Ministry Check

Mike took one of our females to be covered by an outside stud male yesterday. He got just down the road and was stopped by "The Ministry" checking his vehicle, the trailer and his documents. All went well and the alpaca on board was in a kush and did not even bother to stand up when they looked inside. They were happy with the roadworthinesss of the vehicle and trailer and the cleanliness of the interior. We have an SVA Authorisation document allowing us to transport animals up to 8 hours but the female checker told Mike we should have a Certificate of Competence too for journeys over 20 miles. This was a bit worrying but when I contacted BAS (British Alpaca Society) they told me that it does not apply to alpacas as they are not classed as livestock and BAS have a letter from a Defra official confirming this.

Tanya, the cria with the hernia, had her operation yesterday. We took her in to the vet's in the van. I sat in the back with her. We put her mother and another alpaca in the barn so that she had company whilst she waited for her baby to return. Bourree was not at all amused when we took Tanya away and left her in the barn and did a lot of kicking and stamping. The cria struggled when Mike carried her to the van but was very calm during the journey and caused quite a stir and lots of "ahhs" when Mike carried her through the reception area to the hospital. We dropped her off at 3.30 p.m. and she back on the farm by about 5.30 p.m. all seems to be well. One of the farm vets will call to check her tomorrow and then we will just have to wait for a couple of weeks to take out the stitches.

She spent one night in the barn and is now back with the herd looking as good as ever.