Almost Winter
November 8, 2009 by
Filed under Just Humming Along
It is almost winter here at Encore and we have begun to prepare for the cold winter winds. Even the animals seem to know that the warm sunny days are numbered and they try to enjoy every moment that they can. Do they really have a sense of what is coming? Do they feel the days shorten and sense these cool nights mean no more lush pasture for months. I think they do. They just don’t talk about it as much as I do…
The cria’s are now eating grain in the cria pen and loving every min of it. They think dinner time is now great fun since they get to act like the rest of the big alpacas and have their own pen to go into for grain. Sima who is one of the older cria’s has not been interested in things so unimportant as grain, until today. Today she finally took a mouth full. She immediately knew why the other cria had loved it so much, it was delicious. Such big gals in such little bodies.
The Vet Visited Encore Alpacas…again!
September 30, 2009 by
Filed under Just Humming Along
We have gotten to know our vet pretty well this past couple of weeks. It is not always like this with the alpacas but like with any animal there are times when they have their share of needs. Today the vet came to stitch up a cut on our little girl, Brianna’s eye. She cut it a week or so ago but the staples the vet put in didn’t hold so today we stitched it. It is always amazing to me how resilient animals and small children are. They put up with things that would bring your average adult to their knees and just keep going. In Brianna’s case, in order to protect her eye, the vet showed me how to put a spoon (concave side down) under the edge of her bottom eyelid to protect her eye during the procedure. It was one of those simple (to me, not Brianna) but incredibly bright ideas that works so well. Brianna did a great job holding still during the procedure and her eye looks great.
With Brianna back on her feet and her eye looking terrific. I guess I will have to find some other way to spend my time other than meeting my vet. That is until two weeks from now when our girl Sharona Rose is due and then Doc will be making his way back to the farm to see us again. Oops, I forgot, we have plans to see him at an alpaca farm open house on Saturday. I wonder if he has plans for Sunday…….
Cria’s and Their Mothers
September 29, 2009 by
Filed under Just Humming Along
It is a cold night here at Encore Alpaca Farm. I still could not resist standing outside and watching the mothers and their new cria. Each mother just like human beings have different ways of watching over their babies. Sarah who is a first time mother has decided to live by the motto, “It Takes a Village to Raise a Child”. She, although a great mother has found that the other females in the herd do an excellent job of watching her baby when she is away from mom. In fact, some days “Sima” spends so much time with the other in the herd that I think she has forgotten who she belongs to. However, when it comes to food she knows just where the faucets are and has no trouble getting her fill. Lilly, and her cria Lexi have more of a traditional mother, daughter relationship. Lexi comes to her mothers every call and as a six week old, Lexi can not think of anyone she would rather be with. Bretta plays the role of the more conservative protective mother and lets you know that she is keeping an eye on your every move when you are around her baby Brianna. She runs a tight ship however Brianna does not always respect the rules as she should. As a result you can often hear Bretta making clicking sounds at her letting her know to get back in line…… Not that Brianna listens but Bretta still gives a lot of instructions.
And so I watch the dance of the mother and daughters. Fascinated by each interaction. Ain’t life great.
