Adieu, Llama

I ran into a neighbor at a gathering, who asked about the llama, conveying that another neighbor was asking her about our llama. I guess ol’ Dolly Llama (aka Tina for those who like to call her that) is pretty well known around here! She hasn’t been in the pasture for a few weeks, I had her up in the barn. I decided to sell her, and she went to a new home last weekend.

 

Llama Maintenance

Last weekend was hoof trimming weekend. I did all forty adult sheep, which was a bit much, but nice to have it crossed off the list until fall. It was also a good time to capture the pesky llama. I had the sheep in the channel, and proactively, I laid down a long-line clipped to the fence on the channel end where I was working. All I needed was for the llama to wander into my snare. Then, I could lift the line and trap her. Llamas are really dumb about not being able to jump over or duck under a chest-height string.

 

Loyal Llama

When I woke up this morning and looked out the kitchen window, something immediately caught my eye. The llama standing oddly, with a white lump somewhat underneath her. Sheep down! Sheep down! I hustled into some clothes and went down to check.

It was #KRK33, one of my favorite triplet-bearers. She was on her back, with her legs feebly paddling in the air like she was about to expire. I rolled her upright and she struggled to stand, staggered, then fell again. I inspected her, nothing seemed really amiss. She had a small fresh bloody scab on her hock- nothing drastic, but recent. Bronte!

 

Doglooquest

Now that I have two LGDs, I want more flexibility in which gates are open and closed. There are two wood dog houses in the pasture, but they are both too heavy to move frequently. I want some which I can easily drag around with the sheep/dog locations, so that onlookers can clearly see that the dogs have houses, even if they never seem to enter them. But the houses still have to be heavy enough to not blow around in the wind. So, that limits me to the dorky Dogloo. I hate plastic, especially white plastic. But there are times when the sturdiness and lightweight characteristics of plastic win out over wood. This is one of those times.

So I’ve been searching craigslist for giant-breed sized Dogloos.

 

Lamb Birthing Pictorial and #s 0009-0011

Tuesday morning, another set of triplet lambs were born. This was ewe #107, she is an experienced mother, and she looked like she had triplets in her, she was big! It was a textbook delivery, I happened to encounter her just when she was getting started, so I actually got a chance to take some pictures of the process. They don’t often do me this favor!