Still Waiting !

 

 

Things are ticking along quite nicely here... the babies are growing up fast.  However we are still waiting for a special delivery.

 

 

Salsa pictured here in the middle is due anytime now, we are eagerly awaiting the arrival of her baby as this will be Zeto's very first off spring.  This will also be the last baby here this year at Zanzibah Land.

 

Zirdar and his mother Tremona, up to now he is the youngest baby here...

 

Zoretah is hiding behind her mother Trienza both of these girls are really very friendly and Trienza is very partial to a Polo !

 

Marquette and her tiny little 'Toot Toot' Zodo !

Today I have managed to give Salsa her Lambivac injection in preparation for the arrival of her baby.  This means that she will hopefully pass on immunity to her cria providing the baby is born within one month of the injection date.  I aim to have all my girls vaccinated like this for their birthing time. 

I have also given Zirrianna more injections today, after a visit from the Vet earlier this week it has been decided to keep her on her course of Baytril, she is getting 5ml every 4 days.  Also she has been put onto a Steroid once a week.  This treatment is working, however it is a long slow process.....we will persevere....and I'm happier that she is responding well to her treatment.....but its going to be a long road.  I can't believe just how this has happened or what has caused it...as she was born here, she is just over one year old and has never been off the place.....however we are doing our best.

 Thankfully none of the others are showing any signs of infection, and we know what we are dealing with which is a little reassuring.

Animal Maddness !!

Earlier this week we had visitors, well they actually came to buy some hay and got a little distracted by some of the strange animals who live here !  This is Katie, with her Dad, she just loved Minstrel who was happy for a cuddle and a quick photo.

The weather has been back to the usual, not very summery at all.  This is a photo of Zonda who is fascinated with Slinky .... she happened to find her sitting on the fence post, Slinky was hoping the Zonda didn't spot her !!

Peek - Boo ! Stravinsky is hiding behind one of the hay bales...the boys think I haven't noticed that they have been pinching hay !!

Need I introduce these lot !   I was busy washing out their feed dish and started to squirt them with the water from the hose, they all thought it was great fun.  Norka is having a whale of a time.... after the bath they found some sawdust and just couldn't resist a good roll in it !

After a good roll, obviously any piggy needs a good scratch ..... on any thing that happens to be there !

Norka having a sit down after all that excitement. 

Finally Zeto and Duke hiding, they think I haven't spotted them .....but I have !

Little Pea Pods !

 Yesterday,  I was out with the camera and managed to take some photos of the babies.  This is Zimushka on the left she was last years baby, in the middle is Zazu and on the right is Zanto.  If you hadn't already guessed Zimushka and Zanto are full brother and sister.  They are like little peas in a pod.... I think its safe to say that after three years of choosing this combination, we have managed to breed three lovely greys.  So I think we must be doing something right ! 

Zazu, he is always chewing on something.  He is the full brother to Zirrianna, they both share this very unusual colouring.  Zirrianna is responding well to her treatment, she has one more injection to go.  Mind you this is not going to be a quick process.

Zazu and Zanto grazing yesterday in the fields......they are often found together exploring.

Little Zirdar sleeping, he is a real sweetie.  A very quiet little boy with the most beautiful markings around his eyes...just like his mum.

Marquette and little Zodo, he is doing well after his little few problems.  He is feeding well and happily joins in with the play time.  But he is often found lying beside his mum.....side by side.

Some of the group, its really hard to fit them all into one photo shot now...there is always someone missing and they don't stay still for long !

We have Hay !!

We have Hay !  After days of working after the quest to make hay, the job is done.  Last night part of the 10 acre field was ready for baling, it was so hot the pending haylage was far to dry, so I made the decision to turn the field once more to finish it off into hay.  By early evening the field was rowed up and ready for the baler to arrive. I have managed to get 44 bales in total.

There was about 3 acres cut here and this has resulted in 34 round bales.  The hay is lovely and has baked in glorious sunshine !  Not a drop of rain on it.  I was intending to make halyage first but couldn't resist the opportunity to make some lovely hay.  I can always make haylage a little later on.  It only takes around 3 days from start to finish and does not need such hot dry conditions.

This is Zirrius, Hamish and Rufus having a good look at the newly made bales.  When I was rowing up the field, I did have a bit of a delay, part of the hayturner came loose, and it took me a little while to sort it out, its not easy being a one-man band....but we manage and by the time the baler had turned up, I had managed to repair the problem, fix it and get back to the task of rowing up.

This is a photo of the girls going out in the morning, they are convinced the pigs are hiding in the orchard and keep over to the fence, just in case.  After their scare, they are always looking for the pigs, who are no where to be seen.  I am bringing them in as I am in the process of treating Zirrianna with a course of injections for a bacterial infection that has been causing her some problems.  After a skin biopsy, it has revealed that she is suffering from a chronic bacterial folicalitis on her face, so she is currently having a course of injections over the next few days.

The professionals..... with the big kit !  I am a novice, compared to these guys....but we manage to get the job done.  Its a great feeling to have the end result baled up and in the fields......especially under the circumstances.  I can now have a few days to recover before the next chapter !!

All you need is Love .... and A Little Bit of Sunshine !!

 Me and my friend (Zoretah)....having an alpaca moment.  A brief break for a cuppa tea, a quick cuddle and back out again to carry on turning the hay. Its that time of year again, I have started hay making,or to be more precise, probably making haylage.  Just depending on the weather.  I have two fields cut at the moment.  I'm hoping to do it in stages..... weather pending.
 

Some of the girls and the babies tonight, watching me as I took the dogs for a walk up the wood.  Its been a dry day with the odd break of sunshine.  I'm hoping that the haylage will be ready for Saturday as the weather is due to change again for Sunday.

 Alright for some .....talk about an afternoon siesta.  Its a hard life in the piggy department.  They don't even wake up when you walk past, just the odd grunt and grumble, in case you happen to have food and then its a different story.

 Trying to make hay when the sun shines, is a bit of a risky business at the moment.... but we are giving it a good try. The tractor is doing a good job, it has had a bit of an overhaul, new starter motor and replacement rear window....the lights have been fixed and we have fitted a none return valve to stop the fuel seeping back, which makes starting much better.  Knocky Nora, has even had a hover, so we are all spic n span.  Just keeping my fingers crossed that everything works well.  Today I have serviced the hay turner, before starting, tightened up a few nuts and bolts and given all the grease points a good going over.  This afternoon we were running like a dream ..... have I spoken too soon.... time will tell !

 Spirits are high here in Zanzibah Land at the moment.  The girls and babies were having a good run round yesterday, I managed to capture a quick photo on my phone.

And finally Duke ! with Wellground Stravinsky in the background.  Duke is always watching you, just incase you sneak up on him...he is a real character.  I'm hoping to use these younger boys this year on some of my females.  If they are ready for the challenge.

You can't win !

How can you resist this gorgeous reception, Zoretah is last years baby ...and has a special place in my heart.  She is always pleased to see you and always puts a smile on my face..

 Zazu is growing up fast, he is full brother to Zirrianna, both of these babies are very similar in colour.  They get this unusual colouring from their dad Zanubis.  He is passing on his unusual colouring to his offspring which is a real bonus. Both have beautiful fleeces and with American Peruvian Champions in their bloodlines .....I'm sure they are going to mature into something special.  

 Zoretah is maturing into a lovely girl, she has quite unusual markings, she is a lovely rich brown colour with very dark legs, but as you can see she also has tinges of very light points under her heels and belly.

Zullulah, on Sunday I decided to put some 'Spoton' fly repellent on some of my darker girls, I have used this before with no problems.  But there is always a first time, she was fine all day and they were brought in for the evening.  She started to behave strangely, cutting a very long story short....we ended up having the vet out late evening as she clearly was is discomfort and not at all happy.  It was decided that she had an allergic reaction to the 'Spoton' and she was given an injection of Finadyne to help ease the symptoms, by morning she was much happier but not quite back to normal....you just can't win, trying to do your best to give fly relief.....but I won't be doing that again !

This is a photo of Zeto just before shearing this year.  He has a fantastic  fleece with a beautiful consistent colouring and lots of it.  This year he yielded 4 Kgs of blanket fleece alone, excluding any second cuts.  Zeto's fleece has been sold to a customer from Germany, who came to buy fleece from me a month ago and just couldn't resist buying all of it !

I was slightly reluctant to sell all of it, but I have kept Zimushka's fleece for me to use, who is Zeto's full sister.  She also has a very nice fleece and lots of it.  

And of course this year we have Zanto born here, who I'm sure will follow in the footsteps of his siblings !

Talking of Zeto, things are getting rather exciting here at the moment.  There is just over two weeks to go until my last baby arrives.  This will be Zeto's first baby born, so I am very excited to see what he produces and I wonder if it will be an elusive Girl !