Firenze's New Coat

It's been a while, hasn't it? I had foot surgery last Friday and have not been able to go out to the barn or pasture to visit with the 'paca girls. I have had to be content to view them from the back door or one of the back windows. Not exactly the same as hand feeding them and listening to their calming hum. If the temperature had not dropped from the 40s when I last ventured outside to the current high today of 18 degrees I might be tempted to bundle up and hobble outside on crutches. But last night about 1/2 inch of dry snow fell and Rich has forbidden me to go out.

Two nights ago, when the winds were gusting at 40 mph, Rich locked the herd up inside the barn for the night. Our black beauty, Firenze, does not like to be locked inside and is constantly checking the window in the barn door and making distressing, whiny, little noises. She clearly likes to be free even in the worst weather. Last night she got wise to Rich's strategy of closing the door as they were busily feeding  and she refused to come inside until he had left the pasture. Smart. So he left the door open a crack all night. In the morning he usually finds them all sleeping close to the door in the "barn yard." I guess they are smart enough to know when to come inside.

A couple of weeks ago we purchased a coat for Firenze since she is older and her fleece doesn't get as full as the younger girls. When the weather forecast predicted high winds and low temperatures Rich got his brother, Danny, to help him put the coat on Firenze. Another thing she barely tolerates, but it reassures us that she has an extra measure of protection against the elements. The coat is a bright red and stands out against her true black fleece. If she only realized how attractive she looks I am sure that she would strut her stuff like a model on the catwalk!

Mango Makes Progress!

Pressley came out this afternoon to work with the girls again. It was unusually warm for January; 54 degrees. Unfortunately, because it was misty and very wet in the pasture, we had to work in the little barn. Pressley and I grabbed Mango first and haltered her. With very little initial resistance, Mango walked around the barn on the lead with Pressley in control. Mango is only eight months old and is progressing very quickly in her training. Pressley is also moving forward in her training. She is becoming very adept at grabbing and subduing the animals and they are responding positively to her.

Leeza, on the other hand, was being extremely stubborn today. While I held Leeza, Pressley put her halter on and took over from there. A few weeks ago, Leeza, walked around the pasture for Pressley like a champ. Today, not so much. First she put her head down, dug her heels in and would not even take the first step. No amount of coaxing could get Leeza to take a step forward and at one point she even kushed down in the straw and refused to budge. Pressley patiently kept trying to get her to move. No way. I tried to get her to take a step or two just to let her know that we weren't going to let her off the hook that easily. She needs to know that the people who feed and house her are the ones in charge. After one small step we let her go. The next nice day we will try again outside in the pasture. Maybe she feels more secure walking outside.

We also held both Firenze and mama Took to do a body score on each of them. They have both been getting an extra pound of sweet feed hand fed to them each day that it is 40 degrees or less outside to help them keep up their weight during gestation. Took is staying steady at a healthy weight and Firenze has finally put on some weight and feels much less bony. It seems that Firenze's intestinal problems have finally gone away, too.

Tonight I close by wishing my patient, thoughtful and handsome husband a happy anniversary!

Lead Training Mango

Yesterday was sunny and calm outside if a bit cold. The alpaca girls just love being outside in the sunshine and were positively basking in it.

This morning Rich decided was going to be a work day. It was, in fact, time to put baby Mango in a halter and hook up a lead and walk her like a big girl! We anticipated some resistance from mama Took because she is still somewhat protective of her baby. The plan was to corral both of them, hook up Took first and then Mango in the hope that Mango would follow her more experienced mama around on the lead. As luck would have it, Mango was the first one in our path when we backed them into the corner. Rich grabbed her around the neck and I snapped on the halter and the lead. After snugging up the halter a bit I took over the lead and held fast. Mango bucked a bit and then just stood there facing me, the lead taut between us. 

As we faced off, the other three ladies just stood by the door and watched. Took was not distressed in any way and they all were more curious than anything else. It was almost like they were wondering how Mango would tolerate being haltered and led. They seemed to stand by humming their encouragement to her. Mango pulled back and resisted a bit at first. I kept telling her what a good girl she was and encouraging her and she took a hesitating step forward. The two of us did the "resist-step" dance around the barn a bit. When Rich opened the barn door, the other three rushed out and Mango started to rush with them until she realized that I was still attached to her at the other end of the lead. We continued our dance, one step at a time, out into the door yard of the barn and a few feet out into the pasture. This continued for about 15 minutes with Mango becoming more cooperative as time went on until she had finally reached the end of her tolerance. She bucked a couple of times and I ended the lesson. It was a very satisfactory lesson and we will continue to practice with her each week until she is walking the show ring like a champion!

Happy New Year From The Farm!

Tonight Rich and I went outside before our dinner to feed the "girls"  leaving behind a Kong-full of peanut butter to distract Callie who gets a bit jealous when we spend time in the barn without her. I took the camera out to snap a few pictures of the girls in the snow. They are not venturing out too far into the pasture the last couple of days. Our theory is that the snow is more compact and icy and not like the soft, fluffy first snow of Christmas. We think that when the snow is crunchy it is not so comfortable to their padded feet and it has a tendency to cling to their fleecy "leggings," thus they stay in the barn doorway or the small door yard just outside.  Rich tried to herd them out into the snow and then back towards the camera. They just comically circled back around him and stayed as close to the barn as they could without going inside for their feed either. Consequently I never got the "running in the snow" picture that I was aiming for. Rich corralled them into the barn and we gave Firenze her daily pro-biotic dose and fed them and hung around for a while just talking to them.

The girls prefer to stay in the dooryard.

 Baby Mango was tempted by the sweet feed.

 

On Sunday, Pressley, my student who is a 4-H member and plans to make our alpacas her fair project for next summer, came by with her mom to spend another hour with the girls. That was the first day of Firenze's pro-biotic regimen so Pressley got to help corral her and administer the dose. She also got to help halter Firenze and Leeza and walk them around a bit. Pressley grabbed and held Leeza practically all by herself while I put the halter on her (the alpaca-not Pressley)! Then she took over. Leeza was a bit resistant to being walked in the snow but Pressley was patient and stood her ground and eventually Leeza followed. All-in-all it was a good training session both for the alpacas and Pressley.

 

Pressley walking Firenze

 Putting the halter on Leeza

 

Halter training Leeza

 



Time to remove the halter.

 

Out here at Buckeye Star Alpaca Farm, Rich and I and all of our four-legged "girls" are optimistic for 2013. We are at the start of a whole new adventure and are having new experiences every day and look forward to learning more and more about these fascinating creatures. So far every day has been a joyous new experience. (even the frustrating ones) We wish for everyone a healthy, happy and joyous new year!

A Field Trip and Mango Wears a Halter For The First Time

It's 33 degrees, snowy, and breeze outside. I have bronchitis and a sinus infection. Today Rich decided we need to put halters on Mango for the first time. This involves first, herding all of the girls into the barn and closing the door (sounds easier than it is) and secondly, cutting out the designated animal from the herd. The second part is actually the easier part of the operation. Today the girls definitely weren't hungry enough to come into the barn voluntarily when we put out some of their favorite snack, sweet feed. They also seemed to sense that something was up as I sat shivering on the edge of the hay rick with a scoop of sweet feed in my hand, not very patiently trying to coax them deeper into the little red barn. Rich was messing about with the feed boxes just outside the gate. I am convinced they realize when there are two of us hovering about with determined looks on our faces that they will soon be the object of some awkward attempt to corner and restrain one of them for something unpleasant. We tried for about 15 minutes and gave up.

I went inside, took off my barn shoes and prepared to relax on the couch when Rich stuck his head in the back door and shouted, "They're all in the barn." He quickly slammed the door and retreated to the barn without giving me a chance to respond. A very wise move on  his part. He knows me so well.

Muttering some unrepeatable epithets under my breath, I suited up again and stomped out to the barn. This time we were successful. First we haltered baby Mango for the first time ever. She bucked a bit at first and then just stood her ground facing us down. She even took a step or two after she calmed down. We took off the halter and released her. Then we cornered her mama, Took, who calmed immediately when we put the halter and lead on her. Rich was able to lead her around in the barn and out into the snow covered pasture. She clearly was experienced at this.

 

This morning we took a quick trip out to Amy J's Homestead Alpacas where we purchased our four girls. We needed to pick up a special blend of sweet feed and ask a few questions about alpaca coats, medication and a few other topics. As always Amy was so patient with us and readily and cheerfully answered all of our questions. We were so lucky when we chose to visit her farm during our research phase of this endeavor. She is the best mentor we could have ever chosen. She honestly answers any question we ask from care of alpacas to tax questions. We are so thankful for this association. While there we visited the animals in the barn. I snapped a few pictures of the most darling crias in their winter coats snacking at the feed bin and nursing from their moms.

Blizzard!

All of the meteorologists at all of the major television stations predicted blizzard conditions for today, and although we here in Seneca County Ohio are on a level 2 snow emergency I really wouldn't consider it a blizzard. For a short time today it snowed heavily and there is some wind but it never reached the constant 35 mph that constitutes a blizzard. We probably have about four inches of snow and it is blowing and shifting. Rich and I went out earlier to check on the alpaca girls who are locked safely in the barn today. We spent some time letting them eat sweet feed from our hands. Rich shoveled out the small pile of "beans" that they had deposited. The small barn is a tight, warm shelter from the winds. It smells pleasantly of hay and warm alpacas. It's a nice place to spend a half hour. In the short time we were out in the barn with the girls the wind had filled in our footprints in the snow drifts between the house and barn.

It was a good night for soup so I cooked up a pot of cheesy corn chowder for supper and served it with pulled pork sandwiches made from the leftovers of the Sunday celebration. We have probably six inches of snow and may get more tonight. According to the weather report we should have some more blowing and drifting. Rich and I are warmly settled in for the night and looking forward to the two creme brulees left from Christmas dinner at Amy's. I truly think that "life is good."





Merry Christmas!

We tried and tried to get the girls lined up for a Christmas picture and this was the best we could do. They absolutely refused to wear the Santa hats or neck garlands. I think that they were trying to let us know that they had way more dignity than the dog who happily wore her plaid, jingle bell collar all day at the family Christmas gathering out in our little studio/store.

Richard's side of the family gathered here Sunday; forty odd children and adults from under a year old up to my father-in-law who is 83, packed the little red barn studio for our annual Christmas celebration. This year both of our daughters, my son-in-law and the three grandkids were able to join us, too. It is a rare occasion when we can get the family all together like that. We missed our nephew who had to work and was the only one missing.

Our two granddaughters stayed all night with us that evening. Zaidee, eight, who was in from Oregon with our daughter, Susie, had a wonderful time with her cousin, Olivia, 14. Zaidee looks up to Olivia and adores her. Olivia is so patient with the little ones. It was an early Christmas gift for me. Then on Monday we drove to Columbus to rejoin our daughter Amy, and son-in-law Steve, and favorite (and only) grandson, Max, to stay overnight and open gifts this morning. Steve is an excellent gourmet cook and made deep dish pizzas for dinner last night. Yummy. Unfortunately his grandmother was suddenly taken ill and he had to go to Toledo to see her in the hospital and missed the dinner he had planned for today. Amy, Susie and I managed to carry on and get dinner on the table. We all enjoyed the day in spite of the shadow of his grandma's illness. We hope and pray that she will be well soon.

Rich and I arrived home late this afternoon in time to batten down the hatches because a blizzard warning is in effect for tomorrow with the snow starting tonight. Rich managed to corral the girls and lock them in the barn for the night. They weren't happy about that and kept looking out of the barn door window, but we will rest easier knowing that they are in out of the wind.

Merry Christmas to everyone, from Buckeye Star Alpaca farm!