This was yesterday: a gloriously sunny day. We feel very lucky that all our animals (well, aside from the poultry) are able to enjoy so much space and fresh air. The alpacas have been running around a lot this week and we truly believe they have been doing so, simply because they can!! We are keeping a close eye on all the stock as birth dates approach. We are now just over six weeks away from the start of lambing and then it’s all systems go till June when the alpacas are due. Any minor health niggles we spot, need to get sorted quickly when the animal concerned is near to giving birth but equally, such sorting has to be as stress-free as possible. Mrs Brown had a bit of a limp yesterday: as she is now entering the last six weeks of her gestation period, handling her gently is crucial. It is not recommended to put sheep on their backs at this stage. Luckily Mrs B. is massively tame and trusting and let us examine her in the field and give her foot a quick spray. It turned out she had a piece of woodchip wedged between her toes which was making it sore: thankfully today she is absolutely fine!!
We are not 100% sure that Saturn and Venus are pregnant as we have not had them scanned. As alpacas can be pregnant for 11/12 months and they were mated back in July, they are only around half way through so as yet we are not expecting them to look that big. Not that this stops us looking and trying to guess though. Neptune and Jupiter are going to be the most amazing ‘uncles’ – we cannot wait!!