EPISODE NOTES
When you start into a new year, there seem to be two things going on at the same time, more of the same, and different. Now, these are both happening at the same time, in the same space, in the same place. It’s just another day in alpaca land.
The alpacas don’t seem to know anything about Christmas, new year or public holidays. And why should they? I have been delighting in the extra light that is continuing to appear making the day a little lighter for longer each day. The critical light window we’ve had to work with is growing. The boys tend to get their supper in the gloom, if not the dark at times. This is now becoming easier.
The cold and wet, well, that continues much the same. Some frost, some mud.
The other day I noticed it was like creme brulee, as I stepped on crisp, thin layers of mud and water.
One day, the alpacas stayed sat down while I mucked out around them and got the food ready.
And they were waiting until the last minute to bring their cold toes out from under their warm bodies. I’ve got a few of the alpacas in coats, which seems to be helping. Just giving a bit of extra protection for them.
The birds seem to be getting busy. Have you noticed there are more leaves and Moss and some poop pile areas that have been turned over and flicked around?
I think this is mainly the blackbirds.
The Canada geese we’ve had them around quite a bit. They come in and they spend most of the day here. And then just as it’s going really dusk and they can only just see the silhouettes of the trees and the sky is darkening, they seem to decide to head off back to wherever they normally hang out.
The goosanders are back and we hope to see more of them.
That sense of a full hay store and full feed bins makes for a happy heart. At least mine. The squirrels have been busy, but we’ve come up with some, techniques, some tactics, which seemed to be keeping them at bay.
The solution for us was a plastic bin with a metal bin over the top of it.
So things are ticking along, but we continue to watch out for any problems and particularly body condition scores can be so quick for it to start sliding and for them to lose body condition in this cold weather.
And it’s hidden by the increasing fleece cover. So do get your hands on them.
It’s also a good time to revisit your list of things you’ve been meaning to do, but not quite got around to yet.
Repairing things, replacing things, cleaning, tidying, preparing. Plenty to give our attention to for sure.
If you’d like to drop me a note, I’d love to hear from you. There’s a link on the website. You can leave me a message or you can send an email to steve@alpacadrive.com.
I look forward to seeing you again next time. And if you can go spend some time with an alpaca.