08/02/2010 by Rosemary.

This morning the boys and the sheep were all lined up at the gate waiting to go back out into second field.  I tried to ignore them but in the end I gave in, due to Stumpy’s plaintive baaing.  They were fine for an hour or so and then the sheep discovered they could get through the barbed wire into the double fenced double hedge row between us and Landrover Man’s fields.  Why they wanted to go in there I do not know but it was obviously far more interesting than the field.  It meant I had to crawl through the barbed wire to get them back and they tried to pretend they didn’t know where the gap was.  I was just giving up and crawling out when they shot down to the saggy bit, charged out and bounced up the field followed by three pronking wethers.  The barbed wire is one of the reasons I have to watch the alpacas like a hawk when they are in there.  Their little escapade was repeated as soon as my back was turned so they had to return to their paddock sooner than they wanted.

We have had snow flutters all day but it has not settled.  It was quite pretty snow but windy and very cold.  I remained warm though due to chasing sheep and searching for a 30 ton lorry which disappeared half way up the cut.  This is a true and mysterious story which I must try to remember to tell tomorrow but I have to finish now as Carl wants me to join him in the loft!  He is in a strange mood; in all seriousness he told me just now that I am maturing nicely, like a cheese (I hope he doesn’t mean I am starting to smell!).

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07/02/2010 by Rosemary.

I spent most of today tramping around clearing up hay spilt from hayracks, waste spilt from alpaca bottoms and sweet wrappers spilt from Sam’s trouser pockets.  During my solitary wanderings I debated the theme for this year’s cria names.  We did have a suggestion made at the bTB awareness meeting and I was weighing this up against the alternatives -

• Names of tractors (Sam’s idea) - Westhill Valtra sounds good but I am not so keen on Westhill Pasquali and Westhill  International Harvester is a definite No!  There is some mileage in it but not this year!
• Names of birds was another suggestion but, although Westhill Robin is alright, Westhill Thrush does  not sound good!
• I liked the idea of characters from Dickens but Westhill The Golden Dustman is probably a step too far.

In the end, as Carl was at a Trial today, I decided to stick to the original idea which Rob the Spanner will immediately guess.  Now I can’t wait for the first birth - it is not until May and Carolyn went over a year last time so it is no good thinking too much about that.

I was solitary today as Carl was not the only one doing motorised activities.  Sam disappeared on his quad straight after church and I saw little  of him.  He kept flashing past shouting things like, “Just changing the water in the troughs, Mum!” and, “Just got to fix my brakes, Mum!” totally ignoring my frantic efforts to gain his attention in order to get him to empty the wheel barrow!

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06/02/2010 by Rosemary.

A busy waste management and fencing day today.  It rained heavily in the night which I knew would make waste management harder.  I thought it would make hole digging easier but apparently not.  Carl had to have a hearty bowl of soup at lunchtime as I changed my mind about where the one of the corner posts should go - after he had dug the hole! He and Sam are looking a little depressed about it all in this photo but that was before the soup, that cheered them up!

C

The sheep and wethers loved their trip into second field but  Cool Dude and some of the girls were a little jealous.

As soon as I got the top gate open, the barn girls came charging up, almost leaving poor little Lily behind (she can’t see too well because of her fringe which needs trimming!).

I thought we might have trouble getting the sheep back in the evening but, as soon as they heard the feed bucket they came trotting down, followed by the boys.  Unfortunately, after having their feed, they took to head butting the chickens when they realised they were not going out again.  Mind you, the new ex battery hens are feisty little things and can stand up for themselves.

la

. . . and, on the subject of chickens, the old ex battery hens have now taken to  laying their eggs in one of the hay racks.

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05/02/2010 by Rosemary.

My blood is boiling at the moment, I am so cross!  Carl and Sam popped down to the garage this evening and as they drove from Bell Hill towards Okeford they spotted a Transit parked in the lay-by with a newish 4×4 parked behind - two men, heads down, in the Transit.  When they returned ten minutes later the 4×4 was ablaze and the Transit had gone.  Another vehicle had already stopped and phoned the emergency services - What a criminal waste of a vehicle, police time, fire service time, council tax.  It makes me so angry at such waste when people are suffering in Haiti with nothing, children with no resources in schools in Rwanda, elderly people afraid to put their heating on because of the cost and these idiots can do this!  Sorry - little rant!

Tomorrow fencing begins.  Well, hole digging anyway as the posts have to wait a week until some other debts have been seen to.  We are also giving the boys and sheep a treat and letting them out into second field while we are fencing - it’s a 10 acre field so whether we will ever get the sheep back afterwards is another matter! Photos of progress tomorrow!

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04/02/2010 by Rosemary.

Not much to report tonight as I have been very busy stuffing Lemur up the sleeve of a jumper and designing The Product.  These are unrelated tasks.  The Lemur is Sam’s teddy and is the closest thing I could find to a cria.  I have been stuffing him up the arm of a jumper in order to place him in difficult birthing positions and practise getting him out again.  I would have liked to use the kittens but they were uncooperative and anyway their necks are not long enough.  Lemur isn’t that satisfactory but was the best I could do and once I had rubber banded his tail to his body he was a bit better (just hope Sam doesn’t discover what I have been doing!). So, if you ever have a difficult Lemur birth you need help with . . . .

I am now searching for something to practise stomach tubing on!

Product design is quite exciting and the first major step is nearly taken!

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03/02/2010 by Rosemary.

Mammoth nail cutting operation last night (mine not the alpacas) in preparation for my lambing course today.  It turned into quite an eventful day.  Alf has settled down and stopped humming for Frank I am pleased to report.

After the normal round of managing waste and filling hay, I arrived back to find the Chippendales had arrived armed with bleach, soup and chocolates. They set to cleaning the house while I popped down to the library van where we had delicious biscuits with cherries on the top.  I was also given some padded envelopes which are much appreciated as I used the last yesterday to post off another book sale.  Thank you!  On the way back up the cut I reversed into the side to let a lady past and unfortunately ended up thoroughly stuck in the mud.  I tried rocking it, wiggling the wheel around and revving it, putting the dog blanket under the wheels, pushing it, kicking it, swearing at it, reversing it, digging mud out from under it, praying over it - then up behind came a man in a landrover.  I don’t know who he was - a jolly young chap.  We both peered at it, walked round it and final decided it was stuck.  He managed to slide past and then  got his tow rope out.  We almost floundered at this point as there appeared to be no where to put the tow rope but then he prised off a little cap on the front and he found a large bolt in the spare wheel which screwed into it and away we went!  After that excitement I had soup with the Chippendales and then headed off for my lambing course.  It was very well led by Lucy and I succeeded in delivering a lovely (dead) black lamb who had inadvertently got his head tucked back and his legs facing the wrong way.  Alpacas are going to be slightly more tricky with the long neck but it is good practise.  I got the hang of telling whether they were front or back legs I was holding, not too bad when you get the hang of feeling which way the joints bend.  We then went into stomach tubing and tried it out on several lambs (also dead) with a demonstration on a live one.  That was the bit I was most worried about as I didn’t know how you could tell if it went down the wrong hole but you can actually feel  and, at the start of the tubes journey, see that it is in the right place. I managed it by repeating to myself - “Put it in on the right and feel on the left” over and over again.  A very good course with friendly vets but I won’t say I am looking forward to trying it out for real!

Now Carl is mending the bath tap which has decided not to release any water, Sam is making a box for his quad and I am dosing myself up with paracetamol (whilst eating chocolates).

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02/02/2010 by Rosemary.

Despite my aching limbs, I cleared all waste; just before the drizzle and wind picked up.  I was also inspired by Rob’s blog to try for some photos, particularly trying to get a reasonable picture of some of the alpacas who have not appeared on the blog for a while.  First, though, this is the quarantine pen, hopefully reserved for new girls!

And here is the next bit of field to be fenced - starting this Saturday, finishing?!

Then I had to have a picture of Stumpy, my current favourite sheep!

This is supposed to be a picture of Crispie (the one on the right) but as usual, Lina hijacked the picture!

And finally, Belinda, who kept getting too close to the camera but I managed in the end.  She is due her first cria in May.

This afternoon the vicar called, lovely to see him but - Oh the state of my house!  First he had to negotiate an overflowing cat litter tray, then brave the cold in the front room (no heating on) - his hands were like ice when he left!  Then when I made a cup of tea he followed me into the kitchen where I still hadn’t unblocked the sink or washed up from last night.  The alpacas live in greater cleanliness than we do!

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01/02/2010 by Rosemary.

Sadly, Frank died.  The others left him in the early hours and went back up the hill.  I think they know when one of them is going to die and get away, presumably to remove themselves from the threat of any predators that might arrive.  He must have struggled out of the barn at some point; I found him alive but stretched out and obviously near the end.  I sat with him and he suddenly put his head in my lap and died with a big sigh.  My first entry in my shiny new movement book is a death which I had not wanted.  I have also now got a dreadful cold - probably from sitting in the remainder of the snow with Frank.

I took Frank for his Post Mortem, unfortunately he was not quite so bendy as he was and his head would not stay down in the boot so I ended up driving along with a dead alpaca staring out of the back window.  Luckily, he slumped before we hit the school run traffic.  He also smelt a bit so I had to drive along with the window open which did not do my cold much good.  The vet was very good and did the PM straight away.  It is a worry waiting for the results but she was quick and phoned back this evening.  She found his heart was paper thin  on one side and had a lot of fluid around it.  It seems he was born with a heart defect and it was not even noticeable on the vet check we had done on him.  Our bio security measures following a death had already kicked in with everything possible being disinfected and associated animals being quarantined.  Luckily, it was not necessary so the others can return to normal but I think you have to react quickly and do everything you can.  Alf is humming  lot, he was his best friend, but I am sure he will soon find a new friend in the herd and Alf’s new owner will be looking out for a new companion for him from this year’s cria.

Now I want 2010 to pick up a bit!!

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31/01/2010 by Rosemary.

The snow didn’t amount to too much but it is still lying in places this evening and it has been very cold with icy roads.

A panic this morning as Frank was off colour.  He is actually sold but he had been slow at putting on weight since weaning, refusing to eat Camelibra, sugar beet or the oats, and so we had delayed the sale until I was totally happy with his health.  I am not selling any animal I am not 100% happy with.  He is normally very placid, easy to catch and handle, but has never eaten any of the supplementary feed.  As the sun was out today I thought he was simply sunbathing and none of them disturb themselves whilst I am waste managing around them.  Carolyn was stretched out snoring and I assumed he was doing the same.  It went on rather long though so I went to have a closer inspection and he didn’t rise when I sat down beside him - not a good sign as you can only normally do that with Lily and Bert.  I got the vet out straight away and she checked him over - normal temperature, respiratory rate, lung and stomach sounds normal, heart rate and gums normal, eyes good - just very quiet.  He is underweight, which we knew, but he had been clear on liver fluke, E-mac, coccidiosis, worms.  He had had his vitamin injection monthly and earlier he had the course of selenium.  We gave him a precautionary Nuflor injection and she said it looked as if, being underweight, he might have got chilled last night with the bitter cold and not being in the shelter or with the others.  He certainly wasn’t with them this morning, they were all crowded in the field shelter, but what was going on in the night I don’t know.  She advised watching him closely over the next day or two and keeping him sheltered in a barn with a friend for a couple of days, trying to get the Camelibra into him.  Well, that is no mean feat with no proper barn and not being within sight and . . . . no, I will not go on about that again!!  We have done what we can and swapped the groups round yet again, I’ll check him as regularly as is possible and we’ll see how he goes.

The boys were away beating today.  It was Keeper’s Day and they were raving about the wonders of the Shooting Lodge (I’d rather have a barn) and the vast quantities of delicacies they had to eat.

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29/01/2010 by Rosemary.

Quick blog tonight as the Camelid Movement book has arrived from the BAS and I want to study it.  It looks a lot easier to use than our current system so should be good.

Bert was a real pain at feed time tonight.  I had fed her group of girls and I put the feed bucket down with all the little bowls on top, which I use for dishing it out and to feed the ones who will not eat out of the trough.  When I turned round to pick it up, after filling the hay rack, she had taken all the little bowls out and was guzzling the rest of the feed out of the bucket.

As I came back over from feeding there was a little blizzard - hope that is not a precursor of more to come!

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