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, 6 May 2012

It's cold - no shearing yet please!

The boys are well fleeced at the moment with our shearing due at the end of the month.  This is Gully with Fyta in the background needing all of their fleece because of the dramatic drop in temperatures  -  again!  The past week saw some lovely days then a draught from Siberia blew in getting us all to run for woolly hats and jackets again.
Fyta bulking up with some hay.  He is now becoming a bit of a rogue at feed times as he turns over his bowl, eats a bit off the ground then starts charging around upsetting the others as they feed.  Faro in particular is a fussy feeder who walks away from his bowl every time Fyta starts to perform.
Gaucho nibbling hay and staying below the radar!  He's a lovely boy who never causes a problem within the herd and is pretty laid back about life.
Wee Eck (left) and Gully taken through the veg garden hedge.   Any time we are in the veg garden there is always  great interest from the boys as they hope that there might still be turnips or carrots to chew! 
A different shot of the boys in their top paddocks taken from the nearby road.  Two of their field shelters are on the left, Tigh Mhor is behind that and the mountains of Strathglass in the distance are stretching away to the west.
The veg plots are almost ready for planting.  Onions and some early spuds are already in the nearest plots.
And finally........... a shot of the boys in their top paddocks taken from the new house plot, the levelling of which has been severely disrupted due to the wet weather in the last couple of weeks.  Ben Wyvis is in the background, behind the boys.  You may need to magnify some of the distance shots.  And.......the Swallows arrived this week - yippee!
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3 comments:

  1. Judi6 May 2012 at 18:24

    Wow, what a lovely setting those boys live in and you'll have great views of their antics from your new house! Your veg plots look big...are you feeding the village or do you just like veg?!!

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  2. Shirley6 May 2012 at 18:51

    Feels like feeding the planet sometimes, Judi!

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  3. Bev8 May 2012 at 10:41

    Swallows at last, they'll be here soon then. Last year they made a bit of a nuisance of themselves trying to colonise the garage. They set the burglar alarm off more than once when the got trapped inside, and we kept having to throw them out of the kitchen..

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