DAYS END FARM HORSE RESCUE - DEFHR

Our petting zoo critters all arrived at DEFHR as a result of unfortunate circumstance. Below are some of their stories. All the petting zoo animals below are available for Foster Care.

	Moose - 12 year old male neutered sheep Moose arrived with Mini. They had both been locked in a trailer in Baltimore County. We were asked by animal control if we could house them for a while until homes were found. I think they have found their home. Moose is very friendly. Although a very well behaved sheep, when he was small, my daughter Jen used to play batting games with him. (his head to her shoulder) This was all fine and good until he got to be a few hundred pounds. To this day if he sees her she is his target. He just wants to play but she ends up flat out. Fortunately he only directs that game at Jen.
Pepper - 10 year old male neutered sheep Pepper arrived at Days End following deliver horses to their new home. Dani and Stoney were delivered to their new adopters in Baltimore county. Upon arrival we noticed a very young lamb walking around the property. We were told that his ewe had delivered three babies and could only feed two and they were having to bottle feed him three times a day. They had been trying to find him a home but with no success. They said they were going to have to put him down because they could no longer care for him on this intense schedule. Needless to say, we brought him to DEFHR and continued the bottle feeding reguime.
	Nathaniol Bacon is a 7 year old part pot bellied and part domestic, male, neutered pig. He was placed in a cardboard box and dropped in the parking lot at Howard County Animal Control. He was very thin and had mange at the time. We were contacted by animal control and asked if we could take him in. At the time, we already had Priscilla and she needed a friend, as we all do, so Nate became part of the petting zoo family. He now weighs in over 100 pounds and is very healthy. He loves his pettings and scratches. If you rub his belly he will lay down and he will sit for treats. He is very clever, if a volunteer happens to leave his gate closed but unlatched, he will use his snout to slide open the door and visit the other critters on the farm . Fortunately, all it takes is a glare from one of us and he waddles back to his pen.
Priscilla - is an 8 year old female pig. Priscilla has not been fixed because it would be a major operation for her and unfortunately it is very hard to determine the correct anestesia for pigs.Priscilla was dropped off at Carroll County Animal Control becasue her owners said she was too hard to handle. We discoved after about a week at Days End, she was deaf. He vision is also very limited. Her and Nate hit it off right away and became the perfect couple. Unfortunately, once a month, Priscilla comes into heat and at that time Nate doesn't want anything to do with her. She gets very moody and screeched ALOT. If you happen to be volunteering at Days ENd you will know without a doublt when she comes into heat. Most of the time her and Nate sleep cuddled up together in their stall but when she comes into heat, Nate hides out in the Pigloo until she gets over it!!
	Reba is a 16 year old goat. She came to DEFHR to avoid the auction. She was very ill. She was later diagnosed with lung worm and it took many months for her to recover. We took her in to be a buddy for Suzie-Q, who unfortunately passed on a few years ago from old age. We had gotten suzie-Q to keep Sandy, a Pony that had come in with corneal ulcers (scratches in his eyes from being tied to a tree) company because he had to be kept in a dark stall until he recovered and we didn't want him to be lonely. Reba is very friendly and becasue of her unfortunate overbite she always looks like she is smiling at you!
Mini - is an 12 year old female goat. Mini as I explained came with Moose. She is a very friendly goat and loves to play. In the evening when the temperature has cooled down they all come out of their sheds and play a game that I call "Red Rover". Some of you may have played that game yourselves as young children. It can be quite hysterical to watch them play. First they pick sides. (Invariably the goats are on one side and the sheep on the other. Then someone give the signal to start and one leaves the pack on one side to start banging heads with the ones on the other side. They can keep this up for hours and provide much entertainment. Mini is almost always the first to start the game.
	Travis is a 6 year old neutered sheep. We had been called out by Animal Control because there was a bunch of sheep loose in the woods. It was winter and there was snow on the ground and at that time they did not have four-wheel drive in any of their vehicles. Travis was delivered while his mom was on the run. Unfortunately he was born with contracted tendons and could not stand on his own to catch up with his mom. We were asked to take care of him until his owner was found. As it turned out, his owner did not want him back so he stayed with us. Travis was made comfortable with a bed in the office and given bottle feedings every 2 hours. We had gotten some colustrum from a local sheep farm since his mom was not there to give it to him. (colustrum is what all newborn babies get from their moms to protect them from infection) Anyway, Travis lived in the house for two months. We put splints on his legs using finger splints from the local pharmacy so he could get around. Before long he was getting strong and running with the dogs. Homer, our jack russell/corgie cross was his protector. When people came to the door the dogs all greeted them with their barking. Travis ran with them and you could hear his Baa Baa above them all. Unfortunatley all good things come to an end and as Travis got bigger and healthier, he started to chew the phone cords in the house, we knew he needed to go out and make new friends in the petting zoo.
Lightning - is an 4 year old female pygmy goat. Lightning came to Days End from Howard County Animal Control. They had found her hiding under a deck in someone's back yard in the middle of a thunder storm, hence her name. she was very frightened. They managed to catch her and asked if we could hold her until her owner was found. No one came to claim her and she now resides at Days End. She is still not very well acclimated to people however we are able to handle her for worming, shots and trimming her hooves. She is quite animated and always active either bouncing around on the wire wheels we have set out or ducking under the portable gates we have to seperate the petting zoo critter from the two ponies, Varmit, and Arrow.
	Tuttie-Fruttie is a 9 year old neutered male tabby cat. She was born at the old farm in 1994. When we moved to this facility we had to trap him to bring him over because we had not discovered his presence until he was too wild to handle. When we moved we left out dry food but he had been used to getting wet food as well every day. After about two weeks we went back and set up a cage in the loft of the barn with a can of tuna. It wasn't long before he went in and Allan quickly closed the cage. He got his name becasue as soon as he saw he was trapped he went crazy bouncing all over the cage, hanging from the ceiling of it and screaming to get out. We brought him to the new farm and fed him daily in the cage until he became more use to people and then took him to the vet and had him neutered and vaccinated. He has become a very welcome face at the farm and always swirls his body against your legs for pettings. Do be careful however, when you quit petting him he is never satisfied and will sometimes bat at you with his paws to continue.