Good Tuesday

Nick and I cut the toe nails of the main herd and I was absolutely amazed at how little they needed trimming. Some of them did not need any clipping at all. I have always known that walking on concrete helps to keep them down, but it must be walking across our farmyard to get to and from the barn every day that has done the trick for us. It is covered in scalpings. I would say that if they continue to walk over it we can reduce our toe nail trimming to every three months instead of every couple of months as we have been doing up until now.


He also had a look at one of the goats that I was concerned about. They all, unfortunately, soil the fleece at the back end when urinating and it looks quite unsavoury. Apparently this is quite normal with goat. He checked the one which was particularly bad but found nothing of concern. Nevertheless I held her whilst he trimmed her to make it a bit more hygienic. We also checked her toe nails and Nick says they will need trimming shortly.

Javier, the cria with a poorly eye, is looking much better and we are hoping that he will not need much more treatment.

It has been raining most of the day and the wind has been really cold, so not much fun doing the daily chores, but our friends Clive and Elaine came to visit us this afternoon.


We had a light lunch and took the dogs for a walk and introduced our visitors to the new arrivals (the goats). We had a really enjoyable afternoon and it was lovely to see Elaine looking so well and happy. Elaine was pleased to see the alpacas again especially the babies that she looked after when she was staying with us.


Having hosed off the muddy dogs we all went down to the winter paddocks and brought the alpacas up. They were only too pleased to get back into their cosy barn for the night.


More later of the surprise they brought us!!

All move round

What with the winter weather and the shortage of good grass at this time of year our top paddocks are looking quite sparce and cut up,we decided to move the babies up one paddock to the middle paddock which incorporates the pig pen (named for the pigs which were intended to go into this small linked paddock) and put the main herd back into the winter paddocks which have survived the bad weather surprisingly well.

They have drained with only a few really wet areas. We are still bringing them into the barn at night to give their feet a break from being constantly wet. We went down to collect them at about 4 p.m. this evening and I just shouted my usual "Coomwon" a few times and they headed happily up through the farm to the barn and immediately upon arrival starter to tuck in to the hay and alf alfa awaiting them.

We need to do toe nails for the whole herd (including goats) and they are all due for vaccination shortly. Nick and I will make a start on Tuesday.

Whistling Women

The last of the lovely new hens (Buff orpington x Rhode Island Red) whose sisters were taken by THE FOX began to crow this morning.

Guess she won't be laying any eggs then!!

New sight for goats

Nick came this morning and helped me trim the goats' fringes. A couple of them looked as though they couldn't see at all and as with alpacas, we thought that being unable to see would make them more easily spooked. They were quite easy to handle although we took the precaution of putting the buck outside the goat house whilst we operated on his does. Luckily his fringe did not need any attention.

According to Nick we might have left it too late to mate them - we were delayed in preparing their quarters because of the unending rain - but we are keeping our fingers crossed that they will come into season in a day or two. Apparently they will start "calling" for the male when they want his attentions. At least they will see him coming (approaching)now.

Maddy, our lurcher, has always been fascinated by the cat but we have never been quite sure if she looked on her as prey or a potential friend. Judging by today's photo, she has decided they are just good friends.

Goats R Us

We collected the Angora Goats this morning and they immediately settled in to their new home. Mike has doubled the size of one of the field shelters and enclosed it entirely so that they are nice and cosy. They tucked into the goat mix and haylage without delay.

The big one at the back is the buck and we are hoping that they will all come into season shortly and be mated ready to have their kids in the spring.

They have to be shorn twice a year and apparently should produce about 3 k of good fleece per animal so from just 6 goats we should be able to go straight to a commercial spinner to get our mohair wool.

I See No Ships

Javier, the last remaining male weanling, has developed an eye infection so we are having to run a line of ointment across his eye daily. Having had a cria a few years ago with an ulcerated eye which eventually had to be removed, we are being very careful about his treatment. The eye does not look effected at all actually but he is producing puss from the corner of his eye.

We are handling the cria more often now that the weather has improved and they are being very much calmer and accepting of our attentions. We really need to start halter training them now.

The shop continues to get busier although the online sales seem to have slowed down.

Our latest edition to the shop is mittens with a string to hold them together. Some of our more mature readers may remember wearing gloves and mittens at school which were held together by a piece of elastic running through the coat sleeves. We supply the mittens with a kit consisting of two buttons and a crocheted string to join them together as an option. The idea is very popular with dog walkers who have a habit of losing gloves when getting their dogs ready to go back on a leash after a good run.

Alpacas in the sun

The alpacas have changed from queuing up to get into the barn at night to get out of the wind and the rain to insisting on staying in the furthest away paddock. We have not made an issue out of it as we feel that being outside is more healthy and natural for them. The ground has drained quite well and at least they are not paddling in mud all the time so their feet should benefit.

We took the opportunity today, however, to give them all a dose of mineral/vitamin supplement to help them through the grey days. We also checked that they were in good condition and no one getting too thin. We gave the two cria who have not yet been weaned an ADE injection and decided that they should be weaned this week as they are not doing quite as well as the weanlings. Sometimes cria flourish more when weaned than whilst they are suckling. Maybe they are a bit lazy when Mum still provides free food, or maybe Mum is running out of steam with the winter weather taking its toll.

Several visitors to the shop. Two people chose quite a few items but have not paid as they did not have enough cash or a cheque book. They are both local so will be back later in the week.
We really have to look into the possibility of taking credit cards. Banks are reported to be going to abolish cheques in due course so I guess it will be impossible to trade without the facility - presumably they will make it more affordable for small businesses if there is no alternative way of accepting non-cash payments.

The goat house is ready for occupation. Mike finished it today so I will be phoning to arrange for them to arrive as soon as possible.