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 September 2011

A couple of heavyweights and a hungry rabbit!

Not one for missing out on any food, this is Fergus in the foreground, sporting a healthy girth!  A mention of  slightly heavy 'pacas from Barbara at Beckbrow Alpacas (www.beckbrowalpacas.blogspot.com)) in her recent blog has prompted me to display our heavy twosome, both white boys, so perhaps it's in their genes.  In the background is Fyta, with black trousers which just about get around his waist!
White boy No2 is Fidget who also likes his food.  Here he is having just polished off his feed, he hears a dog barking at the neighbouring farm so gives the possible threat his immediate attention.
Some of the other boys pick up the noise and assess the threat.  All except deaf boy Wee Eck at the front who hears nothing and in any case prefers to have his photo taken!
A head shot of Gully having just had his feed.  In the background a serious discussion ensues as Wee Eck decides to clamp a plastic lid in his mouth and give it a good chewing!
And now, the pesky rabbit!  Some years we have serious amounts of rabbits in the area, and some years we seem to have none.  This is a bad year for them and try as we do to keep them out of the garden, especially the veg garden, we often fail miserably.  One wee bunny continues to manage to hide and escape from the veg garden but whilst there manages to create this type of damage to the Savoy cabbage.  The older plants are in the background but the rabbit prefers the younger plants at the front.  He/she has also given serious chew-time to the carrots, broccoli and cauliflowers.  Fortunately the swedes being grown for the boys have not yet been attacked.  We've tried all the nice ways to get rid of it (leaving the gate open and 'shooing' it out), but to no avail.  Eventually  the blunderbuss will have to get used if it doesn't decide to emigrate soon!
In an effort to beat the rabbits we planted some cauliflowers (right) in the Keder greenhouse.  They have grown huge leaves due to the warmer growing environment and the heads are only now beginning to become large and white.  This is really an outdoor vegetable, but at least we've beaten the bunny!   The remainder of the carrot crop are on the left and the two vines are at the bottom end.
And finally the score...............Robbie 1,  Rabbit 0!

4 comments:

  1. Yes...Fergus and Fidget would fit in very well here!

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  2. We've recently seen lots of fit slim alpacas at the Westmorland County Show and only then realised that our boys are really overweight too. We are cutting out treats and measuring feed carefully, but the grass has been growing like a maniac all summer. Sometimes the blunderbuss is the only answer - for the rabbits that is, not the fatty alpacas.

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  3. PS. I didn't mean it about the blunderbuss..

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  4. Yep...fat alpacas over here too! Some get fat on thin air and it's soooo difficult to "starve" them! We plan to take our worst fatties out for a walk, maybe exercise will do it...starting them off with a short walk and building up to a proper regime!

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