Purrfect Additions

I'm a big fan of pretty much all creatures big and small, but there's one critter that I much prefer in cartoon form...the mouse!  

Not only are these critters a health hazard, they can also be very destructive. Mice burrow and can cause structural damage as well as gnaw on electrical wires creating a fire hazard.  Mice are pretty much inevitable when you have a barn, and Sadie Acres is no exception!  

With all the other critters in the barn D-Con is not an option, I've also read too much about the damage these poisonings are doing to our birds of prey.  We love watching the hawks and owls around our property and don't want to cause them any harm.  Instead of poisoning we opted for mousetraps, while this is effective one mouse at a time, I was constantly worried about Denali or the chickens messing with them and getting snapped.  And,  I must admit as much as I don't want mice in the barn, it was very hard for me to see their little necks snapped in the traps :(  

Our solution...

  

We added two little mousers to our barn, Tig and Chibs!  While these guys are still a bit small to do any serious mouse hunting they are already in training attacking bugs and keeping watch on anything that moves!  Luckily, they seem to be getting along fine with the chickens.  

These little guys have been a perfect addition to the barn, even though they are barn cats they are extremely friendly and affectionate.  At just 11 weeks old they come when you call them and love to snuggle up on your lap and take a nap.  

In just one week they have made themselves right at home.  They love their little "cat house", but venture out to explore every inch of the barn. 

Denali absolutely loves these two!  They like her, most of the time, but she still doesn't quite know her size and she's just a bit too much for them sometimes!

They may look harmless and cuddly, but the mice better start packing up and moving out!

The Dolly Llama

When I mentioned in my last post that our mares looked so good after shedding out their winter coat, you may have noticed one little mare not being included in that post...

I keep waiting for my beautiful little Dolly to reemerge, but right now she looks more like a shaggy llama!

Summer Dolly

Along with my trusty sidekick I decided to groom her a bit today in an attempt to get rid of some of that shaggy winter coat.

We left a nice trail of Dolly hair, but there's still a long way to go.  Looks like the clippers may be coming out soon...  

The after picture, she's still so shaggy!

Seeing Green

Spring weather in Colorado can definitely be unpredictable, but it's hard to beat a day like today.  Sunny and 70 degrees, it was a perfect day to hit the trail, not to mention it's Dad's birthday weekend and there's no place he'd rather be!

After the long brown winter it's so nice to see the green grass and the cottonwoods beginning to turn.

Even the girls are looking better as they have shed out most of their winter coat.

Always one of my favorite sights along the trail.

Our horses can't get enough of the fresh cool water, especially Rowdy who always has to stop and play a bit!

 I wonder which horse is allowed to stop and eat along the trail??  Hmmm....

The grass isn't always greener on the other side, but today it was!

It was a great day followed by a great celebratory meal!  Happy Birthday, Dad!

Sadie Acres Fitness Center

I've never been a huge fan of going to the gym, I'd much rather get my exercise outside doing something active.  Running things here at Sadie Acres, getting my workouts in each day is never a problem!  

Each morning I feed all of the animals and clean the horse stalls.   

Denali is getting used to the horses and the horses are growing to like her.

Sadie loves to grab the shovel and carry it around, but she hasn't quite figured out how to actually use it!

Denali is going to be so mad when she's too big to crawl between runs while I'm cleaning.

Horses love to get their water nice and dirty so emptying and cleaning water tanks is a regular job.   

Sadie and Denali have become good buddies.

Rowdy loves to play in the water!

Stocking up on feed is probably the most active barn activity.  At either 40 or 50 lbs per bag and hay bales at 80 lbs, loading, unloading and stocking the feed room provides quite a work out!

Denali resting after we unloaded the hay.

Being the neat-freak that I am, it's an ongoing effort to keep the barn clean! My spring cleaning day was the my highest step day according to my fitbit!

 

It's a lot of work, but the most fun "job" I've ever had, and think of the money I save on a gym membership!