The snow goes and the sun comes out, but the alpacas are still in the barn, it’s such a shame, Why?
The answers is because of the horrendous rain storms we’ve been having for the last few nights. The paddocks are so water logged that I’ve made the decision only to let the Alpacas out for an hour or so just while I muck out the barn.
The next few weeks with the rain that the weather men have forecast I think my best plan is to protect the paddocks otherwise it will all end up as one huge mud pit. Hopefully this way as soon as the rain stops it won’t take to long for the paddocks to recover.
With a bit of luck I can then get in and give them a bit of a boost with Grass Trac, vitamin’s and minerals for the soil, to encourage a healthy growth of grass for the rest of the year.
The Alpacas don’t seem to bothered at the moment by being in so much, they have plenty of room to move around, there’s good airflow throughout with the barn door open and plenty of haylage to munch on. The hour or so out in the mornings gives them all time to stretch their legs and the youngsters time to expel any excess energy. Hopefully this will be enough for the next few weeks.
As with all livestock they like routine and long as they are not over stocked, have clean bedding, fresh water and plenty of forage they cope very well.
I’m so glad we have the barn, this winter would have been a total nightmare with out it and every day would have been a worry about their health and condition. Instead it’s just been hard work mucking out etc…. but that I can cope with. What do they say “hard work never killed anybody”,
I just wish my waistline could see a benefit of all this hard work, instead my backside has grown, probably due to not stopping to eat properly and snacking on junk food because it’s quick.
I’m saying that with a macdonalds big mack clenched in my fist, it’s my children’s fault they keep bringing nice things at lunch time :0))
JAN