Photo shoot failure and a visit from Bailey

Robyn arrived yesterday morning accompanied by Oscar (dog) and Bailey (cat). It sometimes feels surreal living here! Having decided to take the 20 minute walk from her house through the fields (in order to give Oscar a run out) she hadn't expected the cat to follow...a cat in need of therapy I feel!
Robyn had come to lend a hand as we were collecting blood for plasma spinning (this should have happened a couple of weeks ago but the vet forgot the bags!). All the alpaca doners were very well behaved. It was all very slick and the blood was in Manchester by lunchtime.
As I had picked Ben up from Salford on the way home, we decided that we would try taking some fleece shots using different lenses. Unfortunately even with three of us we failed. In fact it was even worse as we managed to get too many hands in the shots! It has nothing to do with the camera (the quality is good) it is just the ability to hold the alpaca, open the fleece and take the shot at the right moment, that is beyond us. Could this be a seminar for next year's futurity?
We had chosen Hoity Toity (HT) to practice on as she is not pregnant and is usually quite obliging... not today! HT is a girl that I nearly dismissed on phenotype without even looking at her fleece. She hasn't got that 'ideal alpaca' look and has a longer face than I would have chosen (I was also looking for a fawn). However after closer inspection I had to do a rethink. Her genetics certainly came through in her fleece. The brightness just about shows in the shot below although her fleece is very dirty.

Hoity Toity

Fleece shot just visible between all the hands!

Apprentice Training

One of my favourite things about getting up in the morning is opening the landing curtains and seeing the alpacas out in the fields. It's a warm fuzzy thing all owners recognise. However, this morning something just wasn't quite right. It did take a moment or two to realise that Legacy (summer pic) and Snowdrop (AKA Prince Snowstorm) had somehow escaped from their paddock. On closer inspection it appears that there may have been some operator error with my gate fastening! Luckily they had only got into an empty field rather than in with the girls. Lesson one; more vigilance required. Lesson two; I must get those non breeding males (including Snowdrop) castrated.

Despite failing stage one training on how to close gate on exit, I have been doing some apprentice training today. My friend Claire donned her wellies and came to give me a hand. Halter training went well (well, wellish in some cases). Fidel is the star, being a show off always helps. His first time out was with Almo who loves being lead, this is obviously where he has got the 'look at me' attitude from.

Claire with Fidel

Quad bike training was next on the agenda. Again this was passed with flying colours. However, for some reason the poo picking machine was beyond her! Seriously, thanks Claire you were a great help.

Claire on quad training...what's with Hollywood pulling the funny face? Jealousy!

It's the last episode of Lambing Live tonight. I am really going to miss having my evenings spent on the sheep farm. Do you think that Kate Bevan has a fan club? That woman is absolutely amazing. She certainly puts me to shame anyway.

Oscar Performance

After yesterday's dismal results in the photography department I decided that a different approach was being called for. Mark obviously had the right idea with his new trailer, but it's a lot of work to go to in order to get a good photo!
As you can see by the picture of Hollywood (head straight out of the water trough) the means to get their attention actually arrived at my door early this morning. I actually managed to get all four boys in the photo at the same time and all facing the same direction. Okay maybe the legs could have been better positioned and Hollywood isn't looking quite so macho, but hey!
See below:

From left: Nimrod, Almo, Hollywood and Julius.

What was this tool? Meet Oscar! A young working cocker spaniel. I have been on dog sitting duty today whilst Robyn is working. Oscar is more like Houdini but he keeps the alpacas entertained. As for Tyke, the cats, the chickens and myself ? We're pretty worn out. Bye Oscar!

Never be accused of posing!

I've been back on dottle duty again today. Paul was as good as his word and didn't do any paddock cleaning whilst I was away. Although, he did mend the punctured tyre on my wheelbarrow... he is such a gentleman! I hadn't realised that the term dottle was Cumbrian until Dave pointed it out. I am now rather attached to it. I have a young brown girl called Pebbles... I was thinking that maybe I should call her first offspring Dottles?
As the weather was glorious today, I decided that blog photos were in order. I know it never works like that. Alpacas never pose on demand. In fact they were particularly non compliant today continually turning their bottoms towards me, as I kept walking around so did they. I think we were all dizzy by the time I gave up. Anyway here are some of the efforts:

Almo...he really should have smelt that before he rolled in it...horse manure!



Galaxy...looking a little bedraggled but she has a lovely fawn fleece in there.

Pepsi Lola....born Sept 2009 and soon to be weaned.

Okay I give up...bottoms it is!

Rebellion

It's hard to believe that a week has passed since we were at The Futurity. I don't seem to have stopped, yet I can't quite recall what I have actually done! The vet called today to report that the swab from Willow's foot was positive for a number of bacteria rather than a fungal infection as thought. It is too early for exact sensitivities so we will carry on as planned. Amoxycillin is a broad-spectrum antibiotic so it should do the trick. It was looking slightly better this morning.
I have spent hours paddock cleaning today. I am going walking tomorrow with friends followed by a sleep over. Paul is looking after everything at home. Although he likes me to be grateful I know that he loves being in charge of everything. Well most things. He has recently declared that he positively HATES poo picking and refuses to do it. Hence all the hard work today. I know it isn't a glamorous job but I actually quite enjoy it. Lots of time day dreaming, watching the alpacas and poo assessment. I am always happy to see nice healthy formed dottles. I know that really is very sad! Anyway he has lovely clean paddocks and control of the remote to look forward to. I on the other hand will have some very sore muscles on the agenda.

Felix keeps on walking!

We have been persevering with the halter training of the three young boys this week. Jenson (black), named after a certain Mr Button (because he sped around from the minute he was born) was a natural. Fidel (fawn) likes to show off so he soon started enjoying himself and was prancing up and down the lane. However, Felix (white) was a different matter. When Amanda came to help on Monday, we failed miserably. Felix went in to coma mode, eyes glazed and we didn't get passed the starting line. However, today Robyn managed to get him up and down the lane without even a pit stop. We have now renamed him Scumacher...lets hope he remembers what to do tomorrow. Once the boys have perfected their halter skills they will be going on the for sale list as a package. They absolutely adore each other and I wouldn't want to separate them. Plus they look rather cute together being black, fawn and white...will I be able to do it?

I had the vet out today to take a look at Willow's foot. She took a swab and gave a shot of amoxycillin, with another dose to be given in 3 days. In the meantime we are to carry on with the daily cleaning and an antibiotic spray. Lets hope it heals soon.

A day for getting the jobs done

It has been a beautifully sunny day today here at Beck Brow. We did start off with quite a covering of snow which quickly melted, then the sun decided to show it's face for a change (photo of Nimrod and Almo taken at 13.00hrs). It really has felt like spring. Well maybe not quite, but we did some spring cleaning anyway. The barns have been thoroughly cleaned, feed bins polished and drawers tided...that will last for a couple of days!

We also did some drenching with a vitamin and trace element supplement this morning. We had our soil tested last year (I have since learned that it is better to have the grass tested) and know that our land is low in zinc and selenium. We have decided to try a product supplied by JB Animal Health which is created specifically for alpacas. The only down side is that it necessitates a 30ml dose whereas the product that we have previously used only required a 5 ml dose. We have decided to stop using the DE powder (as discussed in a previous blog) and have resorted to Dectomax as a method of mite prevention. A couple of the girls were showing signs around their ankles so the whole herd have been treated. Everyone was very well behaved except Minnie, who is normally very sweet but decided on this occasion, that I would suit green hair!