Monday 23 July 2012

The Gamble....

We have taken a gamble...when I say we, I really mean Paul, he is the one obsessed with the weather forecast...anyway on Saturday we had Stuart (a local farmer) cut our hay field.

Whilst this was going on Paul was 'busy' doing some paddock sweeping and was tasked with keeping an eye on the birthing paddock. However, when I went out with Lullaby's midday bottle... I found the two of them chatting either side of a five bar gate. Now this is a typical Cumbrian farmer's stance...you lean on the gate and you find something to grumble about;

a) The weather...this is the most popular topic...however it was sunny so no luck there.

b) The price of milk...fair enough but not applicable in this case

So I found Paul complaining about alpacas...complaining that they never birth when expected..."take today for example we have three over due, the weather is fine...but no"

I left them to it...glancing in the birthing paddock on my way back to the house...and there was Bonita delivering a healthy brown boy!!



One advantage of having a mum on the small side...you can get a drink before you are even able to stand!


Beck Brow Domingo yesterday

Bozedown Bonita has been rather generous with the amount of boys that she has produced for us, but they make lovely pet boys, always very friendly but gentle too...and very cute of course! We now have 5 boys and 3 girls born with 8 left to birth so time to even up.

Yesterday I was down at Stoneleigh Park in my role as welfare officer for the North West Alpaca Group. Its a long trek (7 hour round trip) but well worth the effort to ensure we are in the loop and are able to give a perspective from all regions. There are a number of things that still need to be clarified but I will share any news as appropriate.

Stuart rang last night to ask Paul if had seen the weather forecast...."do you think that you have done the right thing cutting the hay?"...well a bit late now...talk about looking on the bleak side... whatever happened to positive thinking!

8 comments:

  1. Thats a gorgeous little head Domingo has. We've finished our birthing - yipee! So pleased. Hope you get some more girls with the remaining dams.

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  2. Tense time hay making - just been having a similar 'lean on the gate' conversation with a neighbouring farmer!

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  3. Domingo looks like a sweetheart. Is he a full brother to our Noah? At two years old Noah is still so sweet and good natured. Oh Barbara with this little brown boy you may be tempting us..

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    1. Bev,

      He is Noah's half brother. Same dam but St Patrick is the sire (hence the great head). He is such a sweetie with long brown lashes...I'm afraid I won't be able to do a very good job of putting you off!

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  4. There you are then, a brown male, just what you wanted!

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  5. We had our hay cut yesterday, and the two of us have just 'hand-balled' one paddocks hay into the next, as it's too small to get the baler into! The forecast looks good for us, fingers crossed. Good job Paul was propping up that gate, or you wouldn't have witnessed the birth;-)

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  6. There seems to be lots of haymaking going on - we're waiting for our neighbour to cut ours.

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  7. Domingo is a real stunner.

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