He's here!

Leroy arrived late on Monday night. He is one BIG boy, but oh, he is skinny as all heck. He is not much better then Jen was. Totally emaciated butt, no topline at all, his spine sticks up about 6", no fat between his ribs at all, no shoulder or neck muscling. He even has a big "wattle" of hanging skin hanging off his neck, where he used to have a big ole drafty neck.

He seems to be quite traumatized. The poor boy just breaks my heart. He really has no use for humans, and has a perpetual worried expression. He doesn't take his eyes off me for a moment, he's just always watching. He also drools, a lot. I think his teeth are extremely painful. But he also doesn't want to be handled. He has dried mud up to his knees from the broker lot, I really want to get it off him, but he really just doesn't want to be messed with. I did catch him long enough the other night to measure him for a blanket, as soon as I touched his body with the tape, he just spun around trying to get away. He does not want any tack on his body at all.

So I've been sitting on a rock just doing nothing for awhile every day while he eats, and eats, and eats, and eats. Today he let me brush him a little bit. So I got greedy, and brought out the blanket, hoping he would let me put one on him. Nope, he wanted NO PART of any human-contrived contraption anywhere near his body. My heart is just breaking for the poor boy. Obviously nobody has ever cared about him for his entire life. Humans have just used his body, then tossed him out with the garbage. His joints creak and groan, and he's just thoroughly used up. I think being so skinny is the only thing that kept him off the slaughter truck for so long.

Today he started on grain, and I'm going to pick him up some oil tomorrow and start him on that, just in case of EPSM. I just hope he doesn't get too cold in this nasty cold, rainy November weather we are having, until he decides its OK enough here to let me blanket him.