Alpacas and caulking guns

What, you may wonder, does one do when an alpaca needs medicine? Is it EASY to give them medicine? Well, I guess that depends on your definition of 'easy'.

This past month there were two pens of animals that needed medicine, so out came the caulking gun!

That's right, they use a caulking gun to shoot the meds down the animal's throat. As you can imagine, the alpacas aren't all jumping into line for this experience. It worked out well with four people, though. You get all the animals into the pen, with the false promise of grain, and then catch and 'caulk'.

One or two hold the animal
One holds caulking gun
One has the paper with list of animals and number of 'clicks' it should get of medicine

Sadly I have no photos because there really was no practical way to take pictures as a participant.

A cria is born at White Violet Farm Alpacas

This was added a few weeks ago to the YouTube channel. This little guy is one of the ones we moved to the "Little Boys" pen in late May. I won't be here for any births, but they have two crias (baby alpacas) due in the fall. :)

Day 65. 14 days left: I work in the garden and forget I'm a redhead

One of the garden volunteers wanted to work with the alpacas today, so I switched with her and got to work in the Garden!! So while I did NOT rake poo today, I DID get to do the following:

1. Help make 9 rows of 11 mounds of dirt, in which to plant pumpkins.
2. Weed the onions
3. Weed the onions some more.
4. Harvest things for the Farmer's Market (some squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant and peppers)
5. Weed the onions again
6. Help pick up compost from the bins around the property

In the course of the day, I had many gnats fly into my ears/nose/mouth. Almost as many as during alpaca duty! Ack! I also got compost juice on my shirt, which is ultra-sexy. And smelly.

AND I got to see the worms rotated from the 'old' compost bin, to their new digs, in a new bin. I was very happy. I love worms.

However, somewhere in there it seems I FORGOT I am fair-skinned. I wiped my face off with a wet towel before lunch, in order to get the anti-bug stuff off me. It really wasn't working on the gnats, since I had so many in my ears and up my nose.  After lunch I merrily went out to pick and weed things, completely forgetting to REAPPLY the sunscreen.

Why? Why does this happen at least once a year? You would think that by now I would remember. I dutifully slather every area of exposed skin every morning before leaving the house.

Here's the thing: I think there is still some inner core of my being that refuses to recognize that I am a redhead and burn. That same core insists I should be able to work outside in the sun for 8 hours, and not get sunsick. Perhaps that core is the 1/36th (or whatever) amount of Native American blood in me, insisting the fair-skinned redhead can DO THAT.

Now, since I was wearing a hat, and a long sleeved shirt, I now have a weird sunburn on 1/2 of my face and some of my collarbone/chest area. Oy. Seriously, I have to just roll my eyes at myself. I should know better by now. Oh well. Aloe is a good friend of mine. You should buy stock in that aloe company.

Dueling alpacas

I happened to have my camera one day when the 'boys' were at it. It's been hot. Everyone's a little testy, and getting in each other's space. This really only leads to face freeze and drool.
Kinda glad I'm not an alpaca.


Note the laid back ears, narrowed eyes, and frozen jaw

The advesary: similar stance, but more drool

Even after the fireworks have passed, there is a stand-off. 

Best not to be in the line of fire, they're usually still trying to spit on each other!

Alpaca breeding

One of the male alpacas has gone away for a month to another farm, for breeding. It's like a mini vacation from the normal routine, but with the lady alpacas.

I have deemed this a 'conjugal sabbatical'.

Day 57 of alpaca adventure

Well here's something I never thought I'd hear myself say: "We moved cattle fencing today, and it was about 90 degrees outside". Tasks need to be done, regardless of the weather.

I am, oddly, not completely wiped out. It wasn't as humid as it was yesterday, which I think has a lot to do with it. Yesterday I was a mess. I had a huge knot in my shoulder yesterday, which led to a headache. That, combined with the 80 degree temps and all the humidity made me really not happy. I basically came back to the room and sat in front of the fan until the sun set and I deemed it acceptable to go to bed. I tried to talk to a friend on the phone, but really had no coherent thoughts.

Today, we hauled fencing all over AFTER the morning chores, and I'm still fairly lucid. Who knows? Maybe I'm getting used to this lifestyle. Only took me 2 months!

When the boy parts meet the hose

Alpacas aren't from this climate, and they can get overheated, with all this heat and humidity. Since the breeding males need to keep cool to stay fertile, it's extra important to hose down those boy parts. When it's HOT like it has been, and will be all this week, all the alpacas get some water time, also known as 'tummy baths'. Sometimes they just get a sprinkler to stand in (or sit on, as they often do), but sometimes it's easier to hose them down directly.

Gotta keep those boy parts cool and functioning. An infertile male can't be sent out for breeding....

When we check the pastures after lunch, if it's hot outside, the alpacas know it's 'tummy bath time' and usually come running. They fight like little kids to get to the hose first, and it's quite a display of dominance (both males and females). They spit and huff at each other, and are very vocal. It's quite amusing. Oh, and ALL genders of alpacas get 'tummy baths', it's just the males that get their parts hosed down. The females we just turn on the sprinklers and let them argue about who goes first.

Typically 'tummy baths' are done by the full time staff, but one day I got to do the hose down.

Thankfully, another volunteer had a camera, so I can share with you!

Everyone comes running from the pasture to get their 'cool down' time.

They all stand with their butts to the hose, tails lifted in anticipation.

There's some snippiness when one alpaca feels another is invading his space....

But in the end, all the boy parts get a cool down.