The farm shift is on
The Arena and Main Barn are slowly but surely starting to empty out as we begin the process of sending roughly half of the herd out to pastures away from the buildings themselves. From my office window in fact I can see our rather small group of yearling males happily munching on almost 10″ of growth in one of the outer paddocks below the Main Barn. The final group of weaners born last fall was also rather unceremoniously taken from their dams this morning, divided by gender, and brought down to Main Barn to join their other, slightly older peers. Safe to say their is a bit of thumb sucking happening this afternoon. This too shall pass though.
Yes, after months of having the entirety of the herd happily ensconced under shelter (at least whenever they wanted to be) we will feel guilty the first time there is a thunder storm –possibly as early as tomorrow, if the forecast holds true — though it’s worth remembering that the species somehow survived for 6000+ years on the Andean Altiplano without many of the creature comforts they now experience here. Second cut hay, alpaca pellets and, fiber nutrients? I still remember with a grin Peruvian judge, Julio Sumar, at the 2002 NAAS pulling a piece of cardboard bedding out of SuperNova’s fleece in the white championship and just shaking his head in quiet disbelief. Crazy gringos!
The point being that all alpaca suffering is relative. In any case we will be keeping close tabs on all the critters in the outer paddocks and groups such as the yearling boys are close enough that they can be easily run back up and into the Main Barn whenever we need to deworm, vaccinate, or give their nails a trim. For those feed groups truly in the outer reaches of our pastures we will make catch pens using the ever-present green panels when herd health time comes around.
We are making one key adjustment to our spring layout here on the farm though. Following last year, when we had to cope with a couple of cases of really nasty foot rot we are trying to learn our lesson and keeping the juveniles (read: our current and future show strings) where we can keep a closer eye on them. That’s just a really unpleasant way to spend half of an hour every day for more than a month so we’re hopping that a little proactive planning can avoid a repeat of that scenario this time around. For example, though the juvi boys right now have grazing access to the outer paddock that is known as the “Far East” (it’s beyond the initial paddock off the eastern end of the Main Barn) they will retain the ability to come back inside the barn 24/7 for water, shade, and perhaps most importantly: a dry floor. There is no denying that those beautifully covered legs and feet that we have been breeding for are not always compatible with lush pastures. I know I wouldn’t wear wet socks and shoes for three days on end without expecting some consequences and my feet aren’t even hairy! Live and learn.
