Closer To Home

Bramble in front and Bracken in the back.

This weekend we moved our girls to a farm closer to ours. The reasons for their move are many (which I won't get into in this post). Sunday was the big day and my brother-in-law was so kind as to bring down his mini van to help in the transport (yes folks, two alpacas fit comfortably in the back of a mini van). The transport went well; both girls just laid right down for the ride. Once we arrived, introductions were in order.  We weren't moving to another ordinary alpaca farm, instead we would be boarding with a few sheep and a goat.  I did a lot of research beforehand to see if a farm of mixed company is possible.  Some say 'absolutely not', others have found it works just fine.  It all boiled down to the fact that we really had no other choice, and a friend was kind enough to offer her barn and pasture.  Sometimes we just have to do what we have to do.

Mamma, Leo, and Bracken

Introductions went surprisingly well.  And while the girls first reaction was a resounding, "You've got to be kidding me!" (they were quite pampered at their previous farm), and they reluctantly walked the perimeter of the pasture with us, they were in the barn munching within the first hour of being there.  Of course, so were the goat and sheep once they saw the yummy vittles.  Soon the other sheep joined.  Bramble laid down and could care less that everyone was sniffing her out.  She sniffed back.  Bracken was a bit more apprehensive but snobbishly tolerated her new acquaintances.  By nightfall, everyone was bedded down.  If its not pouring down rain, the sheep typically stay outside.  Bracken and Bramble stayed in the barn, and when my friend Lisel went out to check on them, her one male sheep BG (short for Big Gulp - a 7-Eleven thing), was bedded down with them, protecting his new girls.  And all was well at the end of day number one.

The morning after.....eating with sheep.

The next morning started out just fine.  The girls followed the sheep to the hay and snacked with them. By afternoon, however, we discovered our first issue: sheep and alpacas (at least on this farm) eat differently.  The sheep, as far as I could gather, get fed twice a day.  They scarf it all down quickly then mosey on their merry way.  The alpacas are used to having hay available 24-7, and don't scarf.  We had a feeling this would be a problem the night before and actually went to Tractor Supply and purchased a hanging hay feeder.  We think that if we hang in high enough that the girls can still get to it, but the sheep cannot, it will solve our problem.  In the mean time, I needed to get my girls fed.  I put a small amount of grain in their bowls to get them to come into the barn.  They did, but so did Mamma and Leo.  Problem number two.  To give the girls a bit of grain, I will need to separate them from the sheep and goat.  I'm not going to lie and tell you that I had this all figured out in a matter of a few minutes.  I did not.  The girls ran back out into the pasture and wanted nothing to do with the barn.  I knew they were hungry, so had no choice but to lure the sheep back in the barn with a small flake of hay, and take a bucket out to the girls.

Finally, food!

That bucket was gone in ten minutes.  I went for another one.  By now it had started to rain quite significantly.  My reaction..., "Really?"  I was wet and cold, the girls were wet and wanted to lay down.  It was supposed to rain hard into the next morning.  This just wasn't going to work.  So I got their halters.  Bracken, of course, wanted nothing to do with it, but Bramble let me put her's on with little fuss.  Off to the barn we went, and Bracken followed.  And so did the sheep.  And it just just poured!  Bracken decided she wouldn't come in the barn.  The two cried back and forth to each other, and I cried too.  I didn't know what to do, but finally said, "Pull yourself together, Rachael!  It's not like you've never dealt with livestock before."   Goal #1: Get them out of the rain!  Bracken eventually came close enough that I was able to get her halter on and bring her in the barn.  Goal #2: Get them their own space, at least for the night where they'll be safe and dry.  There is another stall that Lisel uses during lambing season.  Well, no lambs now!  I took them out of the pasture, and over into the second stall (you can't get to it from anywhere else in the barn).  Long story long, my husband eventually showed up (I had been soaking wet and cold for three hours now), we fashioned a gate across the doorway of the stall, moved the water in with the girls as well as their minerals, dried them off, and got them hay.  SIGH!  We did it.  At least for tonight.  I'm sure we are going to run into more obstacles, but all we can do is take them one day at a time.  Thankfully I am done with school until the middle of next month.  Hopefully by then, we will have (most of) the kinks worked out until we can find our own place.