Getting fleeced

This morning we got up extra early as we were expecting Nick at 8 a.m. as usual on a Tuesday.  I was also expecting Lynsey (alpaca friend) to come and help sort fleece as we are combining our fleece to get a big enough quantity to send to the mill.

Our last faecal worm egg count showed that the alpacas were clear of worms, the adult goats were at an acceptable level but the kids needed a wormer, so I wanted Nick to help me with this and also confirm that the kids are otberwise in good condition.  He confirmed that they are still doing well and we gave them each a needle in the bottom much to their bleating indignation.  Mike and Nick have made a start on building a permanent shelter for the kids as the converted pig ark is OK this time of  year but does not allow them to feed indoors if the weather is very bad.

After sorting fleece I took Lynsey down to look at the herd and have a look at this year's cria.  Whilst putting the males back into their paddock I noticed that Nina (a lovely fawn girl who belongs to my friend Pauline) was looking quite unhappy.   She was lying down but not in a good way.   We had to bring the whole herd up again and Nick and I separated and brought Nina and her cria into the barn for observation over night.   We took her temperature which was normal and then gave her some liquid paraffin as she seems to be straining to go to the toilet.  Best case scenario she will dung over night and get things moving.   Another possibility is that she is aborting her cria.  Fingers crossed it is just a bit of constipation and/or colic.

Strange as everyone else in the herd has a tendency to be looser than usual  at the moment as the grass has suddenly improved and is very rich.

The weather has changed again and it is drizzling and looks like it is set in for the evening.