Fixing Pasture Fence

I finally admitted that I need some help. Cary's boy, 15 year old Alex, has come over for a couple of hours for the last two Saturdays to take care of some of the jobs that I dislike the most. He gets down enough hay for the horses and alpacas to last me a week. I do not like climbing up those hay bales. He has also chopped and dug up thistles in the pastures. You know, the kind that produce the round prickly burrs. I have been picking them out of my Ivan's forelock and tail for the last month. Fortunately, none have gotten into the alpacas' fleece. What a mess that would be.

This morning after I finished my barn chores, I walked out to admire Ivan's pasture, sans thistles. Damn! a wire was down. Sometimes deer will be running and explode from the corn field and go right through the electric fence. That's probably what happened, although it was only the bottom wire.
I loaded up my wheel barrow with a roll of new wire and wire cutters and headed out to the pasture. ...and my helper, Ivan followed right along. This picture was taken just before he pushed the wheel barrow over with his nose. Did I ever mention that Ivan's purpose in life is to play pranks and make people laugh? Well, I definitely didn't laugh at him but taught him some new two legged words.

♫ ♪ Ta - da! ♪ ♫ Here's my shiny new bottom strand all spliced in. I finished walking the fence and chopped down a bunch of weeds and vines that were growing quite close and could interfere with the electricity. This always makes me feel kinda cowboy-like, you know, riding the range and looking for fencing down.
☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼
I've been thinking about writing down all the changes in my life since Smitty died because it seems so huge. I'm going to tack on some of my thoughts each time I post here........
1. The obvious - much more work. My morning chores used to take me from 7:30 to 8:30, and now I'm lucky if I'm done by 9:30.
2. I now know that my kids are grown up and not where I try to visualize them which is somewhere between high school graduation and college graduation. (That was a really big time span for son, Doctor Rob ☺) All three are beautiful, mature, intelligent, kind, dependable, caring, animal loving adults living full productive lives. The death of their father seems to have brought us closer together.
3. I can't leave the farm for any length of time because of the animals. (this isn't even important to me right now but might be in the future)

Alpaca Training and Cria Update - Astra & Libra

Today is a beautiful, sun shiny, autumn day in midMichigan. The main reason that I haven't posted in a while is because caring for little Libra (above in his GoBlue U. of Michigan coat) has been quite time consuming. Remember, Sonata, his mom has hardly any milk. For a couple of days, I was able to supplement him with a bottle, and then he just started to absolutely refuse it. I couldn't get any down him. So at the advice/help of Beth and Doc Russ, we decided to mix up a gruel. I ground up adult alpaca pellets in my blender and added some Ensure left over from Smitty's ordeal. I suck this gruel up in to a 2 ounce syringe and pretty much force feed it in to his mouth.
Libra does nibble on grass and hay and is frequently under mom trying to nurse the little milk that she has. He is 3 weeks old and has gained 3 pounds, for a total of 15.2 pounds.
The little white guy next to Libra is Astra, who was named by Marianne here on my blog. He is three days older than Libra. See why I'm so worried?????

Beth came over to give Oppie (Golden Opportunity) a halter/lead lesson. This little yearling is the hardest ever to train to lead. Even though you can see Oppie's resistance by the way she is leaning away from Beth, she is doing super. She is up right and actually walking. It's more normal for her to throw her self down and freeze. We lift her up and try another step. Beth is training her to follow along with a gentle tug, tug on the rope. We are out in the field with the other alpacas to give the little girl some confidence. I truly admire Beth. She is quite determined that Oppie will become a happy, confident, obedient alpaca.

Cria Naming Contest Winner!!!!!! Astra

Drum Roll please - Here he is - Astra
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Thank you so much for all the suggestions, friends. My first choice was Andromeda until I remembered "she" was the Princess who was saved from the sea monster by Perseus. Our next girl will be Andy, I'm sure.
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
This is what my cyber friend Marianne submitted:
Marianne said...
Astra is my name for the new baby...it refers to the Kansas official motto Ad astra per aspera which means "through difficulties to the stars"...which somehow makes me think of your own difficulties losing Smitty and how you have hope and a great family and a new star being born. Much love!
♥
Let me know what you would like from my store, Marianne. Congratulations. Find $25 worth of "stuff".
♥
I'm going to leave all those names up for a while for everyone to enjoy.

Beth Saves the Day - Another Alpaca Emergency

Here's little Libra getting his lunch at noon. Folks, I took 17 pictures to get this one good one. Realize that I'm straddling him with our buttes up against the fence, bottle in left hand, and camera in right. He's drinking 4 ounces of Whole Cow's Milk + a little Vanilla Yogurt 4 times a day now and is starting to gain weight. He hasn't given up on Sonata Mom and tries to get a little from her also.
♥
So you're saying, what about the Emergency in the title. Doc Russ called yesterday to report on Sonata's blood work. It looked bad, really bad, and indicated there might be some liver involvement with hepaticlipodosis (this spelling is probably way off). You can imagine how I panicked after dealing with Smitty's liver this summer. I called Buddy Beth and she was here in minutes with her van to make a run to Michigan State's Vet School. Anticipating leaving the 'pacas there, I gathered up Libra's bottles, milk, yogurt, and a couple Diet Cokes. Sonata had never loaded into a van, but followed her baby right in.
The staff there was wonderful - again. After we clarified the misunderstanding that Sonata has, in fact, been eating, everyone relaxed and we discussed why her blood work might be skewered. Maybe because I wormed her last week and gave her a CDT injection, plus she does had an infection, possibly from her dystocia (assisted delivery). And, of course, Sonata's weight problem. The staff was rather sweet saying she is heavy and Rubenisque. No, she is just plain FAT.
We came home with $86 worth of Naxcel, an antibiotic, and $120 worth of Domperidone which is a paste that "might" increase Sonata's milk production. I'm hoping the Domperidone works but in the mean time, really don't mind doing the bottle feeding. Remember little Spot. http://northstaralpacas.blogspot.com/2008/07/spot-bottle-alpaca-minor-miracle.html

Contest Reminder & Another Vet Visit

This is a reminder of the Name Goldie's Cria Contest that will end October 1st, which is next Wednesday. The names that have been submitted are listed on the right - remember, it must be something star/sky related. Winner can pick $25 worth of stuff from my Etsy store.
Scroll down to last week for details.....
♥
This morning was horribly busy. Sonata, brown momma shown below, was lethargic and didn't want to get up. Her cria, Libra, was born a week ago Friday and weighed 13.6 pounds. Here it is a week later and he weighs only 13.3 pounds. Something was drastically wrong, so I called dear Doc Russ, our vet. He was here in half an hour. Momma Sonata has no visible signs of illness but is producing minimal milk for the little guy. We gave her a big dose of Penicillin thinking she might have an infection, although her temperature is nice and low. I ran to town and picked up some whole Vitamin D milk and added a dallop of vanilla yogurt. Got about an ounce into little Libra. I will continue the Pennicillin injections with Sonata and trying to get some milk into Libra. Send some good energy out to these two......

Libra and Sonata at hay rack. Following is what my friend Maryanne sent to me and the reason we named the little guy Libra.

Libra
because the two boys were born during the Libra part of the zodiac cycle and
Libra men - are almost too popular with women; they have a rare ability to relate to women on a feminine level;they have great personal charm and elegance; it's hard to pick a fight with a Libra - they love stability and balance, and will go out of their way to steer clear of upsetting influences. A libra male is the diplomat of the zodiac - the one who will strike a balance between what you want and what he wants - AND Lovemaking is the Libra man's favorite activity! so a Future stud for your farm!! Love with a Libra male is supposed to be an erotic experience! so watch out girls!!
Thanks, Maryanne...... I'm going to be looking for a Libra, I'm thinking ☺

Hand knit Alpaca Socks

Nothing feels as nice on our feet as handknit socks! Make them from alpaca and merino and you definitely have happy feet. VermontKnitBoy, Chris made these socks for me. He assured me that the yarn that I sent him is not sock yarn because it is loosely spun and that I shouldn't advertise it as a sock yarn. I do sell this yarn in my shop. But let me tell you, Chris, I love the way these feel. I live in my Birkys so you know they will get lots of wear.

Thank you, Chris, thank you. Can you folks see the V of garter stitch down the top, and the really neat basket weave ribbing? I cherish these socks and am planning on wearing them to bed tonight. Did I say thank you, Chris?

Last Cria of the Year Born Yesterday

All my fiber friends who love Sonata's fiber, look at this: a miniture Sonata only he's a boy, born yesterday at noon, weighs only 13.4 pounds but is doing fine. I so worried about her, she's overweight, the barn Diva, loves people and I seriously, didn't think that she would take to her baby. But, oh my, the motherly instinct has kicked in and she is very attentive. Her milk is coming in and she lets him nurse whenever he wants.
♥♥♥
Contest Seekers - scroll down to last Wednesday's entries.