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.

Tuesday 4 August 2015

Boggy bits.

Better late than never with the weekly blog - it's a Tuesday Post rather than the Sunday Post! We've had computer problems for a couple of days but hopefully all is now resolved.  Faro continues to improve, eating better and now charging around the paddocks every now and then.  We had a poop sample checked by the Vet lab and it was all clear for worms but the blood sample taken earlier when he was really ill showed that he was low in cobalt. The selenium level was OK. As cobalt is important for the working of the gut perhaps this deficiency is what was behind his recent low form.  We're now working out a regime with the vet to ensure that his mineral levels remain correct.  In the mean time, here he is leading the morning charge when it looks like the gate to the rough paddock is going to be opened by a human.
After the gate comes a boggy section which requires a bit of thought by the boys before crossing.  Faro leads, then Fergus, Fyta and Fidget brings up the rear.  They seem to tip toe over the boggy bit as they try not to sink! 
Fidget - last as always but he knows the other boys are safely across so he'd better get a move on.
When there are flying beasties about, or it is raining heavily the boys take to their cafe and chill on the hay, or chew the cud.
We had a lovely visit from Annie Grace and her mum and dad, Evelyn and David.  Annie came to see the boys last year and has been keen to say, "Hello" to them again.  Faro gets a carrot whilst Fyta waits patiently for his.
Now Fyta gets the long awaited carrot and Annie is happy with her visit!
And finally............we've been trying a variety of plants in the boggy area to see which ones will survive and grow  successfully.  This Astilbe is growing well and is very colourful.

4 comments:

  1. Will be interested to hear what Faro is prescribed - we have a bottle of Cobalt,Selenium,B12 drench by Collate/Nettex which we use as a 'pick-me-up' occasionally - their instinct is to spit it out, and then they realise that they like it, so I don't give it all in one go!

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  2. Glad to hear that Faro is feeling better! Hope the mineral drench works and he's soon 100% again and able to simply jump over those boggy bits!

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  3. Glad to hear that Faro is feeling better! Hope the mineral drench works and he's soon 100% again and able to simply jump over those boggy bits!

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  4. Interesting. We are going to get some blood work done on some of ours just to check mineral levels.

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