Poor Rattle. He's been spending quite a bit of his time in trees the last few days, no thanks to Squeak.
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| Rattle's cat clock imitation |
The ponies, meanwhile, are very pleased with life.
They've apparently decided that they can spare time during the day to nap instead of eating constantly.
When I went up to fill the water buckets they were hipshot in a semi-circle enjoying the breeze, but woke up long enough to investigate the possibility of lunch being delivered.
One of yesterday's projects was the barn stock tank - between the hay that's been dripped into it and the tank heater, it's developed some green scum. I'd heard some good things about this non-chemical stock tank cleaner so I ordered some and let the horses drink the tank down for a few days. The cleaner arrived yesterday, so I emptied the rest of the water out and rinsed the tank. The directions said no scrubbing required, so once I had it pretty well sprayed out I refilled it and added the cleaner.
It takes a one capful per 50 gallons, added once a week or so depending on usage. Pretty economical, considering a bottle is 32 oz. More info at Aspire Premium Equine Products....
Got the tank full, only to discover that it had sprung a leak... right at the bottom, of course. After some fiddling around with various ideas that didn't work, I finally got a latex glove out of the first-aid stuff, plastered it over the hole on the inside of the tank and then screwed a nail through it until the leak stopped. It's temporary, but it'll work until the horses drink the tank down and I can JB weld it or I can locate a rubber washer & bolt combo that will work to seal it.
On the plus side, my make-shift patch held water overnight and the tank's clean. We'll see if the remaining algae disappears and how quickly, and if it actually works long-term.
5 comments:
Definitely let us know if it works - I've got a nasty tank outside I've avoided refilling because it's got the same scum.
Bags of barley, available at TSC and some other feed stores, is supposed to help prevent tank scum. I haven't used it, but it's supposed to work.
Poor Rattle. Squeak must be ferocious to keep him treed so much or does Rattle have a timid personality?
Speaking of cats, I got the name of a place that received grant money to do low cost spays and it's only a 20 min drive from here! I'm sooo excited to call first thing tomorrow!!
The ponies look great. Silly beasts can always eat can't they.
I'm interested to hear if that water additive works. Good luck fixing the tank. We went to those black poly tanks, no leaks since the switch.
Tank is staying pretty clear thus far, but I'll keep you posted :) Hadn't heard about using bags of barley, but it sounds interesting... have to wonder if it wouldn't end up being a bit like soup, though.
Kellie, that's great about the low cost spays! Fingers crossed it pans out!
I called and talked to the folks and have my name on the list for actaul FREE spay! I about fell over! Imagine that!! Yes, I'll be making them batches and batches of cookies lol
That's fantastic news! And I bet the cookies will be greatly enjoyed, too :)
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