Water

Water is such an important part of an animals diet, and of course ours too.

Each morning and each evening we give the rabbits fresh water, because the old water has froze. They are quiet eager to get it and Dean will come right out and drink. Roz on the other hand is shy and will wait until I leave.

I also check the chickens water every day. I bought a heated dog waterer for the chickens, but it has been freezing up lately. So in the mornings the chickens follow me around, because they know I have water. The excess water that I toss out after filling their dish, and making mash for Kelzon and Nikki gets thrown out. The chickens will run over and drink the puddle dry. They don't understand that they have fresh water in their coop. By the time they go back to the coop the water I have put out is near frozen. So, I have taken to bringing extra water for them in the morning and letting them drink out of an ice cream bucket while I measure out horse food.

Yesterday evening I noticed when the horses finished eating they ran across the field to a small patch of snow protected from the sun by the shade of some tall weeds. They seemed to be digging in it, and I was curious whether it was the snow they were interested in or the grass below. This morning I brought the leftover water out to the horses and Gunnar stuck his head right into the 5 gallon bucket and drank. Aha (light goes off) ! The digging in the snow must be for thirst reasons. This lead to a trek across the field to check their tanks, and sure enough it was empty. I filled it up and they came eagerly to drink when I called them. I could have sworn I checked it last week, but it must have been longer. I have noted it on my calendar to remind myself to check it on a more regular basis. I miss having a tank within easy walking distance. The tank is at my in-laws, so while it fills I need to wait. It takes about 40 minutes, which isn't too bad. It's well worth the pay off of having them in the big pasture. Now before you turn me in to an animal activast, they weren't dying of thirst, just thirsty. In fact only two of the horses even seemed interested when I offered the bucket.

My kittens love water. They seem fascianted by the tub running. They really don't like to be wet, but it's fun to play in. While I fill the 5 gallon bucket each morning, Osa in particular will watch and hang over the bucket reaching to get at it. A couple of days ago they came upstairs and meowed at the sink, so I got them a bowl of water. After each taking a drink, they sat and stared at the water. Then, quite dilaberately Osa stuck his paw in the water, looked at Timmy and then touched his wet paw to Timmy's head. I think he baptizing him! Shortly after that I went downstairs to do kitty chores and found their downstairs water dish tipped over. Thus the thirst issue.

And finally there is Mick our beloved dog. Mick has a constant supply of water outside in a heated dog dish. The only story I have about Mick and water is that her perfers not to get his nose wet. In fact he will drink with his nose on the lip of the bowl.

And with that I remind your to drink your eight glasses today, but do it early, I'd hate for you to get up in the middle of the night and blame it on me!