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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409 answers in Senior Pets — page 14 of 18
Arabians are among the longest-lived riding breeds, so your horse's care changes later and more slowly than most: expect his teeth, his topline, and his winter condition to lead the shift rather than his energy. Watch for quidding — wads of chewed hay dropped by worn teeth — a coat that sheds late in spring, and ribs…
An ageing Appaloosa's care turns on his eyes: the breed carries a higher risk of recurring eye inflammation than most, and spotted Appaloosas can be night-blind from birth, so watch for cloudiness, tearing, squinting, or a horse who grows hesitant and clumsy at dusk. Fit a UV-protective fly mask through the bright…
Care for an ageing Andalusian shifts toward watching his weight, his skin, and his joints: these are hardy, long-lived horses, so senior changes often arrive later than owners expect, but a ration that suited a ridden horse can quietly make a retired one fat. If yours is grey, as most Andalusians are, run your hands…
Write the plan as if the carer has never met your horse: his feed in weights and named scoops rather than handfuls, his soaked mash routine, rug changes by weather, his turnout field and companion, the daily checks that matter for him — legs, appetite, droppings — and the vet and farrier numbers at the very top. Walk…
Children cope best when the death is named plainly and kindly: say the animal died, avoid phrases like gone to sleep or gone away, and let them ask questions and see honest grief from the adults around them. Involve them at their own pace — choosing a burial spot by the pasture, saying goodbye, drawing the animal, or…
A hen who has stopped laying has earned a pensioner's place in the flock: keep her with her flockmates, switch her off high-calcium layer feed onto an all-flock ration with oyster shell offered on the side for the hens still laying, and let her keep dust-bathing, scratching, and roosting as she always has. Watch her…
A retired horse living alone needs another animal in sight, sound, and ideally touching distance, because horses are herd animals whose stress rises when they cannot see a companion. Plan for a companion that matches his age and energy — another retired horse, a donkey, a pony, or even a calm goat sharing his fence…
Planning while your horse is still well is a kindness, not a betrayal: agree with your vet on the quality-of-life signs that will guide the decision, decide who makes the call and who must be there, and work out the practical arrangements — including how his body will be collected, or where he can be buried under…
A senior horse can still enjoy an outing, but the day has to be built around his recovery: pick fewer, closer events, travel when the day is cool with water breaks on longer trips, and give him a settled hour after unloading before he is asked for anything. Load a deeper bed and extra padding into the trailer, travel…
An old hen feels winter harder than she once did: she lays rarely now, her feather cover is thinner after the moult, and the energy she has goes on warmth rather than eggs. Keep her coop dry and free of drafts at roost level while still ventilated above her head, give her a wide perch where her toes tuck under her…
Cold weather stiffens an arthritic old horse, and the biggest comfort lever you control is movement: daily turnout and gentle walking loosen him far better than standing in, however kind a deep bed feels. Add a rug matched to the weather, bedding deep enough that lying down and rising stay easy, and longer, slower…
When an ageing donkey loses condition in winter, worn teeth are the usual starting point: long hay he cannot chew properly passes through undigested, so condition slips however much is in front of him. Switch part of his forage to soaked, chopped fibre he can manage, and feel his body condition weekly under the thick…
An elderly goat meets winter with worn teeth and less spare condition, so the priorities are constant hay to keep his rumen — his internal stove — working, a dry and draft-free shelter, and water he will actually drink because it is not icy. Feel his body condition under that thick coat every week, since the coat…
Stiff joints change what a goat's housing must do: take out every step and jump, give him a ground-level shelter he can walk straight into, and line it with deep, dry bedding he can sink into for warmth and cushioning. Keep hay, water and minerals at a comfortable standing height within easy reach of the shelter, and…
A horse losing his sight stays confident when his world stops moving: keep his buckets, hay and bedding in exactly the same places, clear every walkway, and pad or round off anything at head height he could walk into. Speak before you touch him, approach from the side he sees best, and keep a steady companion near — a…
An old hen who can no longer flutter up to a high perch needs the roost brought down to her: fit a wide, low perch just off the floor, add a cleated ramp she can walk up, and move a nest box down to ground level with a low lip. Deep, dry bedding under the perch cushions the small hop down each morning and keeps ageing…
Farm animals earn their place in a family's story, and marking their loss on the farm itself often helps most: a plaque on their stall or pen gate, a tree planted in their corner of the field, or their name carried forward on the gate of the next animal who lives there. Keep something of them, too — a halter, a…
Most horses are called senior at around fifteen, but the Paso Fino's famous hardiness pushes that line later — many are still working soundly through their late teens, so late teens to twenty is the realistic point to shift into senior care. Judge it by the horse in front of you: harder-kept weight, worn teeth, a…
Older horses often cannot grind hay properly because their teeth are worn smooth, loose or missing, so long fibre passes through half-chewed and condition falls away even when the horse seems to eat all day. Soaking fibre feeds in water does the chewing work in the bucket: the feed swells into a soft mash the horse…
Winter planning for the oldest sheep starts with their mouths and their backs: handle each ewe to feel condition through the fleece, check teeth, and pen the genuinely old separately before the cold arrives. They need the leafiest, softest hay you have rather than stalky bales, a modest energy feed given little and…
A senior chicken check takes a minute per bird if you read the same three signs in the same order each week: a comb that is plump and season-appropriate in colour rather than purple or shrivelled, activity that still includes coming out promptly, scratching and dust-bathing, and an appetite shown by a crop empty in…
For an older horse, vets commonly suggest screening built around a full clinical examination at least once a year and often twice, a dedicated dental check, blood tests that show how the major organs are coping and detect the hormone changes common in aged horses, and a soundness once-over watching him walk and trot…
A useful record is short enough to keep daily and specific enough to mean something later: one line covering appetite, mobility, mood and comfort, each scored the same simple way, plus the concrete detail behind the score, like ‘left half his hay’ or ‘rose first try’. Add the day’s context — weather, turnout, any…
Watch the pattern of his days rather than any single moment: whether he comes to his feed and finishes it, grazes willingly, lies down to rest and can get back up without a struggle, walks to water freely, and still seeks out his companions. Warning trends are dropped balls of chewed hay, rising with difficulty or not…
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