Boys will be boys

We keep most of our males in one paddock - three working studs, three younger boys who are going to a new home this weekend and one wether (castrated male). Alario our first stud male tends to fight when in the same paddock as the other boys so he has a paddock all to himself, albeit in sight of the rest of the herd so he does not feel too isolated.

Usually they get on quite well apart from the odd spat over nothing, but whilst I was feeding the hens this morning I heard a lot of screaming which usually means that there is a bundle. I dropped everything (much to the hens' disgust) and picked up my sticks (which I use when herding the alpacas in open areas - makes my arms seem longer) and rushed up to the male paddock.

I shouted to Mike so he knew what was going on - just in case of accidents. Pedro (dark brown) had Bono (white) pinned against the fence behind our caravan which is parked in their paddock for winter storaged. It looked like a serious fight so instead of piling in like I usually do, I thought I would give Mike another shout in case I needed help.

By the time I got back to the paddock all was calm and all of the boys were looking at me in surprise. They then turned away and went back to grazing as if nothing had happened.


This is an exercise in how to tell a story about absolutely nothing.

We have finished paddock cleaning for the day and are about to move the alpacas around to better grazing. All the top paddocks are struggling to support them now so we will move the main herd down to the bottom paddocks where the grass is still quite lush, although this time of year it will not be as nourishing as in the spring and summer.

We have to move hay racks and feeding troughs and decide whether to change the herd structure in any way. It is a shame really because we like it when we can see the whole herd from the house. The place looks empty when they are out of sight.