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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615 answers in Home & Lifestyle — page 23 of 26
Plan the fence line and the power first: a charger matched to the length of fence, a proper earth, and wide tape or rope that horses can see easily, on two or three strands with the top one at about chest height. Most electric fences that 'do not work' fail at the earth rod or at a strand sagging into vegetation, not…
A dry lot for a laminitic pony means genuinely no grass: a fenced area where every blade is removed or covered, a forgiving surface underfoot, and forage given as weighed, soaked hay so he can eat without the sugars that grass would give him. Add shelter, constant water and a companion in sight, because a pony alone…
Rest is the treatment and seed is only the repair: take animals off completely, deal with the weeds and bare patches while the ground is empty, then harrow, seed into a firm seedbed and roll. The paddock stays closed until the new grass is rooted well enough to survive grazing — pull a handful and it should resist…
Decide in advance which animals come in and which stay out, based on how each one has reacted before, then make that place as secure and familiar as possible: fences and gates checked before dark, the evening feed given on time, and nothing new introduced that night. Leave sedatives out of it and change nothing else…
Work through three lists before the weather turns: water that stays drinkable when it freezes, gateways and feeding spots that will not dissolve into mud, and shelters that are windproof with dry bedding ready. Break ice and check heaters daily, gravel the worst gate before it becomes a bog, and walk every roof and…
Get shade, water and airflow sorted before the hot days land, because horses, goats, sheep and poultry all cope far better when relief is already in place than when you are improvising in the heat. Walk every field and pen and check that the shade actually covers all its animals at midday, then set troughs where they…
Build for the fox you cannot see: patient, strong-jawed, an able digger and climber that tests every weakness at night. Ordinary chicken wire keeps hens in but will not keep a fox out, so use welded mesh with small apertures fixed firmly to a solid frame, and stop digging with mesh buried below ground or a wide skirt…
Plan the yard around the wheelbarrow's day, not around how it looks from the gate. The daily round — feed, hay, water, muck out, hay again — should flow in one direction with no backtracking: feed room near the stables it serves, hay and bedding stored dry and close, water points where buckets and hoses are actually…
Mud is a water-plus-traffic problem, not a soil problem: gateways and trough fronts are where animals stand, turn and queue on ground that never rests. Start with water — cut off what reaches the spot with a shallow diversion ditch or a fall that sheds rain away — then give the traffic a surface, with geotextile under…
Start from the donkey's point of view: donkeys form intense, lasting bonds, often with one chosen companion, and they read the household's daily pattern as part of their security. When routines shift — new work hours, school terms, a helper coming less often — keep the donkey's anchors fixed: the bonded pair stays…
New owners judge a yard on the first visit and the first fortnight, and what they are really assessing is whether anyone will help them find their feet. Make the welcome concrete: a tidy yard, clear signage, a named person to show them round, and a short written pack covering turnout, feeding, arena booking and who to…
A good weekend sit is built before your friend leaves, starting with a written rundown for every group of animals: what they eat, how much, in what order, when they are shut in and let out, and what normal looks like for each. Walk the holding together once, so gates, feed bins, water points and awkward latches are…
Algae needs sunlight and nutrients, so the two biggest wins are siting the trough in shade and never letting water stand old: dump, scrub and refill weekly in warm weather rather than endlessly topping up. A stiff brush and clean water do the real work — sides and base scrubbed until the slime film is gone, then…
Give the flock a base camp for the day: a secure, shaded section of run well away from the lawn, speakers and barbecue, stocked with food and water before the first guests arrive. The biggest risks are well-meaning guests feeding scraps, children chasing hens for fun, dogs slipping leads, and gates left open as people…
Pigs feel the cold more than most farm animals because most breeds carry little coat to trap heat, so winter health rests on a dry, draught-free shelter they can burrow into. Bed arcs and sties deep with straw and keep topping it up, since a pig nested in dry straw uses far less feed just to stay warm. Raise feed a…
Most neighbour friction comes from two fixable sources: a muck heap that sits too close, too wet and never turned, and dawn noise from cockerels, hungry animals and machinery started at first light. Site the heap as far from boundary fences and windows as your ground allows, keep it compact and covered in wet weather,…
Goats treat fences as puzzles: they climb anything offering footholds, crawl under any line that lifts, and lean on posts until something gives. Build with taut stock fencing whose mesh is too small for a head to push through, fix rails on the outside of the posts so they cannot serve as a ladder, and pin the bottom…
Goats handle cold well but suffer in damp and wind, so winter health starts with a dry, draught-free shelter, deep bedding, plenty of good hay and water that never freezes over. Check body condition by hand every week or two, because a thick winter coat can hide weight loss, and pale inner eyelids or a fading appetite…
Work on the breeding sites, not just the flies: most yard flies hatch from dung and soiled bedding on your own place, so poo-pick fields daily in hot weather, muck out thoroughly, and run the muck heap as a compact, hot compost pile sited away from the stables. Layer relief on top — traps placed to intercept rather…
Run the barn store against three enemies — damp, vermin and mix-ups. Hay goes on pallets with air around it, first bales in used first, and any musty or warm bale rejected; bedding stores dry and clear of fuel and chargers. Feed lives in lidded, labelled bins with a scoop per bin, in a store that locks and never…
Yes — ducks don't need a pond, they need depth and freshness: sturdy buckets deep enough to dunk their whole heads, changed daily and scrubbed twice a week, plus a small paddling pool for bathing, dumped and refilled every few days. The trick that keeps it clean is drainage — stand the buckets on gravel, mesh or slabs…
Healthy adult ducks are genuinely hardy — waterproof feathers and body fat handle cold that troubles other poultry — so winter care is about provisions, not protection: head-deep unfrozen water every day for dunking, deep dry straw in a draught-free but ventilated house, and more feed, because frozen ground stops…
Donkeys need a different winter from horses: their coats aren't waterproof, so free access to a dry shelter is essential, and their desert-efficient digestion means a straw-based ration — rich haylage and hard feed push them towards obesity and laminitis. Give them hard standing to escape the mud, pick feet out daily,…
Cattle winter well on three foundations: good body condition going in, plentiful forage every animal can reach at once — fibre digestion is what keeps a cow warm — and a dry lying area out of the wind, since wet plus wind strips condition faster than cold alone. Add unfrozen water every day and a slow daily once-over…
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