Alpaca fencing, Spit offs and Tractors...a busy weekend

At last...we have new paddocks...with the latest fencing jobs nearly all complete, we were able to move the girls on to fresh grass this morning. I suspect that the fencing contractor has been rather enjoying his work here...especially with the weanlings to help...in fact he asked if he could be around to see the girls being moved...he is certainly intrigued by the alpacas and visa versa.

The Weanlings helping out

Pacing out the lengths

The girls enjoying the new paddock...with Velvet joining in

After spending a lot of time considering what to do about the dry stone wall around the perimeter of the new field, the solution was quite simple. I was concerned not only about the height of the wall but also the stability of the stones along the top. The solution pig netting at four feet...obvious really:

Dry stone wall with pig netting at four foot

Lots of new gates

After reading Rosemary's blog (Westhill Alpacas) this morning about spitting off (to check the pregnancy state of some of her females); I couldn't resist doing the same. We won't be doing any matings for at least another month but I was intrigued to see if Cambridge Camilla (Explorer's dam) and Silverstream Galaxy were pregnant, as both have been quite serene of late...too nice to be pregnant? Thankfully not. Both spat off convincingly. Very good news as both girls are pregnant to EPC Top Account of Fowberry.

This afternoon we had a trip to the North East to view a tractor...Paul's idea would you believe...we are now the owners of a Massey Ferguson 240, a 6ft roller, some chain harrows on a frame (easier than what we have been using) and a transport box, to go with the topper we already have. I think taking back the extra land has made Paul realise that it will be easier to have our own kit, rather than rely on contractors...either that or the sunshine has gone to his head!