The new addition... an Alpaca!

I know, it's been too long since I last blogged. . . but, I was waiting till we got the new addition to our ranch, an Alpaca!!

We picked him up yesterday. He is kind of wild and is sad to be separated from his momma, but I think he'll do just fine and friendly up quick. . . at least he needs to! We thought he was a "she" when we got him, but later found out "she" was a he. His name was Patty Kay, but that doesn't work for a boy name. So he needs a new name, obviously. Thinking about a few, but the one that is sticking at the moment is "Buddy" (I know, very original).

Anyway, he is so tiny and soft. Part of my family thinks he isn't cute, some think he looks like a bird, others think he is cute (me). What do you think?? He really isn't dirty, as it looks - the white "dust" is actually his color.

Last Monday I noticed that Peppercorn, one of our female llamas, wasn't acting right. Normally when I'd walk up to her, she would get up. This time, she didn't. I put the halter on her and had to force her to get up. Obviously, she was not feeling well. Monday night she was not going well at all, seemed really shaky and weak. I gave her Thiamine and a bunch of other vitamins. Tuesday morning she seemed much better but still "off". She has slowly gotten better, but she has still been doing one thing - hanging her head down about half the time when she is standing up. This can be a sign of pneumonia in llamas. I have been giving her tons of vitamins and things, and she hasn't gotten worse but not much better the past few days. So, last night we decided to start her on Penicillin. Hopefully it will kick in and knock out the pneumonia.

Poor girl. Thankfully, she has kept eating and drinking this whole time. Last night it actually took 2 of us to hold her so I could give her the shots. . . so I guess that's an improvement. I just hope she gets all the way better.

Me and Ms. Peppercorn,

Last Tuesday we went and sheared a gal's gelded male llama for her. He was a real sweaty  and took the whole thing really well, just on a halter. My clippers decided not to work well though, so I did most of it by hand. Thankfully we just gave him a barrel cut. In exchange for shaving her llama though, the lady gave us 4 turkeys, 3 silkie chicks and 1 silkie rooster. I guess the turkeys will be for Thanksgiving, and the rest just for the kids to have fun with ;).

Well, not too much else has gone on. I am going to have to work with "Buddy", the alpaca, every single day to make him friendly and lead train him before mid-October (when the Down Syndrome Association of Tulsa [DSAT] Buddy Walk, where we are planning on taking several animals).

"Cutie Booty", the little Nubian bottle doeling, is growing so well and is just adorable. I really need to get some new pictures of her. She is also being lead trained to go to the DSAT Buddy Walk.

Have a good day everyone!

Suriyah