4,777 answers about horses & farm animals
Horses and farm animals run on routine — feeding schedules, hoof and health care, safe fencing and calm handling, in all weather. This page gathers the horse and farm animal library of KinsLe Answers in one place, organized by topic from daily care to travel and senior animals. Every answer is original, written by KinsLe, and tied to a real KinsLe feature.
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449 answers in Health & Vet Care — page 18 of 19
A cow's earliest signs are social and digestive: standing or lying apart from the herd, stopping cud-chewing, going dull with ears drooping, and losing interest in feed. Follow with falling milk yield in a milking cow, fewer or altered droppings, reduced ruminating sounds, faster breathing, and a drop in condition,…
Donkeys hide pain so well that dullness itself is a headline sign: a donkey standing apart with head low and ears sideways or drooping, lying down more than usual, or going quiet and withdrawn has already told you a great deal. Add reduced appetite or dropping mouthfuls of feed, fewer or drier droppings, loss of…
Watch for a horse who turns reluctantly in a tight circle, walks gingerly on hard ground, shifts weight between the front feet at rest, or starts lying down more than usual. Add a stronger digital pulse at the fetlock than you normally feel, hooves warmer than usual, and a stance rocking weight back toward the heels,…
Quarantine every new arrival, healthy-looking or not, for two to three weeks in a separate stable or paddock with no nose-to-nose contact, no shared water, feed, or equipment, and its own tools kept apart. Handle the new horse last each day, wash hands and boots afterwards, and check temperature, appetite, droppings,…
Move the unwell goat promptly into a clean, dry pen where she can still see and hear the herd but cannot share feed, water or nose-to-nose contact through the fence. Give her dedicated buckets and tools, handle her last in every round, wash hands and boots afterwards, and note appetite, droppings, breathing and…
There is no fixed calendar to follow on your own, since modern horse worm control is a targeted programme you build with your vet around faecal egg counts, each horse's individual risk and how the grazing is managed. You know the programme is working when repeat egg counts stay low, any vet-directed treatment is…
Check sheep feet every time you handle the flock closely, and agree the planned routine with your vet: a common pattern to discuss is roughly every six to eight weeks in ordinary conditions, more often on wet, muddy ground or where feet have been a problem before. Work through each foot: clear mud and stones, check…
A normal moult is gradual and patterned: feathers loosen across the body over weeks, pin feathers appear in the bare patches, laying pauses, and the hen stays bright, eating and active. Feather loss deserves investigation when it is sudden or patchy, skin looks red, broken or scabbed, loss centres on the vent or neck,…
Practise on a calm, rested horse so you learn his normal values: temperature 99 to 101.5 degrees Fahrenheit, pulse 28 to 44 beats per minute, and breathing 8 to 16 breaths per minute. Take breathing first by watching the flank, then pulse under the jaw, then temperature with a lubricated rectal thermometer held in…
Prepare on two fronts: find the vet before you need one, and make the visit itself easy to read. Ask local practices, poultry keepers, and farm vets who actually sees ducks and chickens, and register your flock with that practice before any emergency, explaining what you keep and how many. For the visit, catch birds…
Calm procedure days are built in the days before. Practise the handling the visit will involve, such as standing square, being touched and examined where the vet will work, and accepting a headcollar without fuss. Prepare the space: clean, dry, level footing, good light, and room for the vet to work safely. Have the…
Build the calendar with your vet at one planning conversation, then let the seasons trigger the work. Agree the topics and rough timing for lambing preparation, foot care, body condition scoring, parasite control discussions, breeding preparation, and winter housing and feeding, and write each agreed block onto a wall…
Never judge by eye under full fleece — part it and feel the frame at set points: run a hand over the spine behind the withers, across the ribs behind the front leg, and over the pelvis and tail head, scoring how much bone you feel against muscle and fat cover. A healthy alpaca feels firm and rounded over the spine…
Flies breed in manure and damp waste and feed on a horse that stands still, so attack the breeding sites and shield the horse rather than chasing individual insects. Pick up droppings from the stable, the yard, and the small turnout area daily, keep bedding dry, scrub water troughs often, and fit a well-fitted fly…
Healthy hens handle cold far better than damp, stale air, or a frozen drinker, so build winter care around a dry coop, ventilation that lets moist air escape above roost height without blowing across the birds, and liquid water at every check. Run a twice-daily check with exactly four points: the water is liquid and…
Keep one diary per cow, written up on the day, and let the diary follow the treating vet's written plan rather than any routine of your own. Record exactly seven fields for each treatment entry: the cow's ear tag or name, the date and time, the treatment name and amount copied from the vet's written plan, appetite and…
Start with equine-specific sources: ask experienced horse owners, yard managers, farriers, and feed merchants who they use for emergencies, then check that the practice offers true out-of-hours cover for horses, not just small animals. Call to register before you need help, giving each horse's age, breed, use, and any…
Work through three parts in the same order for each sheep: condition, feet, then fleece. Feel condition along the back and loin, pressing through the fleece to judge the cover over the spine and short ribs, since fleece hides weight change from the eye. Inspect each foot for overgrowth, damage, smell, or soreness, and…
Prepare before any night emergency by learning your horse's resting baseline on a calm day: a typical adult horse rests at about 99 to 101.5 degrees Fahrenheit (37.2 to 38.6 degrees Celsius), with a pulse of about 28 to 44 beats a minute and breathing of about 8 to 16 breaths a minute. At night, record in time order:…
Check each hen in the same hands-on order every week: bright eyes and clear nostrils, a comb with its usual colour and texture, a crop that fills by evening and empties by morning, and a keel bone you can feel without sharp prominence. Look under the tail at a clean vent, check legs and feet for raised scales, sores,…
Practise this screen while your pig is calm and healthy so that you know its normal readings. Take the temperature rectally with a lubricated digital thermometer: a typical adult resting range is about 101.5 to 103.5 degrees Fahrenheit (38.6 to 39.7 degrees Celsius), but your own pig's baseline matters most. Count…
The near-universal core for goats is protection against the clostridial diseases — above all enterotoxemia (caused by Clostridium perfringens types C and D, the 'overeating disease' that kills fast-growing kids and goats on rich feed) and tetanus (Clostridium tetani). Keep notes on what you notice and when, and take…
The headline poisonous plants for goats are rhododendron and azalea, yew, ragwort, bracken, laburnum, laurel, hemlock, foxglove, nightshades, oak in quantity, and wilted stone-fruit leaves — and the idea that goats can safely eat anything is a myth: goats sample widely, which makes a poisoned paddock more dangerous,…
The goat watch-list starts with worms: internal parasites, above all the barber's pole worm, are the biggest routine killer of goats, draining blood and causing anaemia (check the inner eyelid colour — pale means anaemic — a system called FAMACHA where it is used), weight loss, and the classic 'bottle jaw' swelling…
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