The donkeys welcome their New Zealand rugs, even though it is getting warmer.
The donkeys welcome their New Zealand rugs, even though it is getting warmer.
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Newsletter No. 5 - Spring/Summer 1995 Looking back over old newsletters it seems the opening comments are always about the weather. This one is no exception as after the longest, wettest, most miserable winter this part of Ireland has known for some years (I thought last winter was wet), recording more than 200% increase in rainfall, the weather has been uppermost in most of our minds in the continued battle to keep donkeys warm and dry. Thanks to your wonderful support which enabled us to purchase waterproof New Zealand rugs for all the donkeys, they have come through in pretty good shape. The rugs have been severely tested and approved to the extent that as we began removing them during warmer days recently we were positively asked to put them back on for the chilly nights. Only during these Iast few days of much milder, dry weather have all the donkeys agreed to discard them altogether. Tomas, Susie, Cassie and Solomon have all had their share of foot problems which can be attributed to several reasons. Primarily, foot infections are due to standing around in wet, acid conditions. The acid soil erodes the hoof wall often making sizeable holes which are perfect for trapping mud, manure and small stones. (These holes need to be thoroughly cleaned out, washed in salted water and treated by dripping iodine as deep into them as possible). In the donkey houses we were torn between providing deep litter bedding for comfort and warmth but which heated up thereby promoting growth of the foot rot bacteria, or keeping a dry, clean but necessarily much less luxurious bed which is better for the hooves but not as warm or comfortable. In the end we compromised and bought three 'cow mats' such as are used for cattle kept in slatted sheds. These are made of hard rubber which is easy to clean, quick to dry, firm to stand on and warmer to lie on than bare concrete floors. We tried these out in one of the smaller sheds, supplemented with an area of thick clean bedding straw and have been very pleased with the results. Given the choice the donkeys still prefer to lie on the straw but the mats have proved an acceptable second best. Winter laminitis can also be a problem as some donkeys have a very low grain tolerance level. Those that are housed for longish spells do usually have a small amount of barley or foal mix but feeding has to be carefully monitored. Cassie, for instance, only has to look at a cereal bag to have laminitis whereas Jacob can eat away to his heart's content with no ill effects and would have you believe that a dustbin full of grain a day is quite normal. I can assure you it is not! A couple of handfulls is more than enough for most donkeys. Water Works Our problems this winter have been exacerbated by the building of a new water reservoir by our local water scheme. This is situated at the highest corner of where Sanctuary land meets with two neighbours. The project has also entailed the renewal and replacement of all existing water pipes with unavoidable damage to land already saturated by heavy rainfall. At one stage there were three diggers, a JCB, a dumper truck and several tractors all working in the vicinity in conditions appalling for both men and machines, let alone donkeys. Visitors to the Sanctuary during these three months deserve a special mention for their tolerance and perseverance in ploughing their way through almost unnavigable roads. Thank you to all these stalwarts. The work is about completed now and a wonderful repair job has been made. Already areas which were totally out of bounds are beginning to dry up. Grass has been reseeded and now we have to wait with patience and reverence for Mother Nature to complete the task. |
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