bone Coon Hound - 9 years old and with arthritis to boot) discovered she could howl like a coon dog does!    She saw the pigs and the fun was on, while Annie was chasing them around, Zeke the blue heeler and Rocky the Aussie/Great Pyre mix was nipping at them chasing them this way and that; Brutus the English Mastiff and Jack the Beagle/Dachsund mix were barking and howling from the deck, the guineas were letting me know what was going on and I was bringing up the rear chasing the dogs that were chasing my pigs.. in amongst all the chaos of the day you could hear snort, squeel, oinks and me yelling "ANNIE NO, ZEKE STOP, ROCKY QUIT.. LILY, COME HERE LILY (sweetly) BRUTUS, JACK HUSH, DAMN IT JACK SHUT UP, ZEKE NO, ANNIE COME HERE etc... "

This went on for most of a couple of hours ( I might be stretching it a bit but I think you get the picture ) as soon as I got the pigs in, Lily would let them all out again.  Talk about a LOUD LOUD place with every farm animal sound known to man. (neighbor has cows)

I texted my husband to come home, I was TIRED. I had suggested that he and his son go fishing for a few hours, so they did.. but by this time I was pretty crabby.. he said "soon" I said "NOW please" so when he came home it was dark, I was out trying to rig up the gate on the pigs, I forgot what he said to me but I came back and snapped at him (this was all his fault afterall)!

So I marched right past him and promptly stepped in a big mud hole in my crocs, my white socks were ruined.. talk about indignant..   "

So that is what i have been up too, how about you?   

We have plenty of animals that need help, every penny is needed to buy food and hay.  Can you please donate $1.00 to help us out with them?

Thank you

Kim

Easter Sunday's Story

LUCKY DUCK Horse & Farm Animal Rescue

4214 County Road 3323

Greenville, Texas 75402

903-413-3253 or 903-456-0715

http://www.luckyduckhorserescue.org/

luckyduckhorserescue@gmail.com

Easter’s Story

Easter Sunday; Quarter Horse Cremello mare with beautiful baby blue eyes, 3 years old, foaled March 23rd, 2008 (Easter Sunday) hence her name!  She is a beautiful little girl, her owner was told to put her down; because she was born with a cleft palate there is a very real chance of pneumonia & malnourishment etc…setting in.  Sherry her owner (human mama) decided that wouldn't be the case with Easter, she learned everything she could about how to help Easter survive. Ways to feed her, listening to her lungs for any signs of pneumonia, wiping little Easter's nose and in turn sweet little Easter learned to wipe her own nose on Sherry!  Easter & Sherry are true fighters.

Sherry having health problems of her own got worried about not only herself and finances but also Easter because she was starting to lose weight and becoming a bit more unmanageable by starting to kick and even bite a time or two so she brought Easter to us hoping we could help.

I spoke to the surgeon a Dr Peter Rakestraw at Texas A&M College Large Animal Hospital  in College Station, TX  and Easter has an appointment on February 18^th!  My friend Karen Bander of TaPs – ThrowAwayPonies.org in Rockwall, TX. has generously offered to drive us down there. 

There is a corrective surgery for cleft palates, which is much easier in foals that are nursing to fix but it can be done and Dr Rakestraw has performed several successful surgeries of this type.

Easter will have to be scoped and lungs checked for pneumonia – horses with a cleft palate oftentimes get pneumonia due to food getting into their lungs.  IF very little signs of pneumonia are present and he deems her healthy enough and a candidate for this surgery; we will leave Easter in their capable hands; they will clear up her lungs, we will need at least $2500.00 to $3000.00 for surgery, with the normal complications (and there are many) and that is only IF no major complications occur. 

Can you help us help her; PLEASE?

DONATIONS can be mailed to or dropped off at LUCKY DUCK Rescue or online via PayPal to our email address.  Both our physical address and e-mail address are noted at the top of this letter.

 

LD News

Good morning from our LUCKY DUCK rescue group here in VERY COLD Greenville, Texas.
.
The weather outside is horrible right now; really wish we had a  huge barn to
bring all in and keep them toasty warm but then I have horses &  donkey's that
refuse to go into the barn to keep dry, they don't like the sound of the rain on the tin.

 Easter Sunday a pretty little Cremello mare 3 year old came to
 live here this past Sunday, she has a cleft palate which will most
 probably need surgery, she has some issues (kicking and biting) but all in all
 she is not mean just super feisty.  We are looking for someone to sponsor her with her
 needs surgically and otherwise.  Her story will be coming soon, so please watch for it and let us know if you could help us put out flyers and donation jars to help her.

Next week we will bring in Midnight a pretty little 3 year old Appaloosa,

she was rolled by some horses and her owner is afraid she will
get seriously hurt if left there.  She has her penned up  right now and the
problems she experienced after being rolled and kicked are lessoning, in fact she is running 

around now feeling good. She will be going straight to foster care with a good friend of ours Elyssa whom 

will evaluate her for us and possibly adopt her herself!

We still have Annie & Jack with us (Annie the Red Bone Coon Hound) and (Jack
the dachsund/beagle mix) both 9 year old and looking for a forever home,
both up to date on shots and worming.   If you would  like to hear more just
let me know and I'll shoot you over a picture and story.

We have been trying to re-home 2 dogs which are out in the
Mansfield/Venus TX area, these are strays that showed up at a
house and made it there home.   Angel is a American Bull Dog very sweet girl,
beautiful colors white with brown spots and Lucy is a little terrier mix SUPER friendly.  It is not
known whether or not these girls are fixed or UTD on shots, they
do both appear to be younger in age (not puppies) if you would like to
see pictures of hear more about them just let me know.

Kitty is a TORTOISE Calico kitty, she is in Quinlan TX, adopted
a family out there that can't keep her.  She is just beautiful and the
family donated her spaying and shots, so she is recovering while waiting on her
forever home.

Josie is a 9 year old PMU Belgian Draft mare originally from
Canada, fun loving, sweet but needs treats to get her to warm up.  She
is food oriented, not broke to ride but could be once the trust issue is settled,
not a kicker either but does love to kick up her heels when food is coming.

Lightning is a coming 3 year old Spotted Draft colt, not gelded
yet but we are not having any issues from that.  He was raised by
mares and knows to be respectful.   Needs work but will make you a very wide
bodied if not tall horse one day.  He is very mild tempered and might run from
you at first but gets bored after a few and lets you work with him.

Smokie is a grey 7 month old kitten, he is neutered and UTD on shots.
Pretty little guy loves to make tunnels under my throw  rugs, friendly but
as with any cat, when he wants to be.  His mother I found
in the mouth of a dog and brought her home where she promptly graced me with 5 kittens.

GE (Golden Eyes) is a grey Tabby, my husband found up in a tree
across the street, appears to be about 5-6 months old, affectionate and playful.  He is not neutered yet but soon.

 Rizzle is a 5 year old Maine Coon (super long cat) growls like a
dog one minute then loves on you the next.  His owner had to be put
into a nursing home so he came here while looking for his forever home.  I have to say he is very unique!

JC is a brown small standard donkey (1 year old birthdate was
12/28/09) He is not yet old enough to castrate but has to be, way to many intact jack
donkey's out there.  We have gotten several over the last  several months.

Daniel is an older gelded jack standard size donkey, he was
castrated a month ago (and had a rough time after castration but doing much better) ,

he would make a good donkey to guard, he will come for treats but has yet to
really warm up to us)

Sonny is a awesome looking large standard jack donkey,
spotted.  First day here we thought he was so gentle but he's a kicker if you don't leave him
alone.  Would be excellent in a pasture to guard livestock.  Has to be
castrated before leaving here.

POT BELLY PIGLETS - we have 2 - 2 1/2 month old gilts ready for their
forever homes.  Pretty little girls black with pink feet,
they weigh about 20# now.   We also have 5 - 2 week old piglets (sex
undetermined at this time and 1 of them spoken for) The sows that gave birth were in horrible conditions and I brought them
here, they were both pregnant.

Just wanted to give you an update on who was here and for  adoption.  We are
still in need of so many items, we have donation jars up at Atwoods,
Molina's Mexican Restaurant in Greenville, Lafayettes Sea food
in Caddo  Mills, Tractor Supply in Greenville did have one up, so if you
go into it you might want to request it since the Manager had it removed.

I even have one up at STS in Rockwall where I work!

I copied the following off one of my horse lists (thanks to Linda):

Here are some things to keep in mind to help your horses handle really cold weather. 



Be sure to increase the amount of hay being fed.  The critical temperature for horses is 45 degrees.  Below that they need extra calories to maintain core body temperature.  It translates to 1% increase in digestible energy requirements (calories) for every 1 degree temperature drop.  For an average 1100 lb horse, that’s about 5 lbs of hay if temp is 22 degrees.  If temp is 10 degrees with wind chill, that’s 7 lbs of hay additional.  If the coat is wet it becomes an additional 10 lbs of hay!  If horses are fed free-choice hay they will regulate themselves so you don’t need to do the math.  J



The temptation is there to feed more grain.  Grain just makes them colder.  It takes energy to process grain.  On the other hand hay is digested via fermentation by hind gut bacteria.  This actually generates heat and keeps the horse warm.  Hay is to a horse as coal is to a furnace.



Be sure your horses are drinking lots of water as well.  They will do so if the water is warm (above 60 degrees).  Adding a tablespoon of salt directly to their feed will also encourage better drinking.  Horses are naturally deficient in sodium anyway so the additional salt helps to provide baseline electrolytes which are important any time of year.  Divide the salt into at least two feedings so horses will accept it.  They tend to get suspicious about anything new suddenly added to their food.  I feed beet pulp and wheat bran which makes a good carrier base for water and salt.



Lastly don’t forget the exercise.  Horses need to move to keep their digestive tract functioning properly.  If they are stalled during this cold weather make sure they have turn out time or are hand walked to maintain digestive motility.

  

Horses should not be shivering, if they do then they are not regulating their own body heat (please keep that in mind)

Support your local rescue with Apple Butter Treats for V-day

Any horse (and most farm animals) will love an all natural, apple butter heart-shaped treat for Valentine's Day!  Simply follow this link to Apple Butter Treats, purchase some treats and we will receive a portion of the proceeds.  Be sure to enter "Lucky Duck Horse & Farm Animal Rescue" as the participating rescue.  As always, please pass this on to your horse friends!  Thank you!

Guidelines for a New Volunteer

1. If you volunteer for a position, be sure to hold yourself to the same work ethic expected in the business world. Think twice about applying unless you're really ready to work.
2. Be sure to follow up once you've offered your services. If you've waited a week or two to hear back from a nonprofit, call back. The organization is probably swamped with work and would be pleased to know of your real interest.
3. The most successful volunteer is realistic about his or her expectations. In business, if you see things aren't working well and try to set them right, you usually get results. In a nonprofit, it's sometimes trickier. Don't get frustrated about the way things are done and simply assume ineptness on the part of the organization's managers. The fact is, they often have to make what seem like poor business decisions because they lack financial resources.
4. If you have ideas for improving things, don't wait to be asked. Your input will probably be quite valuable. Just be sure not to push your suggestions too hard, and don't be hurt if nothing comes of your effort.

You can help LUCKY DUCK rescue for only $1.00 this Christmas season!

Mail us a Christmas card and enclose $1.00 and you'll be helping raise money for a great cause.  Raising funds to feed and care for all the animals is an ongoing, group effort and we appreciate that you'll be part of it.  (oh, and we love Christmas cards!)  Please share this web page, every dollars makes a difference!

Please send your card to:

LUCKY DUCK Rescue
4214 CR 3323
Greenville, TX 75402

We thank your for your generosity and Merry Christmas from all of us at LUCKY DUCK Horse & Farm Animal Rescue!

Learn more by visiting our website:  http://www.luckyduckhorserescue.org/christmas.html