Julep: Queen of the Quilt & Our 'Resident' Deer

 Julep & the Super-hero Quilt 

She looks so regal sitting there.  I hate to tell her this is

going to Cole who is our California grandson.

My next project will be for Cole's sister Kaitlyn.

I'm working on a Hello Kitty quilt top for her.

Julep

 Derby said...

She may be queen of the quilt but I'm king

of the warm blankets from the dryer.

Derby Sleeps 

He is such a sweetie and so attached to me.

 Deer Alert ... Deer Alert!

 Snacking along the way.

 Our 'resident' deer.

 I could tell this deer was walking funny in the woods the

other day.  She tends to stay around our house which drives

the westies crazy.  Now I know why - look closely at

her hoofs ... they are long and starting to curl up.

 Deer can sometimes grow hooves that are much longer than normal.

Long hooves in deer is not common, and it’s not something

most hunters will see in the field. This condition is referred

 to as foundering and the term comes from

the word “floundering” because under extreme 

conditions the animal appears to be floundering

 around as it walks. From reviewing the literature, 

there appears to be three main reasons for long 

hoof growth in deer, but all are related to diet.

A deer that exhibits foundering is taking in way

 too many carbohydrates. Either this is a problem directly

 related to the forage that the animal is eating 

or it has to do with the way the deer is processing its food. 

More often than not, it has to do with what the deer is eating. 

A diet high in corn or protein pellets contributes to foundering. 

Corn, of course, is primarily carbohydrates.

Hoof tissue is very similar to antler tissue. 

If you are feeding protein to grow larger bodied 

deer and larger antlers then you are also feeding to 

grow deer with longer hooves. Foundering is almost always 

the result of a deer consuming too many carbohydrates

 in the diet too fast. The result is a buildup of acid in the rumen, 

which kills the bacteria that digest carbohydrates. 

This action then results in an increasing pH in the blood 

that can hurt or possibly even kill the deer from acidosis.

White-tailed deer than have foundered long hooves

 will often walk on the backs of their hooves because

 the acid buildup agitates the growth plate in their hooves. 

As a result of the deer attempting to ease the pain, 

the hooves grow longer than normal because the 

hooves do not have proper contact with the ground. 

Without proper contact, the hooves do not wear down. 

This problem can be exacerbated on ”soft” soils because 

hoof wear is already decreased in these areas.

... and we learn something new each day ...

Wishing you a happy holiday season.