OUR SMALL HERD

Our original four boys came from Ardo Alpacas in Aberdeenshire. We are not alpaca breeders and have our boys purely as pets. Our experience is that you don't need to be a breeder and that a 'batchelor herd' can give much pleasure to the owner. We have 5 acres including our big garden and grazing for the boys, 15 miles north of Inverness, Scotland. I spin, knit, felt and crochet with the fleece from the boys.

Clicking!!

Just a reminder that clicking on (most) of the photos will show them greatly enlarged.

Sunday, 11 April 2010

Portion control!

It's always nice to see the boys enjoying their haylage first thing in the morning.  We give them a large handful each and very soon they lie down in front of their individual pile and chew contentedly.  The boys enjoy their haylage as the grass has got a long way to grow before it will satisfy them.  Yesterday and today have been lovely days so the boys tend to face the rising sun as they tuck into their breakfast. Our two hen-runs are in the background housing Horace the cockerel and his 7 hens.
The individual portion extends to their daily sugar beet in the late morning and their supplement later in the afternoon.  We put their portions into bowls so that we know that each boy has had their individual portion.  We tried trough feeding and various other methods but this usually resulted in either spitting or some boys getting double rations and some boys getting only a little.  Good job we don't have a big herd or we would have to buy more bowls!  This shot is of the boys having their sugar beet and Gaucho being coaxed to "eat up like a good boy!"
Happy bunnies with heads in their bowls!
"Please sir, can I have some more?"     Having eaten all his beet, Fergus manages to get some on his nose and all under his chin giving him a passing resemblance to Salvador Dali!
And finally...............following all the snow we've had, this scene in our garden gladdens the heart!   A mixture of Primrose, Primula, mini Daffodils and Heleborus - but maybe a spot of weeding is called for now!
Posted by at

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous11 April 2010 at 19:58

    Your flowers are beautiful!! The shot of the boys "rear ends" is really cute. Here today is just beautiful. It's 70, with bright sun and a little breeze. Bet the boys would like to be here. We've cut the grass twice. It's growing so fast!...debbie

    ReplyDelete
  2. Zanzibah Alpacas11 April 2010 at 23:37

    Lovely photos...its nice to see the boys enjoing their....breakfast/brunch and no doubt supper...3 courses...its an expensive restaurant !!....the grass is just starting to green up here !..I know...because the cows, haven't been over for their evening...dish !...the last two nights....roll on Spring....this time !!!!!!.....Jayne

    ReplyDelete
  3. Shirley12 April 2010 at 20:20

    Hi Debbie, Wish our grass was growing quickly - more weeds than grass at present, but the flowers do add welcome colour. Hope Ernie continues to recover.

    Hi Jayne, The past two days have seen great weather but today not so good, rain this evening. It will make the grass grow! Shirley

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)