I don’t think I need to say how awful it is, my alpacas will need swimming lessons shortly and my beautiful shiny rheas look like something the cat brought in. When will it stop….

Went to the SWAG AGM on Saturday and as expected TB provoked most of the discussion but I am pleased to say that there was  a lot of common sense spoken and I came away feeling much happier about the situation. I think its a fear of the unknown that worries people the most and when some experienced people from the farming world give their opinion of the situation, as happened at the meeting, the actual position becomes much clearer.

As you might expect the trusty Nikon is safely put away in the camera bag at the moment. No one is seeing my alpacas looking as they do at the moment.

As promised I had my camera ready for the release of the rheas. Well not exactly a release but rather the first time they have seen some open spaces since they have been here and you know how alpacas charge around when put in a new field, well the rheas are just the same. It will be called the “rhea frenzy”, as you can see from the pictures they charge around with their wings up or hanging down like a mad dervish. Jumping in the air and doing twirls and then taking off in zigzags all over the field. The alpacas didn’t know what to make of it.

Tb tests on the sold alpacas all clear on Saturday….phew!

We’ve got another period of waiting for tb tests, the vet comes back on Saturday so fingers crossed. Tracy and I are delivering the next group of girls tomorrow. Three mums and three babes, one of them Tracy’s own alpaca called Penelope which she has had to sell as she still hasn’t paid for her New Zealand trip !!! We’re going to do a make shift husbandry day with the new owners when we get there so will be loaded up with syringes, drenches etc. Could be a long day.

After I had fed all the animals including the rhea and the new chickens ( Colombian black tails, we’re getting  quite a South American theme going here at Popham) I decided, that as the sun was shining to get the trusty Nikon out.

The cria were just stunning in the sunshine, with all the rain we’ve had their fleeces just seemed to shimmer so I’ve uploaded some of the best shots from earlier this morning.

The rhea are settling in well. We’re keeping them in the barn for the time being but will let them out with the alpacas in a week or two. I had better have the camera ready for that day.

As per normal when you get together with alpaca breeders things can get a bit festive and this weeknd has been no exception. After a busy day with Steve and Jayne going through the alpacas on Saturday we had a small party on Saturday night. Our none alpaca friends joined us for a Felicia curry with the promise we wouldn’t mention the “A” word. We finally got rid of them shortly after midnight and not once had an alpaca been mentioned which was quite an achievement.

Sunday saw a cry of help from Senara at Hendra Alpacas, she’s unfortunately got a cria with a broken leg which has become infected. If we were passing could we pop in and have a look. So we all set off, the cria seems to be doing very well, the vets are just worried that the infection could spread so she is being given loads of antibiotics. She walks on it quite happily and hopefully will pull through.

Now for the moment of madness, whilst there on a mating run in the past I have shown an interest in another form of livestock that Senara is breeding and probably still under the influence of the red wine from the night before I have agreed to take three rheas and collect next weekend.

We have called them “Nureyev”, “Fontaine” and “not yet named” because we are not sure of the sex of the third. In fact we’re not really sure of the sex of any of them its just that, according to Senara, one acts really stupid so must be a female!!