Muzzled

Oh, guys. I hate this. I mentioned last week that Doc is showing signs of founder– probably from overindulging on spring grass–so I’ve restricted the donkeys to a very small part of the pasture, and I also bought these…

Muzzles.

So my little dudes can still stretch their legs in the larger pasture without STUFFING THEIR FACES every minute of the day. We tried them out as soon as they arrived, and, in typical donkey fashion, they both immediately set to solving the problem of the muzzle in different ways…

Parker went right for my heartstrings..

He basically wouldn’t leave my side for an hour, and kept giving me sad-eyes, which almost worked BECAUSE LOOK AT THAT FACE.

Doc, my problem-solver/master-fence-escaper tried a number of different tactics, like dragging his face across the concrete…

Rubbing his head on this old barn foundation…

Throwing a tantrum rivaling any toddler I’ve ever met…

And coercing Parker into teamwork…

None of these things worked while I was out monitoring them, but after I left them to their own devices and then came back an hour later…

Seriously Doc?

Donkeys.

I adjusted the straps so he can’t get the muzzle off anymore (and don’t worry, they have breakaway buckles) but, if I let them out with the muzzles for more than an hour or two, they start to get raw spots on the tops of their noses…

I swear, if it’s not one thing, it’s another. And this shit hurts my heart a little…

They’re being awesome as far as daily hoof-pickings go, though. (And by “awesome” I mean they hate the shit out of it, but also don’t try to kick me in the face.) So now I’m working on modifying the muzzles and finding other ways to let them out in the pasture without overfeeding.

Life on the farm is never boring, that’s for sure.