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One of the better days
10 July 2010 21:57Now that it's nearly over, and I don't have that silly fear that I'm going to jinx things, I'll say that today was a pretty good day. Tiring but good. I've spent a good part of it going back and forth between the various alpaca shelters and the house, but it was absolutely beautiful outside: light blue sky, cool breeze, warm temperature, and dry air.
I've had the place to myself for most of the day. Maddie is at her dad's; Dar and Mark are at a wedding. Even Deb was gone almost all day. Just me, three cats, about forty alpacas, and a few flies. Silence except for the ambient sounds of farm country. Yep, it was pretty good.
I spent about an hour and a half cleaning and refilling the wading pools for the little boys in their paddock and then both sides of the girls' areas. You can't just refill the pools, you see - you have to spray the alpacas, too. They insist. Really, really insist. There were only three boys, so that was pretty easy. Then I wandered over to their fence line with Daniel and hosed him down, too, for which he seemed very pleased. It's the girls who take the time simply because there are so many of them, and everyone wants to get soaked down by the hose while you're trying to fill the pools. There's a lot of jostling and humming, and I try to be sure to get everyone dripping wet. Alpacas moderate body heat through their bellies and their feet, so you aim for those places first to cool them down. They also like their butts sprayed. But then, really, who doesn't?
So that took a while. Then there was a lot of popping out to check on the new baby, Olympia. The big thing to watch for - besides checking to be sure that she's nursing well - is that she's still in the paddock and hasn't crawled under the fence and gone wandering. That's not that uncommon with our new crias, unfortunately; your first clue is when you see the mom running madly up and down the fence line, frantic because she can't get to her baby. Sigh. But so far, so good. Olympia does not like being in the barn but her mom does, so I was out a couple of times to be sure she wasn't scampering around outside the fence, and also to be sure that she and mom got in their nursing time.
Then there was the running of errands this morning and doing the evening chores. This morning there was also some spit checking going on. A week after a breeding, we check to see if the dam is pregnant. We do this by getting her alone in a pen and bringing a very horny male in there with her. If she's not pregnant, she'll sit for him. If she is pregnant, she runs away and spits at him as he madly chases her. Hence spit checking. We had one girl who's still open, and two who are pregnant. In case you were keeping track. Deb also had to take a couple of her boys out to other farms for breedings there, so that meant catching and harnessing the guys and getting them into the trailer. This is breeding season, so Deb and her boys are on the road a lot. Also, some people bring their girls here to be bred. There's a lotta sexin' goin' on around here. By the alpacas, anyway :)
I'm dead tired, and I couldn't do this every day (although most of it is on the daily schedule), but it felt good to be productive and to be out with the alpacas.
I've had the place to myself for most of the day. Maddie is at her dad's; Dar and Mark are at a wedding. Even Deb was gone almost all day. Just me, three cats, about forty alpacas, and a few flies. Silence except for the ambient sounds of farm country. Yep, it was pretty good.
I spent about an hour and a half cleaning and refilling the wading pools for the little boys in their paddock and then both sides of the girls' areas. You can't just refill the pools, you see - you have to spray the alpacas, too. They insist. Really, really insist. There were only three boys, so that was pretty easy. Then I wandered over to their fence line with Daniel and hosed him down, too, for which he seemed very pleased. It's the girls who take the time simply because there are so many of them, and everyone wants to get soaked down by the hose while you're trying to fill the pools. There's a lot of jostling and humming, and I try to be sure to get everyone dripping wet. Alpacas moderate body heat through their bellies and their feet, so you aim for those places first to cool them down. They also like their butts sprayed. But then, really, who doesn't?
So that took a while. Then there was a lot of popping out to check on the new baby, Olympia. The big thing to watch for - besides checking to be sure that she's nursing well - is that she's still in the paddock and hasn't crawled under the fence and gone wandering. That's not that uncommon with our new crias, unfortunately; your first clue is when you see the mom running madly up and down the fence line, frantic because she can't get to her baby. Sigh. But so far, so good. Olympia does not like being in the barn but her mom does, so I was out a couple of times to be sure she wasn't scampering around outside the fence, and also to be sure that she and mom got in their nursing time.
Then there was the running of errands this morning and doing the evening chores. This morning there was also some spit checking going on. A week after a breeding, we check to see if the dam is pregnant. We do this by getting her alone in a pen and bringing a very horny male in there with her. If she's not pregnant, she'll sit for him. If she is pregnant, she runs away and spits at him as he madly chases her. Hence spit checking. We had one girl who's still open, and two who are pregnant. In case you were keeping track. Deb also had to take a couple of her boys out to other farms for breedings there, so that meant catching and harnessing the guys and getting them into the trailer. This is breeding season, so Deb and her boys are on the road a lot. Also, some people bring their girls here to be bred. There's a lotta sexin' goin' on around here. By the alpacas, anyway :)
I'm dead tired, and I couldn't do this every day (although most of it is on the daily schedule), but it felt good to be productive and to be out with the alpacas.
