Category: Our Rescues Blog

Our Rescues BlogProfiles

Alfie

on 29 May, 2015

Alfie (sheep). Arrived 19 December 2014

Alfie was found by a caring passer-by, wandering the road at the bottom of our property – as soon as he was chased to try to catch him, he collapsed, and was bundled up into the car and brought to Happy Hooves.

From his ear tag number, we knew which property he had escaped from – a farm about 1km away. As the story unfolded, it turned out that Alfie had narrowly escaped being sent to market as he was too small. The family then decided he could be their Christmas dinner, but Alfie was out of there!

We asked the neighbouring farmer if there was any way we could keep him here at Happy Hooves, even offering to pay for him if that’s what it would take. We agreed on $50, but as it was close to Christmas, the farmer got back to us, acknowledged that Alfie probably would have died anyway had it not been for us finding him and taking him in, and let Alfie stay with us without money changing hands. A beautiful Christmas gift for us and Alfie.

He became instantly besotted with Maggie – old enough to be his grandmother, and they have been inseparable ever since.

Update: Maggie sadly departed this world on 3 June 2015 and Alfie now hangs out with Rose & Bud, Petal, Belle, Tully and Julio.

Alfie was pretty timid at first
Alfie
Maggie took Alfie under her wing
Alfie and Maggie became inseparable
Alfie is pretty happy about GRain Day!
 

Would you like to help us to take care of Alfie?  One off donations and sponsorship gifts are available now to support our work. Thank you for caring about farm animals.

**  Happy Hooves Farm Sanctuary – Where The Good Life Begins  **

Our Rescues BlogProfiles

Yuki and Kengi

on 08 Dec, 2014

Yuki and Kengi Arrived 4/10/2014

In early October we took in two adorable little chicks – the end result of a preschool hatching program.

If they hadn’t found their way to us they would’ve gone back to the supplier to an unknown and possibly lethal fate, and any brothers would’ve been killed as there is no use for roosters after the program ends. The welfare needs of hatched chicks can often be compromised as many schools do not have a budget for veterinary treatment and lack expert knowledge of their care. Chicks may imprint on their child carers and when forced to give them up, the young and still bonded hatchlings can suffer from the separation.

Fortunately for this cute duo, a caring mother sought to rehome them to a place where they would have a secure and happy future, where they would find sanctuary and enjoy freedom from use. “Happy Feathers” are a big concern of ours too, so Yuki and Kengi will now receive all the love and care they could ever desire. Welcome Girls!

Would you like to help us to take care of Yuki & Kengi?  One off donations and sponsorship gifts are available now to support our work. Thank you for caring about farm animals.

 

**  Happy Hooves Farm Sanctuary – Where The Good Life Begins  **

Our Rescues BlogProfiles

Outback Bess

on 08 Dec, 2014

Bess Arrived 8 October 2014

Introducing Bess – an older female sheep and our newest recruit who was found in bushland, heavy with wool and severely flyblown. Rescued by angels and brought to us on 8 October 2014. Those who found Bess had her treated at the vets and sheared, and now she’s come to us for ongoing wound management and a new life.

She has fight in her, this one – kneecapping one of her saviours out of fear. So we’ve named her after a famous Aussie bushranger – Elizabeth (Bess) Jessie Hickman who was renowned from her ability to fight and survive in a harsh world

Good on you Bess – out of sheer guts and determination you survived however long out there and with horrible wounds. Now it’s time to heal, learn to trust, and start a new life.

Bess
 Would you like to help us to take care of Bess?  One off donations and sponsorship gifts are available now to support our work. Thank you for caring about farm animals.
 

**  Happy Hooves Farm Sanctuary – Where The Good Life Begins  **

Our Rescues BlogProfiles

David

on 17 Oct, 2014

This is the story of David, the little sheep who faced a giant of an obstacle, and lived to tell the tale.

On 16 September 2014, a little lamb was surrendered to us with a severe case of scours (diarrhoea) which his owners had tried in vain to treat.  Sadly however, he failed to improve so in a last ditch effort to save his life, they handed him over to us.

It turned out that David’s problems were much bigger than just worms – he also had a very nasty infection where a faeces-covered castration ring sat tightly around his scrotum, so it was that (as well as a persistent worm burden) which caused his severe weakness, prolonged diarrhoea, dehydration and weight loss.  David was very progressed in his illness so we were super apprehensive about our ability to help him, but the one thing that gave us hope was that despite his very fragile state, David would still nibble on grass or hay if you offered it to him.  Amazing!  So based on that one promising sign from an animal that was in every other way moribund, we decided to give it a shot.

After 11 hours of high care with lots of food, vitamins, medications, fluids, constant comforting and supervision – his system seemed to be stabilising. He was still very weak but was settling and even started chewing his cud (a great sign!). We were all still very anxious for his survival but this was far more progress than we thought we’d get! Surgery was scheduled for the following day to remove the ring & scrotum.

It was risky to put him through surgery but we were very thankful that we did as the vet found maggots had gotten into the infected tissue! This is something we could not see from the outside and would’ve been making poor David very uncomfortable.  He came though the surgery OK, but he was very quiet that night and our former shred of confidence was waning to a new all time low.

Happily, that very night at 10:30pm he suddenly started eating and drinking with renewed enthusiasm and then again early the next morning. It was still a long road ahead, but it gave us all the encouragement we needed to push on. His appetite improved more over the next two days and he even managed to lift his head every now and then as he began regaining his strength.

He had a small set back on the fourth day; he had lost some strength and was having more difficulty holding his head up again. We examined him closely and found that the surgery site was becoming inflamed again – most likely because it was so hard to keep that area clean given that he could not stand to eliminate wastes.  A mere dressing wasn’t protecting the wound enough so we fashioned a “lamb nappy” for him.  This helped a LOT and he continued to improve after that.

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CLICK HERE to view even more photos and some lovely videos of David’s first few steps on storehouse.co

Please join us on Facebook to keep up-to-date with David’s story and many more of our Happy Hooves!!

 

Would you like to help us to Take Care of David?  One off donations and sponsorship gifts are available now to support our work. Thank you for caring about farm animals.

 

**  Happy Hooves Farm Sanctuary – Where The Good Life Begins  **

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George

on 22 Jul, 2014

George (pig): Arrived: 24 May 2014.

Introducing the gorgeous and sweet-natured little pig called George.  The family that bought this little guy were not adequately informed about the destructive habits of pigs – it is very natural for a pig to dig great big holes (called “rooting”), a trait that is not well received in suburban gardens.  George’s new family didn’t know that he would soon turn their paved back yard into an excavation site – which meant they had to try to contain him in fenced off areas but alas, being the truly resourceful pig that George is, he was constantly challenging their efforts.  The other problem George had was that he was getting bigger and stronger – outmatching his cat friend and the little girl he was originally purchased for.  George is not big by any means – not yet, but pigs are very strong, so a playful push can be quite devastating to a small child or kitty.  The reality is that mini pigs can reach over 100 kg and 60 cm to the shoulder once they’re adults – the size of a medium to large dog, but three times the weight and strength! This was going to be a problem for George’s house friends.  To add insult to injury, Georgie’s humans were not told they needed shire approval to keep him so that was just another possible problem for him and his family, should he stay where he was.  Suffice to say, Georgie’s days were numbered as he was upsetting everyone around him, and although his owner loved him and found it hard to let him go, she knew he was not going to be able to stay where he was and needed to find a place where he could be himself – he urgently needed to find new “digs”.

georgefirstday

George checks out his new room – “whatcha think George?”

And so this rambunctious little ball of porcine energy found his way to us… and even here on our large property, he challenges us with his Houdini talents.  However, having room to run, constant stimulation with lots of other animals (including other pigs), and a good hearty diet* that befits his energy and growth requirements, George’s habits of destruction and rough play are decreasing considerably.  When he first arrived here he was constantly digging, almost to the point of obsession – leading us to believe that perhaps he was using the digging instinct as a bit of a crutch to help him through boredom or the desire to run in more open spaces.   This happy little fellow doesn’t dig too much now, and he is learning with some basic training not to get pushy or too demanding.  He has been dubbed “the happy pig” by visitors as he is always trotting around busily checking out what everyone is up to, with a cheeky little grin on his face.  He has dominion over the holding paddocks, as no internal fences are a challenge to him at the moment; he can easily squeeze under almost any fence-line, but hopefully he will grow too big for such naughtiness before too long.  Happy George loves a good belly rub and will flop down at your feet if you offer him one; with a sweet smile of bliss he presents his tummy for your attention, oh and please massage my legs too… that’s the spot… ahhhhh.

We are delighted to have you here gracing us with your happy ways George, and we are so glad we could help you out of that sticky situation you found yourself in.  We only hope that your story helps potential purchasers to realise the unique requirements of that “cute little mini pig”.

Though we would never assume to know what pigs are thinking, it would appear that George and Peppa (who arrived in November 2014) have a little love affair going!

Sharing the mud with Peppa and Rhonda
George
George
* It is sometimes recommended by breeders to restrict a “mini pig’s” diet to maintain a smaller size, but we feel this is not optimal for their health – when you think about it, this is essentially calorie restriction to stunt growth, which cannot be healthy in the long term.
 

Would you like to help us to Take Care of George?  One off donations and sponsorship gifts are available now to support our work. Thank you for caring about farm animals.

**  Happy Hooves Farm Sanctuary – Where The Good Life Begins  **

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6 Sheep & 2 Alpaca’s have come to play!

on 18 Nov, 2012

Today we picked up a new group of critters for our sanctuary. These beautiful animals came from a family who are going through some very challenging times and they could no longer keep their beloved gang. I usually blanch when I hear this, always thinking that SURELY the family could MAKE it work for the sake of the animals… but in this case and with this particular set of circumstances – I completely understand. The lady who loves these animals has taken extremely good care of them and she loves them like children. I know she will be feeling very sad tonight as she sits in her hospital bed, knowing that her friends have been taken away. Some of these animals she reared from very young – and one of them – Mary – is particularly tame and a close friend to her. The one thing that makes this whole sad story a little brighter (for the lady) is that she was desperate that they should all stay together, so they would not be so traumatized by this inevitable change, and so they have found their way to us.

Well.. they didn’t find us… we picked them up today in our shiny new horse float! (I’m SO GLAD we went ahead and got this float, even though it was an expensive investment, it has been so very handy!)  We managed to get them all in (after much cajoling, easing, pushing, shepherding, yelling, cooing, sweating) and after saying our goodbyes to the lovely man who helped us, we set off on our journey home. They travelled well and we only needed to stop once, so I could go check on them to relieve the intense anxiety that was building in me, at every bump and turn.  Clearly I was the only one getting stressed – as I peered in the window and observed them all standing there looking at me with questioning looks on their faces, whilst they chewed.  “How come we’ve stopped?” their eyes asked.  Sorry gang – I’ll leave you to it.

Upon arrival at our place they were rather nervous to step out onto the new patch, and it took us a while to get the alpaca fellas to lead the wooly gang out.  But in the end, out they came and walked exactly where they needed to go with little fuss or bother.  What a well behaved crew this is!  If they were my goats, we would have been faced with much more mayhem and escape attempts, I’m sure!

My gang were intrigued to see who the newcomers were, so I let them in to the adjoining yard.  There was much staring, stomping, creeping up and running away, peering around corners and loud “who the hell are you”‘s going on.

I usually feed my crew separately as the horses and goats are such gutses that the sheep barely get a nibble.. but with the newcomers in the stable yard where separate feeding is possible, I had to try to feed my gang all together. My god, what a disaster.  Suffice to say that it is just not possible to feed this lot in one yard – even if you spread 4 feeding bins from one end of the LARGE yard to the other – the horses and the goats manage to be everywhere at once and the sheep barely get a look in.  Ratbags!  I sorted it in the end, but not before I had ran the length of the yard at least 6 times, cajoled and then gently shoved two twisting & bunting goats out a gate, and run after the horses with a bucket.

In sharp contrast, I put two bins of feed down in the stable yard with the newbies and they all quietly walked up and congenially shared their feed with each other.  Ahhhh… what angels. Perhaps the stress of the journey has made them unusually cooperative, but somehow, I think these guys are used to peace and mutual respect.  My smile lingers and then slips into a worried frown… “I hope they can handle my lot!”

Meanwhile in the adjoining yard; “MAAAAAAAAA!!!!” THUD!!! There goes my precious goats again.

The newbies observe the new surrounds.
Introducing Jack & Julio (Alpacas) and Minty, Lucy, Lily Lamb, Mary, Kath & Kel. <3

 

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